---
title: O.C.G.A. § 12-8-25.3. Further restrictions on sites within significant ground-water recharge area or near military air space used as bombing range.
collection: code
id: 12-8-25.3
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 12-8-25.3 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-25.3
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-25.3.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-25.3/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t12-(v10)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=584b8497_0#page=92
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/12-8.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-25.2.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-25.4.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: Effective January 1, 2026.
in_force: true
other_versions:
  - version: Effective until January 1, 2026.
    in_force: false
    md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-25.3.md?version=until+January+1%2C+2026
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES / WASTE MANAGEMENT / SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT / GENERAL PROVISIONS
extraction_warnings:
  - bound_version_dropped:None
---

# O.C.G.A. § 12-8-25.3. Further restrictions on sites within significant ground-water recharge area or near military air space used as bombing range.

(a) Reserved.

(b) Reserved.

(c) No permit or modification of an existing permit shall be issued for land application of untreated municipal sewage sludge located in an area designated by Hydrologic Atlas 18 prepared by the Department of Natural Resources as a significant ground-water recharge area including, but not limited to, those areas designated as probable areas of thick soils.

(d)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any administrative regulation or action to the contrary, no permit shall be issued for a municipal solid waste landfill within two miles of a federally restricted military air space which is used for a bombing range. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all permit applications pending on or after July 1, 1997, and to all permits denied prior to such date which are the subject of an appeal or judicial review pending on such date.

(2) This subsection shall not prohibit or prevent any municipal solid waste landfill that was permitted and operational on July 1, 1997, from expanding its operation into an area outlined in paragraph (1) of this subsection.

## History

Code 1981, § 12-8-25.3, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 412, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1025, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 928, § 1; Ga. L. 2020, p. 25, § 1/SB 123; Ga. L. 2025, p. 634, § 4/HB 351, effective January 1, 2026.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective January 1, 2026, substituted “Reserved” for the former provisions of subsection (a), which read: “Notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 12-8-25.2, no permit shall be issued for a municipal solid waste landfill which accepts solid waste generated from outside the county in which such landfill is located or, in the case of a regional landfill, from outside any of the counties or special districts empowered to engage in solid waste management activities constituting such region if any part of such site is within any area that has been designated by the director as a significant ground-water recharge area”; and substituted “Reserved” for “In addition to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section, in the case of a regional municipal solid waste landfill where any part of such site is within any area that has been designated by the director as a significant ground-water recharge area, no permit shall be issued for such regional landfill unless the boundaries of the counties or special districts empowered to engage in solid waste management activities are contiguous and such counties or special districts have entered into a joint contract for the collection and disposal of solid waste”.

## Delayed Effective Date

Code Section 12-8-25.3 is set out twice in this Code. This version is effective January 1, 2026. For version effective until January 1, 2026, see the preceding version.