House Bill 1133 By: Representatives Dickey of the 134th, Corbett of the 174th, Camp of the 135th, and Smith of the 70th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 23 of Title 50, Code Section 36-91-100, and Code Section 48-8-200 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, definitions regarding bidding for government works projects, and definitions regarding water and sewer projects and costs tax, respectively, so as to authorize the authority to finance and perform certain duties in connection with projects related to facilitating solar installations on closed landfills; to provide for limited liability; to provide for definitions; to make conforming changes; to provide for related matters; to provide for contingent effectiveness upon appropriation of funds; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Chapter 23 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, is amended by revising Code Section 50-23-4, relating to definitions, as follows: "50-23-4. As used in this chapter, the term: (1) 'Authority' means the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. (2) 'Bond' includes revenue bond, bond, note, or other obligation. (3) 'Closed landfill' means a landfill that has been closed pursuant to a procedure approved by the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources which provided for the cessation of waste receipt at a solid waste disposal site and for the securing of the site in preparation for postclosure. (3)(4) 'Cost of project' or 'cost of any project' means: (A) All costs of acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, construction, assembly, installation, modification, renovation, extension, or rehabilitation incurred in connection with any project or any part of any project; (B) All costs of real property, fixtures, or personal property used in or in connection with or necessary for any project or for any facilities related thereto, including but not limited to, the cost of all land, interests in land, estates for years, easements, rights, improvements, water rights, and connections for utility services; the cost of fees, franchises, permits, approvals, licenses, and certificates; the cost of securing any such franchises, permits, approvals, licenses, or certificates; the cost of preparation of any application therefor; and the cost of all fixtures, machinery, equipment, furniture, and other property used in or in connection with or necessary for any project; (C) All financing charges, bond insurance, and loan or loan guarantee fees and all interest on revenue bonds, notes, or other obligations of the authority which accrue or are paid prior to and during the period of construction of a project and during such additional period as the authority may reasonably determine to be necessary to place such project in operation; (D) All costs of engineering, surveying, planning, environmental assessments, financial analyses, and architectural, legal, and accounting services and all expenses incurred by engineers, surveyors, planners, environmental scientists, fiscal analysts, architects, attorneys, accountants, and any other necessary technical personnel in connection with any project; (E) All expenses for inspection of any project; (F) All fees of fiscal agents, paying agents, and trustees for bondholders under any bond resolution, trust agreement, indenture of trust, or similar instrument or agreement; all expenses incurred by any such fiscal agents, paying agents, and trustees; and all other costs and expenses incurred relative to the issuance of any bonds, revenue bonds, notes, or other obligations for any project, including bond insurance; (G) All fees of any type charged by the authority in connection with any project; (H) All expenses of or incidental to determining the feasibility or practicability of any project; (I) All costs of plans and specifications for any project; (J) All costs of title insurance and examinations of title with respect to any project; (K) Repayment of any loans for the advance payment of any part of any of the foregoing costs, including interest thereon and any other expenses of such loans; (L) Administrative expenses of the authority and such other expenses as may be necessary or incidental to any project or the financing thereof or the placing of any project in operation; and (M) The establishment of a fund or funds for the creation of a debt service reserve, a renewal and replacement reserve, or such other funds or reserves as the authority may approve with respect to the financing and operation of any project and as may be authorized by any bond resolution, trust agreement, indenture, or trust or similar instrument or agreement pursuant to the provisions of which the issuance of any revenue bonds, notes, or other obligations of the authority may be authorized. Any cost, obligation, or expense incurred for any of the purposes specified in this paragraph shall be a part of the cost of the project and may be paid or reimbursed as such out of the proceeds of revenue bonds, notes, or other obligations issued by the authority. (4)(5) 'County' means any county created under the Constitution or laws of this state. (5)(6) 'Environmental facilities' means any projects, structures, and other real or personal property acquired, rehabilitated, constructed, or planned: (A) For the purposes of supplying, distributing, and treating water and diverting, channeling, or controlling water flow and head, including, but not limited to, surface or ground water, canals, reservoirs, channels, basins, dams, aqueducts, standpipes, penstocks, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping stations, water distribution systems, compensating reservoirs, intake stations, waterworks or sources of water supply, wells, purification or filtration plants or other treatment plants and works, connections, water meters, mechanical equipment, electric generating equipment, rights of flowage or division and