09 LC
25 5358
Senate
Bill 15
By:
Senators Douglas of the 17th, Johnson of the 1st, Goggans of the 7th, Rogers of
the 21st, Hawkins of the 49th and others
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)
Any real property, including but not limited to any structure or room in any
structure on such 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.
(b)(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 subsection and, after hearing such proof, may grant the
petition and lift the quarantine or deny the petition and maintain the
quarantine.
(c)
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.
(a)
The director shall compile and maintain a list of persons who are certified
industrial hygienists in accordance with Chapter 21A of Title 43 and 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.
(b)(1)
The director shall also compile and maintain a list of persons authorized to
perform clean up of property where the unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine
has occurred. Such lists shall be posted on a website maintained by the
department.
(2)
Only contractors certified by the director shall be authorized to conduct such
decontamination services. In order to become a certified contractor, a
contractor shall:
(A)
Register with the director;
(B)
Post a surety bond or obtain other financial assurance in the amount of
$500,000.00;
(C)
Provide a certificate issued by an insurance company licensed to do business in
this state, certifying that the contractor has a public liability insurance
policy in an amount deemed sufficient by the director for any personal or
property damages that might occur to third parties arising from the performance
of decontamination services by the contractor or his or her employees or
agents;
(D)
Certify that decontamination will be performed safely and in accordance with
this article and any rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto;
and
(E)
Certify that each clean up conducted meets the decontamination standard required
by this article and any rules and regulations promulgated pursuant
thereto.
Upon
registration, the director shall either accept or deny the contractor's
certification. The director may revoke the certification of any contractor for
cause and may collect the forfeited financial assurance of any contractor found
to be in violation of this subsection.
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, including but not limited to any structure or room
in any structure on such 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 Code section from any other applicable obligations
imposed under this chapter.
12-8-228.
The
board shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are reasonable and
necessary to implement this article, including but not limited to rules and
regulations concerning the inspection, testing, decontamination standards for
methamphetamine and its precursors or other hazardous wastes or hazardous
substances related to the unlawful production of methamphetamine, and quarantine
of property affected by this article; provided, however, that the
decontamination standard for methamphetamine shall be a specified amount not
exceeding 0.1 microgram of methamphetamine per 100 square centimeters of
interior building surface material to which an inhabitant may be
exposed."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.