PocketLaw | Georgia Code | Local, Multijurisdictional, or Regional

Local, Multijurisdictional, or Regional Solid Waste Plans; Reporting by Cities and Counties; Annual Reporting Requirements for Landfill Owners and Operators

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1. Each city and county in Georgia shall develop or be included in a comprehensive solid waste management plan. Said plan may be developed independently as a local plan or jointly with other jurisdictions as a multijurisdictional or regional solid waste plan.
2. 1. The Department of Community Affairs under the provisions of Chapter 13 of Title 50 shall promulgate solid waste planning guidance that a city or county may use to update or amend such city's or county's solid waste plan.
  2. Any city or county that proposes to update or amend its solid waste management plan shall publish notice of such proposed action in the county legal organ or the city's or county's Internet website, as applicable, at least two weeks prior to adopting such update or amendment to its plan in accordance with subsection (c) of this Code section.
The local, multijurisdictional, or regional solid waste plan and plan updates shall, at a minimum, provide for the assurance of adequate solid waste handling capability and capacity within the planning area for at least ten years from the date of completion of the plan which shall specifically include an adequate collection and disposal capability; shall enumerate the solid waste handling facilities as to size and type; and shall identify those sites which are not suitable for solid waste handling facilities based on environmental and land use factors.
To be included as part of a local, multijurisdictional, or regional solid waste plan, each city and county included as part of the plan shall adopt the plan and any plan updates by local ordinance or resolution.
Each city and county may report annually to the Department of Community Affairs on the status of solid waste management in the jurisdiction. Such reports may be individual or collective in nature or, in lieu of local reports, a regional report may be filed by any of the several regional commissions for political jurisdictions within their region. The annual report may include but not be limited to:
1. The amount of solid waste collected, processed, and disposed of in the area;
2. The progress on the reduction in solid waste, as evidenced by the solid waste received at disposal facilities in the planning area since the previous reporting period and total cumulative progress made toward meeting the waste reduction goals of the state;
3. The remaining permitted capacity of disposal facilities;
4. Recycling and composting activities in existence;
5. Public information and education activities during the reporting period; and
6. Any other pertinent information as may be required.
After July 1, 1992, no permit, grant, or loan shall be issued for any municipal solid waste disposal facility or any solid waste handling equipment or recycling equipment used in conjunction therewith in a county or region which is not consistent with a local, multijurisdictional, or regional solid waste management plan. Each application for a permit, grant, or loan issued after July 1, 1992, shall include the following:
1. Certification that the facility for which a permit is sought complies with local land use and zoning requirements, if any;
2. Verification that the facility for which a permit is sought meets the ten-year capacity needs identified in the local, multijurisdictional, or regional solid waste management plan; and
3. Demonstration that the host jurisdiction and all jurisdictions generating solid waste destined for the applicant's facility are part of an approved solid waste management plan or updated plan developed consistent with standards promulgated pursuant to this part, and are actively involved in, and have a strategy for, meeting the state-wide goal for reduction of solid waste disposal.
This Code section shall not apply to:
1. Any solid waste disposal facility which is operated exclusively by a private solid waste generator on property owned by the private solid waste generator for the purpose of accepting solid waste exclusively from the private solid waste generator so long as the operation of the solid waste disposal facility does not adversely affect the public health or the environment. After commencement of operation by a private solid waste generator of a solid waste disposal facility which is permitted but not included in a local or regional solid waste management plan, an amendment into a local or regional solid waste management plan shall be required for any solid waste which is to be no longer disposed of by the private solid waste generator in its own solid waste disposal facility prior to any substantial reduction in the amount of solid waste accepted by the solid waste disposal facility or its closure; or
2. Any privately owned solid waste handling facility seeking a permit or major modification of an existing permit where the host local governing authority has failed to make a good faith effort, as determined by the Department of Community Affairs, to develop and adopt a local solid waste management plan or to be included in a multijurisdictional or regional solid waste management plan; provided, however, that the permit applicant continues to be obligated to demonstrate that all generating jurisdictions from which waste will be received are part of an approved solid waste management plan developed in accordance with planning guidance promulgated pursuant to this part and have a strategy to meet and are actively engaged in meeting the state-wide goal of reducing waste.
Effective July 1, 1991, it shall be the responsibility of the owner or operator of each municipal solid waste disposal facility to keep an accurate written record of all amounts of solid waste measured in tons received at the facility. Measurement in tons of solid waste received shall be accomplished by one or more of the following methods:
1. The provision of stationary or portable scales at the disposal facility for weighing incoming waste;
2. Implementation of contractual or other arrangements for the use of scales at a location other than the disposal facility for weighing all waste destined for disposal at the facility; or
3. Implementation of contractual or other arrangements for the use of scales at a location other than the disposal facility to weigh representative samples of the solid waste received at the disposal facility on a basis which is sufficiently frequent to estimate accurately the amount of solid waste received at the disposal facility.
The provisions of subsection (d) of this Code section notwithstanding, each public or private owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill shall report annually to the Department of Community Affairs on the status of solid waste management for each municipal solid waste landfill it owns or operates in this state. The annual report for each such landfill shall include but not be limited to:
1. The amount of solid waste collected, processed, and disposed of at such landfill;
2. The remaining permitted capacity of the landfill;
3. Recycling and composting activities in existence at such landfill; and
4. Any other pertinent information as may be required by the Department of Community Affairs.

