Georgia County Government - March 2008 - (Page 24)

Feature Solid Waste Management in Georgia This three-part series continues with a look at Georgia’s response to the solid waste management ‘crisis’ – creation and implementation of the Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act – as well as a look at special provisions for scrap tires and the Georgia Solid Waste Management Fund. By James E. Kundell, Ph.D. I n the late 1980s, solid waste management emerged as a major public policy issue in Georgia, as well as in other states. It was clear that new landfill standards would be released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the cost of solid waste management would increase. There were also landfill siting issues that, although local in nature, were increasingly coming before the General Assembly to resolve. In response, in 1989 the General Assembly passed Senate Resolution 103 creating a joint House/Senate study committee to make recommendations for a comprehensive rewrite of the 1972 Solid Waste Management Act. The goal of the committee was to recommend policies to establish an integrated solid waste management program for the state.1 The committee was faced with a challenge in that while waste management was highly controversial, limited information was available to draw on to address the issues. Some key information gaps included: • lack of information on how much waste was generated statewide and on a per capita basis; • lack of information on t he composit ion of t he solid waste stream; 24 GEORGIA COUNTY GOVERNMENT • lack of mechanisms to accurately measure waste reduction or disposal rates; • lack of information on industries (markets) that use materials recovered from t he solid waste stream as feedstock for their manufacturing processes; • lack of information on how to make waste reduction and recycling integral parts of a solid waste management program; and • lack of information on the costs and benefits of various solid waste reduction, collection and disposal options and how these components of solid waste management interact with each other. A f t e r mu c h e f for t a nd m a ny meetings with interest groups, the study committee released its recommendation at the end of 1989. During the 1990 legislative session, Senate Bill 533 (the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act) was passed by the G ener a l A s sembly. I ntere st i ng ly, the Act received no negative votes during the entire legislative process (in committees or on the f loor of the House and Senate), a truly remarkable accompl ish ment consider i ng how controversial solid waste issues are. The unanimous support among legislators for the bill was likely the result of the work put into reaching consensus among stakeholders before the bill was introduced and the creation of a team that carried the legislation through the legislative process. The team was composed of t he governor’s f loor leaders and legal counsel, chairmen of t he House a nd Senate natura l resources committees, director of EPD, commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), executive directors of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) and the author of this report. A couple of m i nor a mend ments, supported by the team, were made to the bill, but otherwise it passed in the form that it was introduced. The Act called for environmentally protect ive la nd f i l l sta nda rds a nd established requirements for upgrading existing and constructing new landfills, which met t he federa l Subtit le D standards as adopted by the state. It set up a facility siting negotiation process to assist in siting solid waste facilities. It also banned certain materials, such as lead/acid batteries from disposal in MSW landfills. Much of the Act, however, focused on waste reduction, planning, technical assistance and

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - March 2008

Georgia County Government - March 2008 Contents President's Message County Matters Guest Editorial: Our Future Depends On Statesmanship Bryan County in Step With State Coastal Plan Solid Waste Management in Georgia Hazardous Waste Management in Georgia Extension News: Georgians Growing Older, Fatter County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - March 2008

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