Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 110 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Chapter 110-4 - SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Subject 110-4-3 - MINIMUM PLANNING STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Rule 110-4-3-.02 - Definitions

(a) "Annual Survey" means the survey instrument that is distributed by the Department to local governments on an annual basis in order to compile Georgia solid waste management data. The survey includes the status of local and regional solid waste management activities, the full-cost report, and solid waste reduction practices.

(b) "Board" means the Board of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

(c) "Board of Directors" means the Board of Directors of a Regional Development Center.

(d) "Board of Natural Resources" means the Board of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

(e) "Capital Costs" means any cost for or associated with the purchase of tangible assets such as land, roads, buildings, and equipment, including improvements, modifications, or additions which increase the value, usefulness, or life of these assets.

(f) "Comprehensive Plan" means any plan by a county or municipality covering such county or municipality or any plan by a Regional Development Center covering the center's region proposed or prepared pursuant to the minimum standards and procedures for preparation of comprehensive plans and for implementation of comprehensive plans, established by the Department in accordance with the O.C.G.A. § 50-8-7.1(b) and § 50-8-7.2.

(g) "Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan" means any solid waste management plan by a county or municipality, any group of local jurisdictions agreeing to plan together, or any local or regional solid waste authority, or any plan by a Regional Development Center on behalf of a member county or municipality, covering such county or municipality individually or in conjunction with other local governments prepared pursuant to the minimum standards and procedures for comprehensive solid waste management plans and for implementation of comprehensive solid waste management plans, established by the Department in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 12-8-31.1.

(h) "Composting" means the controlled biological decomposition of organic matter into a stable, odor-free humus.

(i) ''County'' means any county of the State of Georgia.

(j) ''Days'' means calendar days, unless otherwise specified.

(k) "Department" means the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

(l) "Developments of Regional Impact" means any project that requires local government action to proceed and that exceeds the minimum thresholds established by the Department. Such procedures and guidelines to govern developments of regional impact shall be promulgated by the Department pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-8-7.1(b)(3).

(m) ''DNR'' means the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

(n) "Eligible Local Government" means a government has adopted and notified the Department of its adoption of a solid waste management plan and short-term work program update that the Department has determined meets the Minimum Standards and Procedures for Solid Waste Management Planning.

(o) "Enterprise Fund" means a fund established to account for operations that are financed and operated in a manner similar to private business enterprises:

(p) "EPD" means the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

(q) "Fee Schedule" means a detailed schedule listing the goods or services provided by a government and any fees, rates, or special taxes assessed or charged for these goods or services.

(r) "Full-Cost Report" means the use of an accounting system that isolates, and then consolidates for reporting purposes, the direct and indirect costs that relate to the operation of the solid waste management system.

(s) "Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act" means the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act of 1990, O.C.G.A. § 12-8-20et seq., which establishes the statutory authority for local governments to develop solid waste management plans. The Act also requires local governments to report annually to the Department and to the public the amount of solid waste generated and the cost of disposing of that waste.

(t) "Georgia Planning Act" means the Georgia Planning Act of 1989, O.C.G.A. § 50-8-1et seq., which establishes the statutory authority for local governments to undertake comprehensive plans which comply with the Minimum Planning Standards and Procedures as established by the Department.

(u) "Governing Body" means the board of commissioners of a county, sole commissioner of a county, council, commissioners, or other governing authority of a county, municipality, or solid waste authority.

(v) "Household Hazardous Waste" (HHW) means unwanted household products that are labeled as flammable, toxic, corrosive, or reactive.

(w) "Implementation Strategy" means the narrative and year-specific description that each county and municipality must submit as an element of a comprehensive solid waste management plan. An implementation strategy describes how each local government intends to implement its comprehensive solid waste management plan through a ten-year period, including a listing of public actions to be undertaken by the community toward implementation of the comprehensive solid waste management plan and the related costs of such actions. For regional plans, the implementation strategy must also detail solid waste management activities to be undertaken by any regional entity, or by any local government on behalf of other local governments through contracts or other formal arrangements.

(x) "Local Government" means any county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state.

(y) "Local Plan" means the solid waste management plan for any county or municipality.

(z) "Mediation" means the process to be employed by the Department and/or Regional Development Centers for resolving conflicts which may arise from time to time in the coordinated and comprehensive planning process. Such procedures and guidelines to govern mediation shall be promulgated by the department pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-8-7.1(d).

(aa) "Minimum Standards and Procedures" means the minimum standards and procedures, including the minimum elements which shall be addressed and included for preparation of local, multi-jurisdictional, and regional solid waste management plans, for implementation of local comprehensive plans, and for participation in the coordinated and comprehensive planning process. Minimum standards and procedures may include any elements, standards, and procedures for such purposes prescribed by a Regional Development Center for counties and municipalities within its region and approved in advance by the Department, in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 50-8-1et seq., and the rules and guidelines developed by the Department.

