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House · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 956: Solid Waste Trust Fund; authorize use of funds for implementation of provisions of a solid waste management program

Last action July 1, 2026 · Effective Date

House Bill 956 would let Georgia's Solid Waste Trust Fund pay for running the state's solid waste management program, including permitting, inspections, and enforcement, not just tire and contamination cleanup.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Georgia's Solid Waste Trust Fund (O.C.G.A. § 12-8-27.1) currently can only be spent on specific things: emergency cleanup of contaminant releases from disposal facilities, corrective action when an owner can't or won't act, long-term monitoring of closed facilities, the state's scrap tire management program, and purposes tied to another code section on tire fees. This bill adds a new allowed use. It lets the fund pay for actions needed to carry out Georgia's solid waste management program generally, specifically permitting, monitoring, developing regulations or guidance, inspections, and enforcement. The change is made by amending subsection (c) of the existing law to add this new sixth category alongside the existing ones. The bill repeals any conflicting laws but does not state a special effective date beyond the standard process for a signed act.

What the bill does

  • Adds a new authorized use for the Solid Waste Trust Fund: implementing Georgia's solid waste management program, not just scrap tires or emergency contamination response.
  • Specifically allows fund money to pay for permitting, monitoring, regulation or guidance development, inspections, and enforcement tied to solid waste management.
  • Keeps all of the fund's existing allowed uses in place, including emergency response to contaminant releases and the scrap tire program.
  • Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change.

Who it affects

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division, which administers the Solid Waste Trust Fund and the state's solid waste program, along with landfill and disposal facility owners and operators, tire carriers and handlers, and local governments that receive grants or loans from the fund.

Why it matters

State regulators would gain a clearer, dedicated funding source to cover the everyday work of overseeing solid waste in Georgia, such as issuing permits and conducting inspections, rather than relying only on funds earmarked for emergencies or tire cleanup.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 revises subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 12-8-27.1 to add a sixth authorized use of the Solid Waste Trust Fund.
  • The new paragraph (6) allows spending on actions necessary to implement a solid waste management program, including permitting, monitoring, regulation or guidance development, inspections, and enforcement.
  • The existing four purposes, emergency response, corrective action, postclosure monitoring, and the scrap tire program, remain unchanged and dedicated fund uses.
  • Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause with no substantive effect beyond this bill's own change.

From the bill

“To take such actions as may be necessary to implement the provisions of a solid waste management program in this state, particularly regarding permitting, monitoring, regulation or guidance development, inspections, and enforcement.”

This is the new purpose the bill adds to the list of allowed uses for the trust fund.

Discussed in meetings (14)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. House Natural Resources & Environment Committee, February 5, 2026

    From 0:01:51 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 956 would give the Environmental Protection Division director more flexibility to use Solid Waste Trust Fund money for solid waste work, including emergency response, permitting and maintaining programs when federal funding is delayed or reduced. The sponsor cited a tire fire response that the fund could not pay for under current law. The sponsor said moving collection of the $1 tire fee from retailers to distributors added about $2 million annually, and that all known tire dumps, about 75, were under enforcement or being assigned for cleanup. The sponsor said eligible local cleanup and recycling grant requests were fully funded and that the bill would not reduce those grants, support for Keep Georgia Beautiful or the agency's current budget. Asked whether the bill would affect local-government checks in landfill permitting, the sponsor said it would not. The sponsor also assured a member that local grant funding would continue. Another member said tire amnesty grants were critical to removing roadside tires. A motion and second were followed by a voice vote with ayes and no audible nays. The chair did not explicitly announce the result.

  2. House Rules Committee, February 9, 2026

    From 0:26:54 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 956 would authorize the Environmental Protection Division director to take actions needed to implement provisions of the Solid Waste Trust Fund. No questions were asked, and the committee took no calendar action.

  3. House Rules Committee, February 17, 2026

    From 1:01:09 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee placed the bill on the day's calendar after a motion and second, with no stated opposition. The bill's substance was not discussed.

  4. House floor session, February 17, 2026 (legislative day 19)

    From 2:27:23 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 640

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 956 would give the Environmental Protection Division director more flexibility to use Solid Waste Trust Fund money for waste-management work. The sponsor said shifting collection of the $1 new-tire fee from retailers to distributors in 2023 had produced an additional $2 million annually. As an example of the need for flexibility, the sponsor said current law prevented payment from the fund for an emergency team's response to a tire fire. The sponsor also cited timely permits and gaps caused by uncertain federal funding. One member asked whether permitting would move to the Department of Agriculture or otherwise change. The sponsor said the work would remain with the Environmental Protection Division and permitting authority would not change. The House passed the bill, 159 to 0.

  5. Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee, February 19, 2026

    From 0:33:18 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 956 would give the Environmental Protection Division director flexibility to take actions the director considers necessary to implement the Solid Waste Management Plan. The sponsor offered to provide background or answer questions, but members asked no substantive questions. The committee approved the measure by a show of hands; no vote count was stated.

  6. Senate Rules Committee, March 9, 2026

    From 0:01:35 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would give the Environmental Protection Division director flexibility to use Solid Waste Trust Fund money to carry out the solid waste management plan. As an example, the sponsor said emergency staff responding to a tire fire could not currently be paid from that fund. Asked where that money comes from now, the sponsor confirmed it comes from the regular operating budget. No vote was recorded.

  7. Senate Rules Committee, March 10, 2026

    From 0:04:51 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 956 would give the Environmental Protection Division director flexibility to take actions needed to implement provisions of the Solid Waste Trust Fund. No questions were asked. The committee later unanimously approved including the bill on the floor calendar.

  8. Senate floor session, March 12, 2026 (legislative day 31)

    From 2:22:55 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Third Read)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 956 would expand permitted Solid Waste Trust Fund uses to include permitting, monitoring, regulations or guidance, inspections and enforcement. The sponsor said the change would give the Environmental Protection Division more flexibility without an anticipated effect on its current state-funded budget. As an example, the sponsor said current law prevented the fund from paying for an emergency response to a large tire fire. The sponsor reported support from the governor’s office and Office of Planning and Budget, House passage of 159 to 3 and unanimous Senate committee approval. With no questions or opposition, the Senate passed the bill 45 to 1.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-07-01Effective Date
  2. 2026-05-06Act 428
  3. 2026-05-06House Date Signed by Governor (House)
  4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
  5. 2026-03-12Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
  6. 2026-03-12Senate Third Read (Senate)
  7. 2026-02-24Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  8. 2026-02-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
Show full history (15 actions)
  1. 2026-02-18Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  2. 2026-02-17House Passed/Adopted (House)
  3. 2026-02-17House Third Readers (House)
  4. 2026-02-05House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
  5. 2026-01-15House Second Readers (House)
  6. 2026-01-14House First Readers (House)
  7. 2026-01-13House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • John Corbett (R, HD-174)Primary sponsor
  • Lynn Smith (R, HD-70)
  • Chas Cannon (R, HD-172)
  • Russ Goodman (R, SD-8)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 17, 2026

    159 yea, 3 nay (5 not voting, 10 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #519

  2. PassedSenate voteMarch 12, 2026

    45 yea, 1 nay (3 not voting, 6 excused)

    PASSAGE: Senate Vote #713

Topics

  • solid waste management
  • environmental regulation
  • state trust funds
  • landfill oversight

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