other plant structures, equipment, conveyances, real or personal property or rights therein and appurtenances, furnishings, accessories, and devices thereto necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, conveyance, distribution, pumping, treatment, storing, or disposing of water; (B) For the purposes of collecting, treating, or disposing of sewage, including, but not limited to, main, trunk, intercepting, connecting, lateral, outlet, or other sewers, outfall, pumping stations, treatment and disposal plants, ground water rechange basins, backflow prevention devices, sludge dewatering or disposal equipment and facilities, clarifiers, filters, phosphorus removal equipment and other plants, soil absorption systems, innovative systems or equipment, structures, equipment, vehicles, conveyances, real or personal property or rights therein, and appurtenances thereto necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, conveyance, pumping, treatment, neutralization, storing, and disposing of sewage; (C) For the purposes of collecting, treating, recycling, composting, or disposing of solid waste, including, but not limited to, trucks, dumpsters, intermediate reception stations or facilities, transfer stations, incinerators, shredders, treatment plants, landfills, landfill equipment, barrels, binders, barges, alternative technologies and other plant structures, equipment, conveyances, improvements, real or personal property or rights therein, and appurtenances, furnishings, accessories, and devices thereto necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, treatment, or disposal of solid waste; (D) For the purposes of carrying out a community land conservation project or a state land conservation project pursuant to Chapter 22 of Title 36; (E) For the purposes of conversion of electrical lines from aboveground lines to underground lines; or (F) For the purposes of storing, supplying, and distributing natural gas outside any certified area of a nonmunicipal gas company, as such term is defined in Code Section 46-1-1, including, but not limited to, pipelines, storage tanks and facilities, natural gas distribution systems, equipment, vehicles, conveyances, real or personal property or rights therein and appurtenances, furnishings, accessories, and devices thereto necessary or useful and convenient for the storage, supply, and distribution of natural gas; or (G) For the purpose of facilitating solar installations on closed landfills, including, but not limited to, solar modules and panels, inverters, support structures and racking, electrical wiring and cables, transformers, telecommunications and monitoring equipment, access roads, meteorological stations, security fencing, and energy storage facilities. (6)(7) 'Environmental services' means the provision, collectively or individually, of water facilities, sewerage facilities, solid waste facilities, facilitation of solar installations on closed landfills, natural gas facilities, conversion of electrical lines from aboveground lines to underground lines, community land conservation projects or state land conservation projects pursuant to Chapter 22 Title 36, or management services. (8) 'Landfill' means an area of land on which or an excavation in which solid waste is placed for permanent disposal and which is not a land application unit, surface impoundment, injection well, or compost pile. (7)(9) 'Local government' or 'local governing authority' means any municipal corporation or county or any local water or sewer or sanitary district and any state or local authority, board, or political subdivision created by the General Assembly or pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the state. (8)(10) 'Management services' means technical, administrative, instructional, or informational services provided to any current or potential loan recipient in, but not limited to, the areas of service charge structure; accounting, capital improvements budgeting or financing; financial reporting, treasury management, debt structure or administration or related fields of financial management; contract or grant administration; management of water, sewer, or solid waste systems; and economic development administration or strategies. Management services may be furnished either directly, on-site, or through other written or oral means of communication and may consist of reports, studies, presentations, or other analyses of a written or oral nature. (9)(11) 'May' means permission and not command. (10)(12) 'Municipal corporation' or 'municipality' means any city or town in this state. (10.1)(13) 'Natural gas facility' means any environmental facility described in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (5) (6) of this Code section. (10.2)(14) 'Nongovernmental entity' means a nonprofit organization the primary purposes of which are the permanent protection and conservation of land and natural resources. (10.3)(15) 'Nonprofit corporation' means any corporation qualified as a not for profit corporation by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. (11)(16) 'Obligation' means any bond, revenue bond, note, lease, contract, evidence of indebtedness, debt, or other obligation of the authority, the state, or local governments which are authorized to be issued under this chapter or under the Constitution or other laws of this state, including refunding bonds. (12)(17) 'Project' means: (A) The acquisition, construction, installation, modification, renovation, repair, extension, renewal, replacement, or rehabilitation of land, interest in land, buildings, structures, facilities, or other improvements and the acquisition, installation, modification, renovation, repair, extension, renewal, replacement, rehabilitation, or furnishing of fixtures, machinery, equipment, furniture, or other property of any nature whatsoever used on, in, or in connection with any such land, interest in land, building, structure, facility, or other