TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

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

ARTICLE 3 HAZARDOUS WASTE

12-8-62. Definitions.

As used in this part, the term:

1. "Board" means the Board of Natural Resources of the State of Georgia.
2. "Designated hazardous waste" means any solid waste identified as such in regulations promulgated by the board. The board may identify as "designated hazardous waste" any solid waste which the board concludes is capable of posing a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of or otherwise managed, based on the factors set forth in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal act which are codified as 40 C.F.R. Section 261.11(a)(3), in force and effect on February 1, 2010, if such solid waste contains any substance which is listed on any one or more of the following lists:
   1. List of Hazardous Constituents, codified as 40 C.F.R. Part 261, Appendix VIII, in force and effect on February 1, 2010;
   2. Ground-water Monitoring List, codified as 40 C.F.R. Part 264, Appendix IX, in force and effect on February 1, 2010;
   3. List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable Quantities, codified as 40 C.F.R. Table 302.4, and all appendices thereto, in force and effect on February 1, 2010;
   4. List of Regulated Pesticides, codified as 40 C.F.R. Part 180, in force and effect on February 1, 2010;
   5. List of Extremely Hazardous Substances and Their Threshold Planning Quantities, codified as 40 C.F.R. Part 355, Appendix A, in force and effect on February 1, 2010; or
   6. List of Chemicals and Chemical Categories, codified as 40 C.F.R. Part 372.65 in force and effect on February 1, 2010.
3. "Director" means the director of the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources.
4. "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground waters.
5. "Division" means the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources.
6. "Federal act" means the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, particularly by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-580, 42 U.S.C. Section 6901, et seq.), as amended, particularly by but not limited to the Used Oil Recycling Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-463), the Solid Waste Disposal Act Amendments of 1980 (Public Law 96-482), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-510), the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (Public Law 98-616), and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-499), as amended.
7. "Final disposition" means the location, time, and method by which hazardous waste loses its identity or enters the environment, including, but not limited to, disposal, disposal site closure and post closure, resource recovery, and treatment.
8. "Guarantor" means any person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator pursuant to this article.
9. "Hazardous constituent" means any substance listed as a hazardous constituent in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal act which are in force and effect on February 1, 2010, codified as Appendix VIII to 40 C.F.R. Part 261-Identification and Listing of Hazardous Waste.
10. "Hazardous waste" means any solid waste which has been defined as a hazardous waste in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal act which are in force and effect on February 1, 2010, codified as 40 C.F.R. Section 261.3 and any designated hazardous waste.
11. "Hazardous waste facility" means any property or facility that is intended or used for storage, treatment, or disposal of hazardous waste.
12. "Hazardous waste generation" means the act or process of producing hazardous waste.
13. "Hazardous waste management" means the systematic recognition and control of hazardous wastes from generation to final disposition or disposal, including, but not limited to, identification, containerization, labeling, storage, collection, source separation, transfer, transportation, processing, treatment, facility closure, post closure, perpetual care, resource recovery, and disposal.
14. "Land disposal" means any placement of hazardous waste in a landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, injection well, land treatment facility, salt dome formation, salt bed formation, or underground mine or cave.
15. "Large quantity generator" means a hazardous waste generator who generates 2.2 pounds or more of acute hazardous waste or 2,200 pounds or more of hazardous waste in one month, as defined in the Rules for Hazardous Waste Management, Chapter 391-3-11, of the Board of Natural Resources.
16. "Manifest" means a form or document used for identifying the quantity and composition, and the origin, routing and destination, of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation, through any intermediate points, to the point of disposal, treatment, or storage.
17. "Organization" means a legal entity, other than a government agency or authority, established or organized for any purpose, and such term includes a corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, joint stock company, foundation, institution, trust, society, union, or any other association of persons.
18. "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, municipality, commission, or political subdivision, or any agency, board, department, or bureau of this state or of any other state or of the federal government.
19. "Serious bodily injury" means a bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.
20. "Solid waste" means solid waste as defined by regulations promulgated by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal act which are in force and effect on February 1, 2010, codified as 40 C.F.R. Sections 261.1, 261.2(a)-(d), and 261.4(a).
21. "Storage" means the containment or holding of hazardous waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such hazardous waste.
22. "Transport" means the movement of hazardous waste from the point of generation to any point of final disposition, storage, or disposal, including any intermediate point.
23. "Treatment" means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize such waste or so as to render such waste nonhazardous, safe for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume. Such term includes any activity or processing designed to change the physical form or chemical composition of hazardous waste so as to render it nonhazardous.
24. "Waste reduction" means a practice, other than dewatering, dilution, or evaporation, by an environmental waste generator, including changes in production technology, materials, processes, operations or procedures or use of in-process, in-line, or closed loop recycling according to standard engineering practices, that reduces the environmental and health hazards associated with waste without diluting or concentrating the waste before release, handling, storage, transport, treatment, or disposal of the waste. The term does not include a practice applied to environmental waste after it is generated and exits a production or commercial operation. Waste reduction shall not in any way be inferred to promote, include, or require:
    1. Waste burning in industrial furnaces, boilers, or cement kilns;
    2. Transfer of an environmental waste from one environmental medium to another environmental medium (otherwise known as waste shifting);
    3. Conversion of a potential waste into another form for use in a production process or operation without serving any substantial productive function;
    4. Off-site waste recycling; or
    5. Any other method of end-of-pipe management of environmental wastes.

(Ga. L. 1979, p. 1127, § 4; Ga. L. 1985, p. 266, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1986, p. 10, § 12; Ga. L. 1986, p. 761, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 12; Ga. L. 1988, p. 727, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1427, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 456, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2234, § 5; Ga. L. 1996, p. 319, § 2; Ga. L. 2006, p. 275, § 3-3/HB 1320; Ga. L. 2010, p. 531, § 4/SB 78; Ga. L. 2010, p. 828, § 1/SB 490.)

The 2010 amendments. The first 2010 amendment, effective May 27, 2010, substituted "February 1, 2010" for "February 1, 1996" throughout this Code section; and substituted "February 1, 2010" for "January 1, 2006" near the end of paragraph (10). The second 2010 amendment, effective June 3, 2010, made identical changes.