Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 110-4-3-.01 - Purpose
(1)
General:
The Standards and Procedures provided herein are for the implementation
of the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-8-20et
seq., and are intended to provide a framework to facilitate and
encourage integrated, comprehensive solid waste management planning at the
local, multi-jurisdictional, and regional levels. As the Act also established
an integral relationship between solid waste planning, reporting, and
permitting, the Minimum Standards and Procedures are designed to promote and
reinforce the link between solid waste plans, the Solid Waste Annual Survey and
Full-Cost Report, and solid waste grants, loans, and facility
permits.
(2)
Applicability:
The following Standards and Procedures, including the minimum standards
and procedures that are adopted or promulgated from time to time by the
Department pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, are applicable to all
comprehensive solid waste management plans submitted to the Department for
their review and approval.
(a) The rules
shall also apply to all other facets of the solid waste management planning
process as outlined in the Solid Waste Management Act, such as, but not limited
to, provisions relating to conflict resolution and to the determination of
eligible local governments, or permit consistency. An applicant's eligibility
for solid waste grants, loans, and permits is contingent upon a local
government having adopted its plan.
(b) The minimum standards and procedures
authorized pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-8-31.1,
relating to solid waste management planning shall become effective on January
1, 2004 and replace the rules that were previously adopted for this purpose by
the Board of Community Affairs which became effective on February 1,
1994.
(c) These minimum planning
standards and procedures for solid waste management shall be used to guide the
preparation, development, and review of all local government solid waste
management plans or short term work program updates that are intended to meet
local government requirement eligibility requirements on or after January 1,
2004.
(d) Those local governments
with a Short-Term Work Program (STWP) due after January 1, 2004 and before
December 31, 2007 are required to report on the plan accomplishments as listed
in their approved plan, demonstrate 10 years of disposal capacity from the date
of submission of the new STWP, and prepare an implementation strategy that
addresses the planning elements in their existing, approved solid waste
management plan. The updated implementation strategy will provide a schedule of
proposed activities covering the years between the date of submission of the
new STWP up to the due date for their next 10 year Solid Waste Management
Plan.
(3)
Legislative Intent: The legislature has provided that solid waste
management planning by the State, local governments, and Regional Development
Centers within the State is necessary to prevent environmental degradation, to
manage resources, and to effectively reduce and manage solid waste for the
State and its residents. The State has an interest in promoting and sustaining
an effective comprehensive solid waste management strategy that addresses waste
reduction, collection, transfer, and disposal.
(a) To achieve that end, the 1990 session of
the Georgia General Assembly passed the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste
Management Act. The Act, among other things, declares that in order to receive
a permit, grant, or loan for a solid waste management facility, each city and
county shall develop or be included in a comprehensive solid waste management
plan. In addition, under the Act, any request for a solid waste handling
facility permit or funding for publicly owned and operated solid waste
facilities or equipment must be consistent with the solid waste management
plans of all affected local governments.
(b) The Act declares that it is the policy of
the State of Georgia to educate and encourage generators and handlers of solid
waste to reduce and minimize to the greatest extent possible the amount of
solid waste which requires collection, treatment, or disposal, through source
reduction, reuse, composting, recycling, and other methods, and to promote
markets for and engage in the purchase of goods made from recovered materials
and goods which are recyclable.
(c)
The Act requires the development of a State Solid Waste Management Plan, to
which local, multi-jurisdictional, or regional plans must conform. It also
required preparation of these Minimum Planning Standards and Procedures for
Solid Waste Management, to guide preparation of local, multi-jurisdictional, or
regional plans.
(d) Cities and
counties are encouraged by the Act to jointly develop multi-jurisdictional
and/or regional plans, preparation of which is to be guided by the Minimum
Planning Standards and Procedures for Solid Waste Management.
(e) The Solid Waste Management Act requires
that each solid waste management plan meet the following criteria:
1. Each solid waste management plan is to
provide for the assurance of adequate solid waste collection capability and
disposal capacity within the planning area for at least ten years from the date
of plan completion.
2. Each solid
waste management plan relying upon a landfill in Georgia for waste disposal,
shall have a program in effect to reduce by 25 percent the per capita rate of
municipal solid waste disposed statewide in solid waste facilities as compared
with the per capita municipal solid waste disposal rate in FY 1992.
3. Each solid waste plan must identify all
solid waste handling facilities within the plan's area as to size and
type.
4. Each solid waste
management plan must identify land areas unsuitable for solid waste handling
facilities based on environmental and land use factors.
(f) In addition, the Act requires each local
government (or group of jurisdictions which are part of a multi-jurisdictional
or regional plan) report annually to the Department on their progress in
meeting Statewide solid waste reduction goals and on the costs of solid waste
management programs and services within their jurisdiction. The vehicle for
providing this information to the Department is the Annual Solid Waste Survey
and Full-Cost Report. The information provided by local governments on the
Annual Survey and Full-Cost Report must be reasonably consistent with that
provided in the local governments' plans and solid waste disposal and landfill
capacity reports.
(4)
Interpretation: The standards and procedures promulgated hereunder
are intended to provide for integrated solid waste management and coordination
of solid waste management planning among local, multi-jurisdictional, regional,
and state levels within the State of Georgia. Such standards and procedures
should be liberally construed to achieve that end.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.