improvement, all for the essential public purpose of providing environmental facilities and services so as to meet public health and environmental standards, protect the state's valuable natural resources, or aid the development of trade, commerce, industry, agriculture, and employment opportunities, including, but not limited to, any project as defined by Code Section 12-5-471; (B) Projects authorized by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority created by Chapter 32 of this title and as defined in such chapter, where such authority has been directed to issue revenue bonds, bonds, notes, or other obligations to finance such project or the cost of a project in whole or in part, provided that such authority's power with respect to such projects authorized by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority shall be limited to providing such financing and related matters as authorized by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority; and (C) Projects authorized by the Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Authority created pursuant to Chapter 39 of this title and as defined in such chapter, where such authority has been directed to issue revenue bonds, bonds, notes, or other obligations to finance such project or the cost of a project in whole or in part, provided that such authority's power with respect to such projects authorized by the Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Authority shall be limited to providing such financing and related matters as authorized by the Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Authority. (13)(18) 'Revenue bond' includes bond, note, or other obligation. (14)(19) 'Self-liquidating project' means any project or combination of projects if, in the judgment of the authority, the revenues, rents, or earnings to be derived by the authority therefrom will be sufficient to pay the cost of maintaining, repairing, and operating the project and to pay the principal and interest of revenue bonds which may be issued for the cost of such project, projects, or combination of projects. (15)(20) 'Sewerage facility' means any environmental facility described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) (6) of this Code section, defining 'environmental facilities.'. (21) 'Solar installation' means a solar energy device that does not meet the definition of solar technology pursuant to Code Section 46-3-62, or the integrated collection of such devices, together with any equipment or other personal property and improvements under common ownership that are used to support the operation of such a solar energy device or solar energy devices, including, but not limited to, underground or aboveground electrical transmission or communications lines, electric transformers, battery storage facilities, telecommunications equipment, roads, meteorological towers, and maintenance yards. (22) 'Solid waste' means any garbage or refuse; sludge from a waste-water treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; and other discarded material including solid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and community activities. Such term does not include recovered materials, post-use plastics and nonrecycled feedstock that are subsequently processed using a pyrolysis or gasification to fuels and chemicals process, solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage, solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permit under 33 U.S.C. Section 1342, or source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 923). (15.5)(23) 'Solid waste facility' means any environmental facility described in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (5) (6) of this Code section, defining 'environmental facilities.'. (16)(24) 'Water facility' means any environmental facility described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5) (6) of this Code section, defining 'environmental facilities.'." SECTION 2. Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 50-23-12, relating to personal liability of members, officers, and employees of the authority, as follows: "50-23-12. Neither the members of the authority nor any officer or employee of the authority acting in behalf thereof, while acting within the scope of his or her authority, shall be subject to any liability resulting from: (1) The construction, ownership, maintenance, or operation of any project financed with the assistance of the authority; (2) The construction, ownership, maintenance, or operation of any solid waste system, sewerage system, natural gas system, environmental facility, or water system owned by a local government; or (3) The facilitation of solar installations on closed landfills; or (3)(4) Carrying out any of the powers expressly given in this article." SECTION 3. Code Section 36-91-100 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to definitions regarding bidding for government works projects, is amended by revising paragraph (5) as follows: "(5) 'Project' has the meaning provided by paragraph (10) of shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section 12-5-471 and includes environmental facilities as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) (6) of Code Section 50-23-4." SECTION 4. Code Section 48-8-200 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to definitions regarding water and sewer projects and costs tax, is amended by revising subparagraph (c) of paragraph (4) as follows: "(C)(i) With respect to any project or projects provided for under subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph: (I) Any cost of project or cost of any project as defined under paragraph (3) (4) of Code Section 50-23-4; and (II) Any maintenance and operation costs." SECTION 5. This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2027, and shall be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. SECTION 6. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.