HB1182: HB1182 Agriculture; soil amendments; provide for additional prohibited acts

Georgia already regulates soil amendments, products added to soil to improve its properties, under Article 3 of Chapter 12 of Title 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Current law bans distributing unregistered, unlabeled, misbranded, or adulterated soil amendments, and requires compliance with stop orders and semiannual reports. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 2-12-79 to add new violations. It bars applying or distributing soil amendments at a site (or a nearby operationally connected site) if the site's owner or the person spreading the amendment is under an unresolved consent order, enforcement action, or investigation by the Department of Agriculture or the Environmental Protection Division, a notice of violation has been issued, and the department has told them to stop. It also bans storing soil amendments made from industrial by-products within 100 feet of a property line without the neighboring owner's written consent, and bans loading or unloading such amendments on a public road. All conflicting laws are repealed.

• Adds a new violation for applying or spreading a soil amendment at a site under an unresolved environmental consent order, enforcement action, or investigation once the department has ordered a stop.
• Extends that new violation to a nearby site that is operationally connected to and in close geographic proximity to the site under scrutiny.
• Bans storing soil amendments derived from industrial by-products within 100 feet of a property line unless the neighboring landowner gives written consent.
• Bans loading or unloading industrial by-product soil amendments on a public road, using the road definition in O.C.G.A. § 32-1-3.
• Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with these new rules.

Farmers, landowners, and companies that apply, distribute, or store soil amendments, especially those derived from industrial by-products; site owners already facing environmental enforcement action; neighboring property owners near storage sites; and state regulators at the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Division.

The changes give state regulators a clearer tool to stop soil amendment use at sites already flagged for water or soil contamination problems, and they add new limits on where industrial by-product amendments can be stored or handled, potentially affecting nearby property owners and roadways.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 2-12-79 to keep existing violations (unregistered, unlabeled, misbranded, or adulterated soil amendments; failure to follow stop orders or file semiannual reports).
• New paragraph (7) makes it a violation to apply or distribute a soil amendment at a site under an unresolved consent order, enforcement action, or investigation once a notice of violation and stop notice have both been issued.
• Paragraph (7) extends to a separate but geographically close and operationally connected site, and defines 'site' as the location identified in the nutrient management plan.
• New paragraph (8) requires written consent from an adjacent property owner before storing industrial by-product soil amendments within 100 feet of a property line.
• New paragraph (9) bans loading or unloading industrial by-product soil amendments within a public road as defined in O.C.G.A. § 32-1-3.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-25House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended (House)
2. 2026-03-20Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
3. 2026-03-20Senate Third Read (Senate)
4. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
5. 2026-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
6. 2026-02-19Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
7. 2026-02-18House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
8. 2026-02-18House Third Readers (House)

• Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)Primary sponsor
• Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Noel Williams (R, HD-148)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 18, 2026

   161 yea, 0 nay (8 not voting, 6 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #524

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 20, 2026

   46 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #777

3. PassedHouse voteMarch 25, 2026

   153 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 18 absent)

   Agree To Senate Sub As Am: House Vote #769

• soil amendments
• agriculture regulation
• environmental enforcement
• water and soil contamination
• farm law