(Code 1981, §12-8-31.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 412, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 3276, § 12; Ga. L. 1993, p. 399, § 8; Ga. L. 2008, p. 181, §§ 13, 19/HB 1216; Ga. L. 2011, p. 312, § 1/SB 157.)

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, designated subsection (a) as paragraph (a)(1) and subparagraph (a)(2)(A); in paragraph (a)(1), in the first sentence, deleted "not later than July 1, 1993" following "management plan", and in the second sentence substituted a period for "and shall conform to the plan development procedures developed and promulgated by the"; in subparagraph (a)(2)(A), added "shall promulgate solid waste planning guidance that a city or county may use to update or amend such city's or county's solid waste plan" at the end; added subparagraph (a)(2)(B); in subsection (b), inserted "and plan updates" near the beginning; rewrote subsection (c); in subsection (d), in the introductory language, substituted "Each city and county may" for "Effective January 1, 1992, each city and county shall" in the first sentence, and in the last sentence, substituted "may include" for "shall include"; in paragraph (d)(2), deleted ", which are not exempt from subsection (c) of Code Section 12-8-21," following "at disposal facilities" and substituted "the waste reduction goals of the state" for "the 25 percent reduction goal"; in paragraph (e)(3), substituted "plan or updated plan developed consistent" for "plan developed in accordance" and deleted "by July 1, 1996" from the end; in paragraph (f)(2), substituted "Any" for "Effective September 1, 1994, any" at the beginning, substituted "to make" for "either to submit or make" and "develop and adopt" for "submit" near the middle, substituted "planning guidance" for "standards" and deleted "by 25 percent by July 1, 1996" at the end; and added subsection (h).

Law reviews.

- For note on 1992 amendment of this Code section, see 9 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 199 (1992).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Constitutionality.

- "Planning requirements" set forth in paragraph (e)(3) of O.C.G.A. §§ 12-8-31.1,12-8-24, and regulations thereunder, insofar as they require an applicant for a permit for a biomedical waste thermal treatment facility to provide certain verifications regarding out-of-state jurisdictions generating solid waste destined for the applicant's facility, are unconstitutional as violative of the commerce clause. Environmental Waste Reductions, Inc. v. Reheis, 887 F. Supp. 1534 (N.D. Ga. 1994).

Factors to be considered in verification process.

- O.C.G.A. § 12-8-24(g) did not prohibit local governments from considering factors other than environmental and land use factors in developing a Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP), and a local government was authorized to consider any relevant factor in determining whether a proposed facility was consistent with the facility's SWMP that the facility properly considered in the SWMP itself; the Supreme Court of Georgia overruled Butts County v. Pine Ridge Recycling, Inc., 213 Ga. App. 510, 445 S.E.2d 294 (Ga. Ct. App. 1994) and held that a trial court erred in ruling that a county improperly considered factors other than environmental and land use factors in refusing to issue a verification to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division regarding an applicant's proposed landfill. Murray County v. R&J Murray, LLC, 280 Ga. 314, 627 S.E.2d 574 (2006).

Applicant for a solid waste handling facility was entitled to mandamus relief seeking to compel a city to issue written verification that a proposed solid waste handling facility did not violate any zoning or land use ordinances and that it was consistent with all solid waste management plans because: (1) the city did not comply with O.C.G.A. § 12-8-31.1(a) and (b); and (2) the city could not rely on the city's solid waste management plan to deny the written verification under O.C.G.A. § 12-8-24(g) which was consistent with the city's plan approved in 1993. McKee v. City of Geneva, 280 Ga. 411, 627 S.E.2d 555 (2006).

Ordinance restricting waste disposal services upheld.

- Georgia trial court erred by denying injunctive relief to a county and the county's chosen waste disposal company wherein it sought to prohibit an unauthorized waste company from providing services in the county against an ordinance because the ordinance served a legitimate public purpose by establishing means reasonably necessary to achieve the purpose of the county providing a comprehensive solid waste management plan as the county was required to do under O.C.G.A. § 12-8-31.1. Advanced Disposal Servs. Middle Ga., LLC v. Deep S. Sanitation, LLC, 296 Ga. 103, 765 S.E.2d 364 (2014).

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