2020 Georgia Code
Title 12 - Conservation and Natural Resources
Chapter 5 - Water Resources
Article 2 - Control of Water Pollution and Surface-Water Use
§ 12-5-29. Sewage and Waste Disposal; Withdrawal, Diversion, or Impoundment of Surface Waters; Certificates Required for Vessels With Marine Toilets; Conditions for Transfer of Surface Water From One River Basin to Another

1. It shall be unlawful to use any waters of the state for the disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or to withdraw, divert, or impound any surface waters of the state, except in such a manner as to conform to and comply with this article and all rules, regulations, orders, and permits established under this article and applicable to the waters involved.
2. No person, without first securing from the division a permit, shall:
   1. Construct, install, or modify any system for disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or any extension or addition thereto, when the disposal of the sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes constitutes pollution as defined in this article;
   2. Increase the volume or strength of any sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes in excess of permissive discharges specified under any existing permit; or
   3. Construct or use any new outlet for the discharge of any sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes into the waters of the state when such discharge constitutes pollution as defined in this article.
3. As applied to the waters of Allatoona Lake, Lake Blackshear, Lake Blue Ridge, Clarks Hill Lake, Hartwell Lake, Lake Sidney Lanier, Lake Oconee, Lake Seminole, Lake Sinclair, Richard B. Russell Lake, Walter F. George Reservoir, and West Point Lake, except as otherwise provided in the federal Clean Water Act of 1977, P.L. 95-217, as now or hereafter amended, it shall be unlawful for any person to operate or float a vessel having a marine toilet as the term is defined in Code Section 52-7-3 unless such marine toilet only discharges into a holding tank as the term is defined in Code Section 52-7-3; and it shall further be unlawful to operate or float such a vessel, whether moored or not, unless it has a certificate for such holding tank issued by the department affixed thereto.
4. 1. The director shall not authorize any new water pollution control discharge permit which if granted would permit water drawn from one river basin to be deposited into another river basin in the discharge of sewerage, industrial waste, treated waste water, or other wastes unless for both the basin of origin and receiving river basin unless:
      1. The director has assessed all waters in order to identify those waters for which applicable effluent limitations are not sufficiently stringent to allow such waters to meet applicable water quality standards and has established total limitations for the pollutants which cause the waters to fail to achieve such water quality standards;
      2. The director has established water quality standards for the nearest downstream lake as provided in Code Section 12-5-23.1; and
      3. All applicable provisions of this article and all rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article are met.
   2. All new permits issued after January 1, 2001, discharging in excess of 3 million gallons per day shall be required to meet a minimum standard of 0.30 milligrams of phosphorus per liter of waste water.
   3. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the reissuance of existing permits, permits for the expansion of existing facilities, permits for the withdrawal of water for agricultural use, or permits for mining activities which use water for the transportation of materials.
5. If any treatment plant is not in compliance with permit requirements at any time between July 1, 1996, and July 1, 1997, the division shall be authorized to decrease the permitted capacity of such treatment plant in an amount up to 10 percent of the permitted capacity and may issue a new permit based upon such amount of decrease.

(Ga. L. 1957, p. 629, § 6; Ga. L. 1964, p. 416, § 10; Ga. L. 1977, p. 368, § 6; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1343, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1218, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 459, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1618, § 2.)

- Littering waters, § 16-7-43.

Discharging into waters of state substances dangerous to navigation or property, T. 52, C. 8.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, a comma was deleted following "day" in paragraph (d)(2).

- For article criticizing impressionistic approach to water use classification established by permit system, see 23 Mercer L. Rev. 603 (1972). For article surveying Georgia cases dealing with environment, natural resources, and land use from June 1977 through May 1978, see 30 Mercer L. Rev. 75 (1978). For note, "Regulation of Artificial Lakes and Recreational Subdivisions in Georgia," recommending methods for future regulation, see 8 Ga. St. B.J. 580 (1972). For review of 1996 water resources legislation, see 13 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 60 (1996).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Control of pollution practices authorized.

- When a local government's waste disposal system is subject to the regulations of this section, the Water Quality Control Board (now Department of Natural Resources) can prohibit the governmental unit from increasing the volume or strength of that government's wastewater discharges without having first secured a permit from the board. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U70-56 (see O.C.G.A. § 12-5-29).

Treatment and disposition of sewage in the ground by means of a sprinkling system is subject to the provisions of Ga. L. 1964, p. 416 (see O.C.G.A. Art. 2, Ch. 5, T. 12); it is particularly subject to Ga. L. 1964, p. 416, §§ 3, 5, 10, and 24 (see O.C.G.A. §§ 12-5-22,12-5-23 and12-5-29), although control is not necessarily limited to these sections. 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U72-13.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 61B Am. Jur. 2d, Pollution Control, §§ 3, 4, 5.

- 39A C.J.S., Health and Environment, §§ 131, 172.

- Liability for pollution of subterranean waters, 38 A.L.R.2d 1265.

Modern status of rules governing interference with drainage of surface waters, 93 A.L.R.3d 1193.

Extinguishment by prescription of natural servitude for drainage of surface waters, 42 A.L.R.4th 462.