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

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 110-4-3-.01

O.C.G.A. Secs. 12-8-20et seq., 12-8-31.1.

Original Rule entitled "Purpose" adopted. F. Jan. 19, 1994; eff. Feb. 8, 1994. Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. Aug. 21, 2003; eff. Sept. 10, 2003.