---
title: O.C.G.A. § 12-8-26. Public meetings on site selection; notice; decision.
collection: code
id: 12-8-26
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 12-8-26 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-26
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-26.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-26/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=94
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/12-8-25.5.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/12-8-27.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/12-8-26.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. § 12-8-26. Public meetings on site selection; notice; decision.

(a) Any county, municipality, group of counties, or government authority beginning a process to select a site on which such county, municipality, group of counties, or government authority intends to own or operate a municipal solid waste disposal facility must first call at least one public meeting to discuss waste management needs of the local government or region and to describe the process of siting facilities to the public. Notice of this meeting shall be published within a newspaper of general circulation serving such county or municipality at least 14 days and again at least seven days immediately preceding the date of such meeting. A regional solid waste management authority created under Part 2 of this article must hold at least one meeting within each jurisdiction participating in such authority, and notice for these meetings must be published within a newspaper of general circulation serving each such jurisdiction at least 14 days and again at least seven days immediately preceding the date of such meeting.

(b) Before a host local government verifies in writing that a proposed new public or private municipal solid waste disposal facility or a major modification expanding the permit boundaries of an existing facility is consistent with the local, multijurisdictional, or regional solid waste management plan adopted by the host local government and local zoning or land use ordinances, as required by subsection (g) of Code Section 12-8-24, the governing authority of the host local government shall comply with the notice and meeting requirements set forth in this part. Prior to issuing written verification, such governing authority shall cause a notice of the meeting at which the public will be informed of the proposed new facility or major modification expanding the permit boundaries of an existing facility to be published in a newspaper of general circulation serving such local government. The meeting notice shall be published at least 14 days and again at least seven days preceding the date of such meeting. The meeting notice shall identify the governing authority of the host local government jurisdiction that will conduct the meeting and shall include the time, place, and purpose of the meeting. During the meeting on the proposed new facility or major modification expanding the permit boundaries of an existing facility, the governing authority of the host local government shall inform the public of:

(1) The location of the proposed new facility or major modification expanding the permit boundaries of an existing facility;

(2) The type of facility and operations proposed; and

(3) The process by which such governing authority shall provide the written verification described in subsection (g) of Code Section 12-8-24.

## History

Code 1981, § 12-8-26, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 412, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 3276, § 7; Ga. L. 2025, p. 634, § 5/HB 351, effective January 1, 2026.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective January 1, 2026, in subsection (a), inserted “government” and substituted “site on which such county, municipality, group of counties, or government authority intends to own or operate a municipal” for “site for a municipal” in the first sentence, and substituted “14 days and again at least seven days” for “once a week for two weeks” in the second and third sentences; and rewrote subsection (b).

## Delayed Effective Date

Code Section 12-8-26 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.