10 LC
14 0326S
The
Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee offered the following
substitute to SB 511:
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To
amend Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 8 of Title 12 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to solid waste
management, so as to change certain provisions relating to declaration of policy
and legislative intent relative to solid waste management; to change certain
provisions relating to permits for solid waste or special solid waste handling,
disposal, or thermal treatment technology facilities and inspection of solid
waste generators; to change certain provisions relating to yard trimmings
disposal restrictions; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Part
1 of Article 2 of Chapter 8 of Title 12 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to solid waste management, is
amended by revising subsection (g) of Code Section 12-8-21, relating to
declaration of policy and legislative intent relative to solid waste management,
as follows:
"(g)
It is further the intent of the General Assembly to provide a frame of reference
for the state and all counties, municipal corporations, and solid waste
management authorities in the state relating to the handling of yard trimmings.
Disposal and
decomposition of vegetative waste and other yard trimmings in a lined municipal
solid waste landfill having a landfill gas collection system in operation
directed to a beneficial use of landfill gas such as electrical power
generation, industrial end use, or similar beneficial reuse is a use of yard
trimmings that promotes renewable energy goals, protects the environment, and
confers a substantial public benefit. Therefore, collection and disposal of
municipal waste together with yard trimmings at such municipal solid waste
landfills should be allowed while composting and other current methods for
handling and disposal of yard trimmings continue to be utilized. Likewise,
the
The
productivity of the soils of Georgia requires that nature's way of recycling
vegetative matter be respected and followed
and
that;
therefore, such essential building
materials
are no
longer wasted by being buried in landfills but
are
should
continue to be allowed to be returned to
the soil. The General Assembly, therefore, adopts and recommends the following
hierarchy
methods
for handling yard trimmings:
(1)
Naturalized, low-maintenance landscaping requiring little or no
cutting;
(2)
Grass cycling by mowing it high and letting it lie;
(3)
Return to the soil or other beneficial reuse on the site where the material was
grown, including but not limited to:
(3)(A)
Stacking branches into brush piles for use as wildlife habitats and for gradual
decomposition into the soil;
(4)(B)
Composting on the site where the material was grown, followed by incorporation
of the finished compost into the soil at that site;
or
(5)(C)
Chipping woody material on the site where such material was
generated;
(6)(4)
Collecting yard trimmings and transporting them to another site to
be:
(A)
Chipped
chipped
or composted for later use
as fiber fuel,
mulch, or other beneficial use;
and
(B)
Disposed in a lined landfill having an active permitted gas collection system by
which landfill gas is directed to equipment or facilities for purposes of
electrical power generation, industrial end use, or other beneficial use
promoting renewable energy goals; or
(C)
Any other method that does not violate the restrictions provided by paragraph
(1) of subsection (a) of Code Section 12-8-40.2; or
(7)(5)
Chipping woody material for later use as fiber fuel."
SECTION
2.
Said
part is further amended by revising paragraph (1) of subsection (e) of Code
Section 12-8-24, relating to permits for solid waste or special solid waste
handling, disposal, or thermal treatment technology facilities and inspection of
solid waste generators, as follows:
"(e)(1)(A)
As used in this paragraph, the term 'recovered materials processing facility'
shall, in addition to the meaning of paragraph (26) of Code Section 12-8-22,
include processing operations for materials consisting of concrete, asphalt,
cardboard, or yard trimmings or similar wood wastes diverted from the waste
stream for the recycling or other beneficial reuse of such
materials.
(B)
The director may suspend, modify, or revoke any permit issued pursuant to this
Code section if the holder of the permit is found to be in violation of any of
the permit conditions or any order of the director or fails to perform solid
waste handling in accordance with this part or rules promulgated under this
part.
(C)(i)
The director may modify any permit issued pursuant to this Code section in
accordance with rules promulgated by the board. All modifications of existing
permits shall be classified by the board as either major or minor
modifications.
(ii)
All modifications of existing permits to allow vertical or horizontal expansion
of existing disposal facilities, except a facility operated by a utility
regulated by the Public Service Commission, shall be classified as major permit
modifications and shall not be granted by the director sooner than three years
from the date any such facility commenced operation; provided, however, that a
permit may be modified by the director to allow a vertical or horizontal
expansion one time within three years from the date the facility commenced
operation so long as the capacity of the facility is not increased more than 10
percent.
