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

O.C.G.A. § 12-8-26 (2019)

Public meetings on site selection; notice; decision

✓ 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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(a) Any county, municipality, group of counties, or authority beginning a process to select a site for a municipal solid waste disposal facility must first call at least one public meeting to discuss waste management needs of the local government or region and to describe the process of siting facilities to the public. Notice of this meeting shall be published within a newspaper of general circulation serving such county or municipality at least once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of such meeting. A regional solid waste management authority created under Part 2 of this article must hold at least one meeting within each jurisdiction participating in such authority, and

CONSERVATION & NATURAL RES.

notice for these meetings must be published within a newspaper of general circulation serving each such jurisdiction at least once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of such meeting. (b) The governing authority of any county or municipality taking action resulting in a publicly or privately owned municipal solid waste disposal facility siting decision shall cause to be published within a newspaper of general circulation serving such county or municipality a notice of the meeting at which such siting decision is to be made at least once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of such meeting. Such notice shall state the time, place, and purpose of the meeting and the meeting shall be conducted by the governing authority taking the action. A siting decision shall include, but is not limited to, such activities as the final selection of property for landfilling and the execution of contracts or agreements pertaining to the location of municipal solid waste disposal facilities within the jurisdiction, but shall not include zoning decisions.

History

Code 1981, § 12-8-26, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 412, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 3276, § 7.

Annotations

Cross references. - Permission by counties to persons contracting to transport and dump trash, garbage, or other

refuse at publicly or privately owned dumps, § 36-1-16. Law reviews. - For note on 1992 amendment of this Code section, see 9 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 199 (1992).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Applies to private developer. - Requirement for a public meeting applies when the applicant to the Environmental Protection Division is a private developer applying for a privately owned and operated facility to be located in the municipality, and would apply when the municipality acted for or in collaboration with the developer in ‘‘beginning a process to select a site.’’ City of Arcade v. Emmons, 228 Ga. App. 879, 494 S.E.2d 186 (1997), modified in part, 270 Ga. 196, 507 S.E.2d 464 (1998). ‘‘Siting decision.’’ - Resolution approving a restated lease and operating agreement between a city and the city’s solid waste treatment provider constituted a siting decision since the decision pertained to the location and expansion of the city’s landfill facilities. Grove v. Sugar Hill Inv. Assocs., 219 Ga. App. 781, 466 S.E.2d 901 (1995). When a private developer acted independently in selecting a site for the developer’s proposed landfill, a city’s subse-

quent entry into a contract with the developer governing operation of the landfill and requiring the city’s cooperation with the developer in the city’s application to the Environmental Protection Division was not governed by the requirements of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 12-8-26, but was a ‘‘siting decision’’ governed by subsection (b) of that section. City of Arcade v. Emmons, 228 Ga. App. 879, 494 S.E.2d 186 (1997), modified in part, 270 Ga. 196, 507 S.E.2d 464 (1998). Contract invalid for violating subsection (b). - Because the city failed to give notice, as required by subsection (b) of O.C.G.A. § 12-8-26, of a meeting at which a siting decision was made, the contract between the city and a private developer governing the operation of a proposed landfill was invalid. City of Arcade v. Emmons, 228 Ga. App. 879, 494 S.E.2d 186 (1997), modified in part, 270 Ga. 196, 507 S.E.2d 464 (1998). Permanent injunction prohibited. - Even though a city’s failure to hold a

properly noticed meeting at which a siting decision was made rendered invalid a contract between the city and a private developer regarding a proposed landfill, the city could not be prevented from holding a properly noticed meeting and it was error to grant a permanent injunction against the city’s taking action in furtherance of the landfill. City of Arcade v. Emmons, 228 Ga. App. 879, 494 S.E.2d 186 (1997), modified in part, 270 Ga. 196, 507 S.E.2d 464 (1998).

Impact of failure to provide notice. - Failure of the city to provide notice of a meeting at which a restated lease and operating agreement between the city and the city’s solid waste treatment provider was approved invalidated that portion of the agreement relating to the siting decision - that portion of the agreement pertaining to the expansion of the acreage of the landfill facility. Grove v. Sugar Hill Inv. Assocs., 219 Ga. App. 781, 466 S.E.2d 901 (1995).

RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. - Liability of private persons or corporations draining into sewer maintained by municipality or other public body for damages to riparian owners or others, 170 A.L.R. 1192.

Sewage disposal plant as nuisance, 40 A.L.R.2d 1177.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1985–2024 · leading case: Emmons v. City of Arcade, 507 S.E.2d 464 (Ga. 1998).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Emmons v. City of Arcade, 507 S.E.2d 464 (Ga. 1998). · cites it 30× “Finding that annexation can begin the site selection process, and that there is no bar to injunctive relief, we affirm in part and reverse in part. The facts are detailed in the opinion of the Court of Appeals.”
Grove v. Sugar Hill Inv. Assocs., Inc., 466 S.E.2d 901 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 20× “Subsequently plaintiffs were awarded summary judgment on one count on the basis that the lease agreement provided for the location of additional acreage for a landfill and therefore constituted a siting decision which required prior public notice by publication under OCGA §…”
City of Arcade v. Emmons, 494 S.E.2d 186 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 36× “The suit sought a declaration that the contract between the City and Bartram was void because the City failed to comply with the provisions of the Act set forth in OCGA § 12-8-26 relating to public meetings on the selection of a landfill site within the City.”
Elbert Cnty. v. Sweet City Landfill, Llc., 774 S.E.2d 658 (Ga. 2015). · cites it 4× “” The minutes do not show any other action taken at the July 9, 2012 meeting in regards to Sweet City, and the trial court did not err in ruling that the Board took no action on Sweet City’s application for a SUP.”
Satilla Riverwatch All., Inc. v. David Dove, Interim Dir., Env't Prot. Div., Georgia Dept. of Nat. Resources (Ga. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 47× “See OCGA § 12-8-26. See also Emmons v. City of Arcade, 270 Ga.”
Env't Waste Reductions, Inc. v. Reheis, 887 F. Supp. 1534 (N.D. Ga. 1995). · cites it 2× “1994); the local government must hold a public meeting before any siting decision, O.C.G.A. § 12-8-26(b) (1992); and the applicant must advertise the submission of the permit application, O.”
Dinsmore v. Cherokee Cnty., 338 S.E.2d 523 (Ga. Ct. App. 1985). · cites it 2× “The appellants especially rely upon OCGA § 12-8-26, which provides that “[i]t shall be unlawful for any person to engage in solid waste handling in a manner which will likely create a nuisance; be conducive to insect and rodent infestation or the harboring and feeding of wild…”
Elbert Cnty. v. Sweet City Landfill, Llc. (Ga. 2015). · cites it 3× “Nonetheless, the trial court erred in addressing the County’s motion to dismiss, finding that, under OCGA § 12-8-26 (b), the July 9, 2012 Board action was a “siting decision,” was done without the public notice required by OCGA § 12-8-26 (b) and Section 62-52 of the Elbert…”
— 12-8-26(b) — 1 case
Env't Waste Reductions, Inc. v. Reheis, 887 F. Supp. 1534 (N.D. Ga. 1995). “1994); the local government must hold a public meeting before any siting decision, O.C.G.A. § 12-8-26(b) (1992); and the applicant must advertise the submission of the permit application, O.”
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