---
title: O.C.G.A. § 12-8-202. Definitions.
collection: code
id: 12-8-202
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 12-8-202 (2025)
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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=1032
date: 2025
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---

# O.C.G.A. § 12-8-202. Definitions.

(a) Unless otherwise provided in this article, the definition of all terms included in Code Sections 12-8-62 and 12-8-92 shall be applicable to this article.

(b) As used in this article, the term:

(1) ‘‘Corrective action plan’’ means the corrective action plan required by Code Section 12-8-207.

(2) ‘‘Ground water’’ means any subsurface water that is in a zone of saturation.

(3) ‘‘Petroleum’’ means petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof (including gasoline, gasohol, diesel fuel, fuel oils including #2 fuel oil, kerosene, or jet turbine fuel), that is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute).

(4) ‘‘Preexisting release’’ means a release, as such term is defined in paragraph (11) of Code Section 12-8-92, which occurred prior to the prospective purchaser’s application for a limitation of liability pursuant to this article. The term ‘‘preexisting release’’ includes but is not limited to release of petroleum even if such release is from an underground storage tank system as defined in paragraph (18) of Code Section 12-13-3.

(5) ‘‘Property interest’’ means any interest in real property, without regard to whether such interest is exclusive or possessory.

(6) ‘‘Prospective purchaser’’ means a person who intends to acquire a property interest in a property where there is a preexisting release or a person who has applied for a limitation of liability pursuant to this article within 30 days of acquiring such property interest in a property where there is a preexisting release.

(7) ‘‘Qualifying property’’ means a property which meets the criteria of Code Section 12-8-205.

(8) ‘‘Risk reduction standards’’ means those standards promulgated by the board pursuant to Part 2 of Article 3 of this chapter.

(9) ‘‘Soil’’ means any unconsolidated earth material, together with any unconsolidated plant or animal matter or foreign material that has been incorporated into it, that either consists of or remains within, or comes to be deposited on, native soil or regolith.

(10) ‘‘Source material’’ means any preexisting release that acts or may likely act as a reservoir for continued releases to ground water, soil, surface water, or air or act as a source for direct exposure.

## History

Code 1981, § 12-8-201, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 993, § 4; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1667, § 2; Code 1981, § 12-8-202, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2002, p. 927, § 6; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1227, § 1/SB 277; Ga. L. 2006, p. 72, § 12/SB 465; Ga. L. 2012, p. 843, § 1C/HB 1102; Ga. L. 2014, p. 247, § 2/HB 957.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2002, p. 927, § 6, effective July 1, 2002, redesignated former Code Section 12-8-202 as present Code Section 12-8-203.