Monitors the quality of the air; drinking, surface, and ground water; ecosystem status; and the use and release of toxic or hazardous substances. EPA conducts research and studies to provide baseline data and to evaluate and support environmental monitoring systems. Projects include state and local programs to report ambient air quality levels of pollutants and estimated emissions of pollutants from major stationary sources, and projection of future air quality levels through models that take into account past air quality monitoring data and emissions data. Other statistical activities develop methods to document the distribution and determinants of exposure to pollutants experienced by the U.S. population, and methods to measure exposure to and the potential effects of pollutants on human health and ecosystems.

NOAA's Mission: Science, Service, and Stewardship.
To understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts,
To share that knowledge and information with others, and
To conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.

USDA provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats.

The USGS is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of our ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the core science systems that help us provide timely, relevant, and useable information.

The agency as organized on July 1, 1994, under the S.C. Restructuring Act is composed of the former Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, Water Resources Commission (non-regulatory programs), Land Resources Commission (non-regulatory programs), State Geological Survey (State Geologist), and S.C. Migratory Waterfowl Committee.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is the state agency charged with protecting public health, coastal resources, and the state's land, air and water quality as authorized under multiple state and federal laws.