(bb) "Mulch" a byproduct typically comprised of materials from land clearing and yard trimmings that have been size-reduced by grinding, chipping, or shredding and used on top of the soil to retain moisture around vegetation or for aesthetic purposes.

(cc) "Multi-Jurisdictional Plan" means a solid waste management plan adopted pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-8-31.1 covering one or more counties, municipality or municipalities, or solid waste authority or solid waste authorities.

(dd) "Municipal Solid Waste" means any solid waste derived from households, including garbage, trash, and sanitary waste in septic tanks and means solid waste from single family and multifamily residences, hotels and motels, bunkhouses, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day use recreation areas. The term includes yard trimmings and commercial solid waste but does not include recovered materials, or solid waste from mining, agricultural, or silvicultural operations or industrial processes or operations.

(ee) "Municipality" means any municipal corporation of the state and any consolidated city-county government of the state.

(ff) "Operating Costs" means any costs incurred during the normal course of the operation of a business, government, or organization, including expenditures for items such as salaries, wages, and benefits; supplies and utilities; and gas, oil, and maintenance.

(gg) "Plan Amendment" means a significant action by a local government to change its currently approved solid waste management plan. Amendments shall be deemed necessary when the local government feels conditions have changed dramatically so as to alter the basic tenets of its approved solid waste plan.

(hh) "Plan Approval" means the certification conferred by the Department acknowledging that a local government has prepared, submitted to the regional development center for review, and has received written approval from the Department that their plan, plan amendment, or short-term work program update meets the minimum standards and procedures and may be adopted.

(ii) "Recovered Materials" means those materials which have known use, reuse, or recycling potential; can be feasibly used, reused, or recycled; and have been diverted or removed from the solid waste stream for sale, use, reuse, or recycling, whether or not requiring subsequent separation and processing.

(jj) "Recycling" means any process by which materials that would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products.

(kk) "Regional Authority" means a group of jurisdictions that have joined together for a single purpose as a legally constituted entity. Regional authorities:

(ll) "Regional Development Center" means a Regional Development Center established under O.C.G.A. § 50-8-32.

(mm) "Regional Plan" means a solid waste management plan that addresses one or more of the planning elements on a regional basis. A regional plan shall cover two or more counties and may include one or more municipality within those counties.

(nn) "Short Term Work Program" means that portion of the Implementation Strategy that lists the specific actions to be undertaken annually by the local government over the upcoming five years to implement the approved comprehensive solid waste management plan.

(oo) "Solid Waste" means any garbage or refuse; sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; and other discarded material including solid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and community activities, but does not include recovered materials; solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage; solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permit under 33 U.S.C. § 1342; or source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 923).

(pp) "Solid Waste Disposal and Landfill Capacity Reports" means reports required by DNR Rule 391-3-4-.17 to be filed with the Director of DNR by holders of municipal solid waste disposal and landfill permits showing quarterly amount disposed and remaining landfill capacity.

(qq) "Solid Waste Handling" means the storage, collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing, or disposal of solid waste, or any combination of such activities.

(rr) "Solid Waste Handling Facility" means any facility, the primary purpose of which is the storage, collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing, or disposal, or any combination thereof, of solid waste.

(ss) "Solid Waste Handling Permit" means written authorization granted to a person by the Director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to engage in solid waste handling.

(tt) "Source Reduction" means actions taken to prevent the generation of waste in the first place.

(uu) "Subtitle D" means the 1991 amendments to Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 40 CFR Part 257 and 258 . These amendments, adopted by the State of Georgia in DNR Rule 391-3-4, require, among other things, specific design standards for solid waste landfills, such as synthetic liners, leachate collection and treatment, groundwater monitoring, and methane collection systems, intended to extend an extra measure of protection to air and water quality.

(vv) "State Agency" means any department, agency, commission, or other institution of the executive branch of the government of the State of Georgia.

(ww) "State Plan" means the State Solid Waste Management Plan prepared by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, including any revisions or amendments thereto.

(xx) "Waste Stream Analysis" means an inventory and analysis of the solid waste stream, including amounts of waste being generated and/or disposed, the source of the waste (i.e., residential, commercial), and a characterization of the waste by composition (i.e., paper, food, yard trimmings). A waste stream analysis also includes a percentage accounting of the waste stream by source and by composition.

(yy) "Waste to Energy Facility" or WTE means a solid waste handling facility that provides for the extraction and utilization of energy from municipal solid waste through a process of combustion.