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

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1)
General:
For the purpose of these rules, the following words shall have the
				meaning as contained herein unless the context does not permit such meaning.
				Terms not defined in these rules but defined in O.C.G.A. §
									12-8-20
et seq.
,
				shall have the meanings contained therein. Terms not defined in these rules, or
				in O.C.G.A §
									12-8-20
et seq.
,
				shall have ascribed to them the ordinary accepted meanings such as context may
				imply.
(2)
Definitions:
The following terms and definitions shall be used to guide the
				implementation of the solid waste management planning process.
(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:
1. Where it is the intent of the governing
				body to finance or recover the costs of providing goods or services primarily
				through user charges; or
2. Where
				the governing body has decided that periodic determination of revenues earned,
				expenses incurred, and net income are appropriated for capital maintenance,
				public policy, management control, accountability, or other related
				purposes.
(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. §
										12-8-20
et 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. §
										50-8-1
et 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. §
										50-8-1
et 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:
1. Are governed by a Board of Directors which
				represents the interests of the member jurisdictions;
2. Can incur bonded indebtedness without a
				public referendum; and
3. Can enter
				into contracts for the development and operation of facilities.
(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.