(iii)
Modifications of permits for existing municipal solid waste disposal facilities
for the addition at such facility of a recovered materials processing facility
shall be classified as minor permit modifications, provided the location of such
facility complies with the same buffer requirements applicable to the disposal
facility. Such materials shall be reported at the disposal facility separately
from waste materials destined for disposal. Operators of such disposal
facilities may report to the Department of Community Affairs on an annual basis
the total amounts of such materials diverted from landfill
disposal.
(iv)
The disposal facility permit holder shall provide written notification to the
chief elected official of the jurisdiction in which the facility is located at
least 30 days prior to starting any recycling operation for materials consisting
of concrete, asphalt, or yard trimmings or similar wood waste to be diverted
from the waste stream for recycling or other beneficial use. This notification
shall include an indication of whether or not the ten-year demonstrated capacity
of the landfill will be reduced. The permit holder shall comply with all
applicable local zoning ordinances. If necessary to satisfy local solid waste
planning and reporting requirements, disposal facility operators may be required
by the county, municipality, or solid waste management authority for the
jurisdiction in which the disposal facility is located to report the total
amounts of such materials diverted from landfill
disposal."
SECTION
3.
Said
part is further amended by revising Code Section 12-8-40.2, relating to yard
trimmings disposal restrictions, as follows:
"12-8-40.2.
(a)
Each city, county, or solid waste management authority shall impose restrictions
on yard trimmings which are generated in or may ultimately be disposed of in its
area of jurisdiction. These restrictions shall include but are not limited
to:
(1)
A requirement that yard trimmings not be placed in or mixed with municipal solid
waste, except at landfills restricted to construction or demolition waste
or those
municipal solid waste landfills described in subsection (b) of this Code
section;
(2)
A ban on the disposal of yard trimmings at municipal solid waste disposal
facilities having liners and leachate collection systems or requiring vertical
expansion
within its
jurisdiction
except as
provided in subsection (b) of this Code
section;
(3)
A requirement that yard trimmings be sorted and stored for collection in such a
manner as to facilitate collection, composting, or other handling;
and
(4)
A requirement that yard trimmings be sorted and stockpiled or chipped,
composted, used as mulch, or otherwise beneficially reused or recycled to the
maximum extent feasible.
(b)(1)
Prior to
September 1, 1996, each city, county, and solid waste authority is authorized
but not required to impose restrictions on yard trimmings which are generated or
may ultimately be disposed of in its area of jurisdiction. Such restrictions
may include, but are not limited to, the restrictions stated in paragraphs (1)
through (4) of subsection (a) of this Code
section.
The provisions
of subsection (a) of this Code section notwithstanding, each city, county, or
solid waste management authority shall allow, but not require, the disposal of
yard trimmings otherwise destined for a construction and demolition or inert
landfill at any municipal solid waste disposal facility in its area of
jurisdiction that has a liner and a landfill gas collection system in operation
by which landfill gas is directed to any equipment, system, or facility for
beneficial use, including but not limited to use for generation of electrical
power or industrial use. The operator of such a facility may receive and
process yard trimmings at the site for disposal where such landfill operates a
gas collection system that provides landfill gas generation or other beneficial
use of the gas. The addition of yard trimmings for disposal, chipping, or other
processing operation at such site shall be subject to approval by the director
through the issuance of a minor modification to the solid waste handling permit
for such facility.
(2)
If the granting of the minor permit modification impairs the ability of the
facility to fulfill the capacity assurances previously issued to local
governments, the facility shall notify the impacted local governments within 30
days of receiving the permit amendment.
(3)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, the governing authority
of a local political subdivision in which a municipal solid waste disposal
facility otherwise subject to this subsection is located may enact an ordinance
prohibiting the disposal of yard trimmings at such facility.
(4)
Except as provided in this subsection, lined municipal solid waste landfills
shall be prohibited from accepting the disposal of yard trimmings.
(c)
The Board of Natural Resources is authorized to develop guidelines to assist
local governing authorities and others in the orderly stockpiling of yard
trimmings at suitable sites, the chipping and composting of yard trimmings,
and
the distribution of the products resulting from such chipping and
composting,
and the disposal of yard trimmings in municipal solid waste landfills as
provided in subsection (b) of this Code section to promote the beneficial use of
landfill gas as a source of
energy."
SECTION
4.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.