TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Section 8. Waste Management, 12-8-1 through 12-8-210.

ARTICLE 2 SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

12-8-51. Authority for enactment; nonprofit and public purposes of authorities; tax exemption; state policy; unfair competition with private sector prohibited.

This part is enacted pursuant to authority granted to the General Assembly by the Constitution of Georgia. Each authority created by this part is created for nonprofit and public purposes; and it is found, determined, and declared that the creation of each such authority and the carrying out of its corporate purposes is in all respects for the benefit of the people of this state and that the authority is an institution of purely public charity and will be performing an essential governmental function in the exercise of the power conferred upon it by this part.For such reasons, the state covenants from time to time with the holders of the bonds issued under this part that such authority shall be required to pay no taxes or assessments imposed by the state or any of its counties, municipal corporations, political subdivisions, or taxing districts upon any property acquired by the authority or under its jurisdiction, control, possession, or supervision or leased by it to others; or upon its activities in the operation or maintenance of any such property; or upon any income derived by the authority in the form of fees, recording fees, rentals, charges, purchase price, installments, or otherwise; and that the bonds of such authority, their transfer, and the income therefrom shall at all times be exempt from taxation within the state.The tax exemption provided in this Code section shall not include any exemption from sales and use tax on property purchased by the authority or for use by the authority.
It is the express policy of the State of Georgia that any authority created by this part shall be authorized with respect to any solid waste which the generator thereof, county, or municipal corporation makes available to such authority to enter into agreements in furtherance of a project granting, directing, or providing for an exclusive right or rights in any authority with respect to such solid waste, including, but not limited to, the exclusive right to collect, acquire, receive, transport, store, treat, process, utilize, sell, or dispose of discarded solid waste; provided, however, no authority created by this part and no county or municipal corporation or other governmental body shall have the right to enter into agreements or to enact ordinances or resolutions providing for any rights with respect to recovered materials or substances, materials, or resources contained in solid waste as may be separated for recycling, use, or reuse at any time prior to pickup by or delivery to any authority, county, municipal corporation, or persons under contract with such authority, county, or municipal corporation.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, no authority shall compete unfairly with the private sector by purchasing or offering to purchase recovered materials at prices higher than the highest prevailing market prices in the county in which the purchase is made for recovered materials of like grade and quality.

(Code 1981, §12-8-51, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 412, § 1.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

State cannot authorize violation of commerce clause.

- State cannot authorize activity which violates the commerce clause; thus, if the Georgia statute enabling authorities to enter agreements for exclusive rights with respect to solid waste disposal is interpreted to exclude competition from the solid waste disposal market, then the statute would conflict with the commerce clause, and, accordingly, conduct of authorities pursuant to the statute would not be entitled to state action immunity. Pine Ridge Recycling, Inc. v. Butts County, 855 F. Supp. 1264 (M.D. Ga. 1994).

Immunity from antitrust liability.

- In an action by a landowner arising from actions of county officials in zoning and land use matters, the policy set forth in O.C.G.A. § 12-8-51 pertaining to the power of solid waste management authorities to enter agreements in furtherance of projects, providing for "exclusive" rights regarding solid waste, served to shield the officials from federal antitrust liability. James Emory, Inc. v. Twiggs County, 883 F. Supp. 1546 (M.D. Ga. 1995).

Zoning board's actions in denying landfill developer a permit for the vertical expansion of its landfill made pursuant to the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-8-51(b), were shielded from federal antitrust liability under the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2. BFI Waste Sys. of N. Am. v. Dekalb County, 303 F. Supp. 2d 1335 (N.D. Ga. 2004).

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