Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448

2018 Georgia Code 12-5-245 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 12-5-245 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 12-5-245

TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Section 5. Water Resources, 12-5-1 through 12-5-586.

ARTICLE 4 COASTAL WATERS, BEACHES, AND SAND DUNES

12-5-245. Injunctive relief.

Any activity in violation of this part or of any ordinance or regulation adopted pursuant to this part shall be a public nuisance; and such activity may be enjoined or abated by an action filed in the appropriate superior court by the Attorney General on behalf of the department, by any local unit of government affected, or by any person. Upon showing of any activity in violation of this part or of any ordinance or regulation adopted pursuant to this part, a temporary restraining order, a permanent or temporary injunction, or other order shall be granted without the necessity of showing lack of an adequate remedy at law and irreparable injury. The relief granted by the court in an action filed pursuant to this Code section may include, but shall not be limited to, an order requiring the sand dunes, beaches, and submerged lands to be returned to their condition prior to such violation.

(Code 1981, §12-5-245, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 1362, § 1.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Sovereign immunity barred injunctive relief.

- In a suit brought by an organization seeking to enjoin the Georgia Department of Natural Resources from issuing letters of permission authorizing land alterations, the appellate court erred by reversing the dismissal of the organization's claim for injunctive relief because sovereign immunity barred injunctive relief against the state at common law and the plain language of the Shore Protection Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-5-245, did not provide for a specific waiver of governmental immunity. Ga. Dep't of Natural Res. v. Ctr. for a Sustainable Coast, Inc., 294 Ga. 593, 755 S.E.2d 184 (2014).

Suit seeking injunctive relief proper.

- Trial court erred in dismissing claim for injunctive relief because the issuance of letters of permission by the Department of Natural Resources for activities that required a permit under the Shore Protection Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-5-237, were subject to challenge under O.C.G.A. § 12-5-245; the center's claim for declaratory relief from letters already issued was properly dismissed because a justiciable controversy no longer existed for which a declaratory judgment would have been appropriate. Ctr. for a Sustainable Coast, Inc. v. Ga. Dep't of Natural Res., 319 Ga. App. 205, 734 S.E.2d 206 (2012).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 39A C.J.S., Health and Environment, §§ 150, 155.

ALR.

- Requirement that there be continuing violation to maintain citizen suit under federal environmental protection statutes - post-Gwaltney cases, 158 A.L.R. Fed. 519.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 12-5-245

Total Results: 1  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

Copy

Georgia Dep't of Nat. Resources v. Ctr. for a Sustainable Coast, Inc., 294 Ga. 593 (Ga. 2014).

Cited 132 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Feb 24, 2014 | 755 S.E.2d 184, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 262

...injunctive relief based on its conclusion that this claim was directly dependent upon the viability of its declaratory judgment claim. The trial court also dismissed the Center’s injunctive relief claim because the statute pursuant to which the Center sought injunctive relief, OCGA § 12-5-245, did not contain a waiver of sovereign immunity, and therefore, an injunction against the State was barred. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding that the trial court had correctly dismissed the Cen...
...relief claim. Center for a Sustainable Coast, Inc. v. Ga. Dept. of Natural Resources, 319 Ga. App. 205 (734 SE2d 206) (2012). The Court of Appeals concluded that 2 “[p]retermitting whether OCGA § 12-5-245 permits a claim for injunctive relief, the Center is able to bring such a claim without running afoul of sovereign immunity.” Id....
...reading of Paragraph IX regarding waivers and sovereign immunity. Not only does sovereign immunity bar the Center’s claim for injunctive relief against the State at common law, but it also bars the Center’s claim for injunctive relief pursuant to OCGA § 12-5-245. We agree with the trial court that there is no waiver of sovereign immunity found in OCGA § 12-5-245.5 This section of the Act provides: Any activity in violation of this part or of any ordinance or regulation adopted pursuant to this part shall be a public nuisance; and such activity may be enjoined or abated by...
...necessity of showing lack of an adequate remedy at law and irreparable injury. . . . Id. 5 The Court of Appeals did not rule on whether sovereign immunity barred the Center’s claim for injunctive relief pursuant to OCGA § 12-5-245 and instead found the claim viable under the common law. Center for a Sustainable Coast, 319 Ga. App. at 209 (“Pretermitting whether OCGA § 12-5-245 permits a claim for injunctive relief, the Center is able to bring such a claim” under the common law.). 20 In construing [a] statute, we apply the fundamental rules of statutory construction t...
...meaning, and to avoid a construction that makes some language mere surplusage. At the same time, we must seek to effectuate the intent of the legislature. Currid v. DeKalb State Court Probation Dept., 285 Ga. 184, 187 (674 SE2d 894) (2009). The plain language of OCGA § 12-5-245 does not provide for a specific waiver of governmental immunity nor the extent of such a waiver, and therefore, no waiver can be implied or shown....
...245 because the statute is directed toward “activity” of persons that alters the lands covered under the Act and is not directed toward regulating the State’s permitting of such activity. Therefore, the Center’s request for injunctive relief pursuant to OCGA § 12-5-245 is barred. Our decision today does not mean that citizens aggrieved by the 21 unlawful conduct of public officers are without recourse....
...the Center’s claim for injunctive relief based on sovereign immunity. We hold that sovereign immunity bars the Center’s claim for injunctive relief against the State in this case, whether the Center brings that claim pursuant to the common law or OCGA § 12-5-245, and therefore, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals insofar as it held the Center’s claim for injunctive relief to be viable. 3....