O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 12-5-171 (2019)

Declaration of policy; legislative intent; Environmental Protection Division to administer part

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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As a guide to the interpretation and application of this part, it is declared to be the policy of the State of Georgia that the drinking waters of the state shall be utilized prudently to the maximum benefit of the people and that the quality of such waters shall be considered a major factor in the health and welfare of all people in the State of Georgia. To achieve this end, the government of the state shall assume responsibility for the quality of such waters and the establishment and maintenance of a water-supply program adequate for present needs and designed to care for the future needs of the state.

CONSERVATION & NATURAL RES.

This requires that an agency of the state be charged with this duty and that it have the authority to require the use of reasonable methods, that is, those methods which are economically and technologically feasible, to ensure adequate water of the highest quality for water-supply systems. Because of substantial and scientifically significant variations in the characteristics, usage, and effect upon public interest of the various surface and underground waters of the state, uniform requirements will not necessarily apply to all waters or segments thereof. It is the intent of this part to confer discretionary administrative authority upon such agency to take the above and related circumstances into consideration in its decisions and actions in determining, under the conditions prevailing in specific cases, those procedures to best protect the public interests. The Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources shall be the state agency to administer the provisions of this part consistent with the above-stated policy.

History

Code 1933, § 88-2601, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 351, § 1.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Cited in Bass v. Ledbetter, 257 Ga. 738, 363 S.E.2d 760 (1988); Moore v. Dixon, 264 Ga. 797, 452 S.E.2d 484 (1994). RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 78 Am. Jur. 2d, Waterworks and Water Companies, § 2. C.J.S. - 94 C.J.S., Waters, §§ 539, 541, 542, 636, 637. ALR. - Validity of statute prescribing standard of purity of water furnished for human consumption, 6 A.L.R. 475.

Waters: right of municipality, as riparian owner, to use of water for public supply, 141 A.L.R. 639. Liability of water supplier for damages resulting from furnishing impure water, 54 A.L.R.3d 936.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1988–1994 · leading case: Bass v. Ledbetter, 363 S.E.2d 760 (Ga. 1988).
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Bass v. Ledbetter, 363 S.E.2d 760 (Ga. 1988). · cites it 8× “The legislative policy underlying the enactment of the Georgia Safe Drinking Water Act is set out in OCGA § 12-5-171, which demonstrates a clear legislative intent to protect the health of the people of this state by controlling the public water supply.”
Moore v. Dixon, 452 S.E.2d 484 (Ga. 1994). · cites it 2× “” OCGA § 12-5-171. To effectuate this public policy, the Act imposes a requirement upon appellee to obtain a permit to operate the water system.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.