---
title: O.C.G.A. § 12-4-1. Powers and duties of Environmental Protection Division as to mineral and geological resources.
collection: code
id: 12-4-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 12-4-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-4-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-4-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-4-1/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t12-(v10)-2021-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=67595359_0#page=300
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-4.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-3-715.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-4-20.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES / MINERAL RESOURCES AND CAVES / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 12-4-1. Powers and duties of Environmental Protection Division as to mineral and geological resources.

(a) The Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources shall:

(1) Conduct studies in the field for the purposes expressed in this subsection;

(2) Map and prepare reports of the geological and mineral resources of the state;

(3) Prepare, or cooperate in preparing, topography maps for use as base maps in the geological field study and in mining development, and for use in planning power developments, agriculture and reclamation work, and highways;

(4) Make hydrographic surveys which are deemed by the division to be advantageous to the mining and milling of mineral deposits, to the utilization of waterpower, or to reclamation, or which are deemed to constitute proper cooperative investigations with other departments of the state or federal governments in aid of laboratory research relating to mining and to metallurgical problems of the state’s mining and mineral industry; and

(5) Publish in print or electronically bulletins embodying reports provided by the division.

(b) It shall be the duty of the division to conduct cooperative work relating to mines, mining, and geology with the departments and bureaus of the United States government, provided that the federal expenditure for such work shall at least equal that of the state.

(c) The director of the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources may appoint technical assistants who shall be in the classified service as defined by Code Section 45-20-2.

(d) The functions, duties, and powers of the former Department of Mines, Mining, and Geology are transferred to and vested in the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources.

(e) The Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources shall have charge of the work of mines, mining, and geology.

## History

Ga. L. 1894, p. 111, § 3; Civil Code 1895, §§ 1715, 1716; Civil Code 1910, §§ 1966, 1967; Code 1933, §§ 43-302, 43-304; Ga. L. 1937, p. 264, § 9; Ga. L. 1943, p. 180, §§ 1, 3, 4, 7; Ga. L. 1972, p. 1015, § 1502; Ga. L. 1981, p. 838, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 12; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 12; Ga. L. 2009, p. 745, § 2/SB 97; Ga. L. 2010, p. 838, § 10/SB 388; Ga. L. 2012, p. 446, § 2-6/HB 642.

## Cross References

Powers and duties of department generally, § 12-2-4. Duty of department to keep records of findings as to geological formations encountered in underground water drilling operations, § 12-5-71. Professional engineers and land surveyors generally, T. 43, C. 15. Registration of geologists, T. 43, C. 19. Penalty for removal or destruction of survey monuments, § 44-1-15.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2012, p. 446, § 3-1/HB 642, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: ‘‘Personnel, equipment, and facilities that were assigned to the State Personnel Administration as of June 30, 2012, shall be transferred to the Department of Administrative Services on the effective date of this Act.’’ This Act became effective July 1, 2012.

Ga. L. 2012, p. 446, § 3-2/HB 642, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: ‘‘Appropriations for functions which are transferred by this Act may be transferred as provided in Code Section 45-12-90.’’