07 LC
36 0491
House
Bill 802
By:
Representatives Coan of the
101st,
Neal of the
1st,
Everson of the
106th,
Collins of the
27th,
and Jones of the
46th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 8 of Title 12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to waste management, so as to provide for quarantining and certified clean up of
sites where methamphetamine was unlawfully manufactured; to define certain
terms; to provide for notices of quarantine and the filing thereof in the
offices of clerks of superior courts; to provide for lists of persons authorized
to perform testing, clean up, and certify fitness of previously quarantined
property; to provide for filing of certificates of fitness in the offices of
clerks of superior courts; to provide for lifting of quarantines; to provide for
a registry of quarantined properties and the removal of properties from such
list; to provide for continued applicability of other provisions of said
chapter; to provide for rules and regulations; to repeal conflicting laws; and
for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
8 of Title 12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to waste
management, is amended by adding a new article to read as follows:
"ARTICLE
10
12-8-220.
As
used in this article, the term:
(1)
'Board' means the Board of Natural Resources.
(2)
'Director' means the director of the division.
(3)
'Division' means the Environmental Protection Division of the
department.
12-8-221.
(a)
The purpose of the quarantine provided for in this Code section is to protect
the public health and welfare by preventing the exposure of persons to the
hazards associated with methamphetamine and the chemicals associated with the
manufacture of methamphetamine.
(b)
Any property or any structure or room in any structure on any property wherein
the manufacture of methamphetamines in violation of Code Section 16-13-31 occurs
or has occurred may be quarantined by the local law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction where such property is located. The local law enforcement agency
which quarantines the property shall be responsible for posting signs indicating
that the property has been quarantined and, to the extent they can be reasonably
identified, for notifying all parties having any right, title, or interest in
the quarantined property, including, but not limited to, any
lienholders.
(c)(1)
Any person who has an interest in property quarantined pursuant to this Code
section may file a petition in the superior court of the county in which the
property is located. Such a petition shall be for the purpose of requesting
that the court order the quarantine of such property be lifted for one of the
following reasons:
(A)
The property was wrongfully quarantined; or
(B)
The property has been properly cleaned and all hazardous materials removed, and
it is now safe for human use, but the local law enforcement agency that imposed
the quarantine refuses to lift it.
(2)
The court shall take such proof as it deems necessary to rule upon a petition
filed pursuant to this section and, after hearing such proof, may grant the
petition and lift the quarantine or deny the petition and maintain the
quarantine.
(d)
Any person who knowingly and willfully inhabits quarantined property, offers
such property to the public for temporary or indefinite habitation, or removes
any signs or notices of such quarantine shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
12-8-222.
The
director shall compile and maintain a list of persons who are certified
industrial hygienists in accordance with Chapter 21A of Title 43 who are
qualified by the director for purposes of this article. Such persons shall be
authorized to test properties in which a process intended to result in the
manufacture of methamphetamines has occurred in violation of Code Section
16-13-31 to determine if a property is safe for human use. Such property may
include, but is not limited to, leased or rented property such as a hotel or
motel room, rented home or apartment, or any residential property. The director
shall also compile and maintain a list of persons authorized to perform clean up
of property where such a process has occurred. Such lists shall be posted on a
website maintained by the department.
12-8-223.
Once
a property has been quarantined, any party having a right, title, or interest in
the quarantined property, including but not limited to any lienholders, may
contact a certified industrial hygienist qualified by the director to perform
appropriate testing on such property to determine whether hazardous waste is
present or a contractor from the list maintained by the director for clean up
and removal of all hazardous waste from such property. The property shall
remain quarantined until a certified industrial hygienist named on the
director´s list compiled pursuant to Code Section 12-8-222 certifies to the
quarantining law enforcement agency that the property is safe for human
use.
12-8-224.
(a)
Whenever any real property or any structure or room in any structure on any real
property is quarantined by a local law enforcement agency pursuant to Code
Section 12-8-221 due to the manufacture of methamphetamine, an officer of the
local law enforcement agency quarantining the property shall file a signed and
notarized notice of methamphetamine lab quarantine in the office of the clerk of
superior court in the county in which the real property or any portion of the
real property lies. The clerk of court shall record such notice in the record
series containing the title deeds and shall index the notice with the owner or
owners of the real property as the grantor and with the local law enforcement
agency giving the notice as the grantee. No fee shall be collected for this
filing.
