Former Boeing lobbyist nominated to lead DHEC board

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Gov. Henry McMaster nominated former Boeing lobbyist Mark Elam as the next board chairman for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Elam would be the head of the agency’s eight-member governing board and help choose the next director of the agency.

DHEC’s operations are overseen by the S.C. Board of Health and Environmental Control, which comprises eight members — one from each congressional district and a chairman from the state at large. The seven congressional district board seats have staggered four-year terms.

The at-large seat was left vacant by the resignation in February of Allen Amsler.

Elam’s appointment would fill the at-large void, leaving vacancies in Districts 4, 5 and 7.

"I am confident that Mr. Elam will provide the leadership at the Department of Health and Environmental Control that South Carolinians deserve — striking the necessary balance between protecting our state’s invaluable natural resources and allowing South Carolina businesses to grow and thrive without being subjected to burdensome overregulation, all while promoting and protecting public health in our great state," McMaster said in a statement.

Elam, currently retired, formerly served as chief of staff and senior legal counsel to Gov. Carroll Campbell and served as assistant attorney general from 1981-83. Most recently, he was responsible for community and state and local government outreach at Boeing.

The nomination will require confirmation by the state Senate.