There is created the South Carolina Agent Orange Advisory Council to assist and advise the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control in its duties and functions as provided in this chapter and to assist and advise the Veterans' Affairs Department of the Governor's Office in its duties and functions as provided in Section 25-11-70. The council is composed of five voting members and five nonvoting ex officio members. The voting members must be veterans who served in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, or Thailand. Voting members are appointed by the Governor for terms of four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. The Governor shall designate a chairman who shall serve for a term of two years. Vacancies on the council are filled by appointment in the same manner as the original appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term. Voting members of the council are paid the usual per diem, mileage, and subsistence as provided by law for members of boards, commissions, and committees. The following shall serve as ex officio members without voting rights:
(1) the Director of the Department of Health and Environmental Control;
(2) the Director of Veterans' Affairs Department or his designee;
(3) one faculty member of the Medical University of South Carolina with expertise in a field relevant to the purpose of the council;
(4) one faculty member of the University of South Carolina with expertise in a field relevant to the purpose of the council.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 521, Section 1; 1991 Act No. 248, Section 6; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1104.
Code Commissioner's Note
Pursuant to the directive to the Code Commissioner in 2019 Act No. 26, Section 4(C), references to the Division of Veterans' Affairs were changed to reflect the transfer of it to the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Editor's Note
The 2019 amendment to Section 25-11-20 provided that the Governor shall appoint a Secretary, rather than a Director, to lead the Department of Veterans' Affairs.