(b)
A notice in a form substantially as follows is sufficient to comply with
subsection (a) of this Code section:
'Notice
of Methamphetamine Lab Quarantine:
Notice
is hereby given that an illegal laboratory for the manufacture of
methamphetamine was seized at the location described below on (date). This real
property has been quarantined by (name of local law enforcement agency) pursuant
to O.C.G.A. Section 12-8-221. This property shall remain quarantined until a
certified industrial hygienist named on the list of the director of the
Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources
pursuant to O.C.G.A. Section 12-8-222 certifies that the property is safe for
human use.
Name of Property Owner or Owners:_________________________
Property
Address:_________________________________________
Apartment or Unit Number (if applicable):_____________________
Description
of Property Sufficient to Identify:__________________
Name
of Person and Agency Giving Notice:____________________
Signature
of Person Giving Notice Title/Position:________________
Date:____________
Notary
Public:____________________ (Seal)'
12-8-225.
(a)
Whenever a certified industrial hygienist named on the director´s list
pursuant to Code Section 12-8-222 determines that the property quarantined
pursuant to Code Section 12-8-221 is safe for human use, based upon the
standards prescribed pursuant to this article, such person or entity shall issue
a signed and notarized certificate of fitness.
(b)
The owner or any person having any right, title, or interest in the real
property, including, but not limited to, any lienholders, may file the
certificate of fitness in the office of the clerk of superior court in the
county in which the real property or any portion of the property lies. The
clerk of court shall record such certificate in the record series containing the
title deeds and shall index the certificate with the owner or owners of the real
property as the grantee and the local law enforcement agency that issued the
quarantine as grantor. The fee for such filing shall be as for notices and
certificates pertaining to real estate in accordance Code Section
15-6-77.
(c)
A form substantially as follows shall be sufficient to comply with subsection
(a) of this Code section:
'Certificate
of Fitness:
Notice
is hereby given that the real property quarantined by (name of local law
enforcement agency) pursuant to O.C.G.A. Section 12-8-221 at the location
described below has been tested by a certified industrial hygienist named on the
list of the director of the Environmental Protection Division of the Department
of Natural Resources compiled pursuant to O.C.G.A. Section 12-8-222 and has been
remediated by a person or entity authorized by the director pursuant to O.C.G.A.
Section 12-8-222 to perform clean up of property used to manufacture
methamphetamine.
I,
the undersigned, hereby certify that the real property at this location is safe
for human use pursuant to O.C.G.A. Section 12-8-222 in accordance with the rules
and regulations of the Department of Natural Resources as currently are in
effect.
Name
of Property Owner or Owners:___________________________
Property
Address:__________________________________________
Apartment
or Unit Number (if applicable):______________________
Description
of Property Sufficient to Identify:_________________________
Name
of Certified Industrial Hygienist:______________________
Signature
of Certified Industrial
Hygienist:__________________________________
Date:_______________
Notary
Public:__________________ (Seal)'
12-8-226.
(a)
Within seven days of issuing an order of quarantine, the local law enforcement
agency that issued the order shall transmit to the director at least the
following information regarding the site:
(1)
The date of the quarantine order;
(2)
The county in which the site is located;
(3)
The address of the site;
(4)
The name of the owner of the site; and
(5)
A brief description of the site, such as single family home, apartment, motel,
wooded area, or other type of structure or use.
(b)
The director shall maintain a registry of all properties reported by a local law
enforcement agency that have been under order of quarantine for at least 60
days. The registry shall be available for public inspection at the division and
shall be posted on the department´s website. Listed properties shall be
removed from the registry when a local law enforcement agency reports that the
quarantine has been lifted in accordance with this article.
12-8-227.
Nothing
in this article shall relieve any person who has an interest in property
quarantined pursuant to this article from any other applicable obligations
imposed under this chapter.
12-8-228.
The
board may promulgate rules and regulations concerning the inspection, testing,
and quarantine of property affected by this article."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.