---
title: O.C.G.A. § 2-12-80. Promulgation and adoption of rules and regulations; sharing of information.
collection: code
id: 2-12-80
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 2-12-80 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/2-12-80
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/2-12-80.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/2-12-80/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t1-3-(v3)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=d5cb9302_0#page=70
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.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: AGRICULTURE / FERTILIZERS, LIMING MATERIALS, AND SOIL AMENDMENTS / SOIL AMENDMENTS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 2-12-80. Promulgation and adoption of rules and regulations; sharing of information.

The Commissioner is authorized to:

(1) Promulgate and adopt:

(A) Such rules and regulations as may be necessary to enforce this article. Such regulations may relate to, but shall not be limited to, methods of inspection and examination, designation of ingredients, and identity of products;

(B) Rules and regulations relative to soil amendments derived from industrial by-products which may include, but not be limited to, application rates, proper conditions for application, application record keeping and retention, use of site-specific nutrient management plans, and storage and containment in or on lands where soil amendments are applied, but shall exclude forest products, soil amendments derived from industrial by-products generated solely from forest products, excluding chemical by-products of pulp digestion, slates, clays, shells, gypsum, and lime; provided, however, that pursuant to Code Section 2-1-6, no local government shall be prohibited or impaired from adopting or enforcing any zoning ordinance, including the adoption of buffers and setbacks; provided, further, that no such buffer or setback shall exceed 100 feet in width; and

(C) Rules and regulations that require every owner and operator of a farm on which soil amendments are being applied to procure a site-specific nutrient management plan and make a copy of such plan available for inspection at the request of the department; and

(2) Share such information and consult with other agencies such as, but not limited to, the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

## History

Ga. L. 1976, p. 359, § 14; Ga. L. 2019, p. 91, § 6/HB 512; Ga. L. 2020, p. 364, § 9/HB 1057; Ga. L. 2021, p. 469, § 1/SB 260; Ga. L. 2022, p. 352, § 2/HB 1428.

## Amendments

The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, rewrote this Code section, which read: “The Commissioner is authorized to promulgate and adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to enforce this article. Such regulations may relate to, but shall not be limited to, methods of inspection and examination, designation of ingredients, and identity of products. The Commissioner is also authorized to promulgate and adopt rules and regulations relative to soil amendments derived from industrial by-products which may include, but not be limited to, application rates, proper conditions for application, application record keeping and retention, development and use of site-specific nutrient management plans, and storage and containment in or on lands where soil amendments are applied. The Commissioner is further authorized to share such information and consult with other agencies such as, but not limited to, the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.”

The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, in subparagraph (1)(B), deleted “development and” following “retention,” near the middle, inserted “soil amendments derived from industrial by-products generated solely from forest products, excluding chemical by-products of pulp digestion,” in the middle, and added “; provided, further, that no such buffer or setback shall exceed 100 feet in width” at the end; and added subparagraph (1)(C).

The 2022 amendment, effective May 2, 2022, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, deleted “and” from the end of subparagraph (1)(A).