Georgia Spill Code: Reporting Duties, Cleanup, and Penalties

Under Georgia’s spill reporting requirements, anyone who owns or controls oil or a hazardous substance must immediately notify the Environmental Protection Division of a qualifying release by calling the Department of Natural Resources Emergency Operations Center at (800) 241-4113. Any oil spill triggers the duty regardless of quantity. A hazardous substance spill triggers it when the release meets or exceeds the substance’s reportable quantity within 24 hours, or when the amount released is unknown.¹ Missing that call, or failing to clean up afterward, exposes you to civil penalties of up to $50,000 per day and can land the property on Georgia’s Hazardous Site Inventory.²

What Counts as a Spill You Have to Report

Georgia’s Oil or Hazardous Material Spills or Releases Act (O.C.G.A. § 12-14-1 et seq.) draws a sharp line between the two categories of substances it covers, and the reporting trigger is different for each.

Oil. The statute defines oil to include gasoline, crude oil, fuel oil, diesel, lubricating oil, sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with other wastes, and any other petroleum-related product.³ There is no minimum quantity. A leaking underground tank, a ruptured fuel line at a loading dock, and a tanker crash on the interstate all require notification.

Hazardous substances. The definition pulls from federal law: substances designated under the Clean Water Act, listed under CERCLA, classified as hazardous wastes under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, listed as toxic pollutants under Clean Water Act Section 307(a) or hazardous air pollutants under Clean Air Act Section 112, and chemicals treated as imminently hazardous under the Toxic Substances Control Act.³ That sweeps in industrial solvents, heavy metals, pesticides, and many manufacturing byproducts. Reportable quantities vary by chemical and are set by federal regulation; Appendix I of Georgia’s Hazardous Site Response rules also lists regulated substances and their notification concentrations.⁴

Petroleum and natural gas are carved out of the “hazardous substance” definition, mirroring the federal CERCLA petroleum exclusion.³ That does not put petroleum outside the reporting regime; it just sends petroleum releases through the “oil” side of the statute. And where petroleum contains contaminants not normally found in refined fractions, such as used oil laced with chlorinated solvents, those contaminants can still qualify as CERCLA hazardous substances.⁵

Two Statutory Exceptions

O.C.G.A. § 12-14-3(b) explicitly excludes two situations from the notification duty:

Application of a pesticide product registered under FIFRA or the Georgia Pesticide Control Act, so long as the application follows the product’s label or labeling. Dumping unused pesticide or accidentally releasing a concentrated batch is not covered by this exception.
Air emissions from animal waste, including decomposing animal waste, at a farm.¹

Discharges that stay within the terms of a valid NPDES permit generally do not trigger separate spill reporting, because they are already authorized.⁶ An exceedance of permit limits is an unauthorized discharge and must be reported. Unauthorized sewage discharges from publicly owned treatment works follow a separate rule under Georgia’s Water Quality Control regulations, with its own follow-up reporting timeline.⁷

Who Has the Duty to Call

The obligation falls on any “person” who owns or controls the substance and knows about the release. The statute defines person broadly to cover individuals, corporations, partnerships, trusts, government agencies, and political subdivisions.³ A truck driver hauling diesel, a plant manager overseeing chemical storage, a farmer whose fuel tank ruptures, a municipal public works director: each has a personal duty to notify.

“Immediately” means as soon as you become aware of the spill. It does not allow time to investigate, assess, or seek internal approval before making the call.¹

What to Say When You Call

The EPD’s Emergency Response Program is staffed from regional district offices and receives the initial reports through the 24-hour hotline.⁸ When you call, be ready to give:

The chemical name or type of oil released.
The estimated quantity, or a statement that the quantity is unknown.
The location, and whether the release has reached water, soil, or air.
When the release began and whether it is still ongoing.
Any known or anticipated health effects, and whether anyone has been exposed.
Your name and phone number.

Facilities that handle bulk chemicals or petroleum should have an incident response plan on the shelf that names who makes the call, lists backup numbers, and documents the notification. That planning is the difference between a controlled report and a scramble that delays notice and draws enforcement attention.

Federal Reports That May Also Apply

A spill that requires notice to Georgia EPD frequently requires a second call under federal law. EPCRA Section 304 requires immediate notice to the State Emergency Response Commission and the Local Emergency Planning Committee for any area likely to be affected by a release of an extremely hazardous substance or a CERCLA hazardous substance.⁹ For transportation incidents, calling 911 satisfies the immediate federal notification requirement.

EPCRA also requires a written follow-up to the SERC and LEPC as soon as practicable, updating the initial notice with the actual response actions taken and any medical attention needed. The federal default deadline for the written follow-up is 30 days, though some states require it sooner.¹⁰

Oil that reaches navigable waters carries its own federal reporting rule under EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure regulation. A single discharge of more than 1,000 gallons to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines must be reported to the EPA Regional Administrator, as must two or more discharges of 42 gallons or more within any 12-month period. The threshold counts the amount that actually reaches the water, not the total volume spilled.¹¹

Containing and Cleaning Up the Release

Reporting is only the first obligation. Georgia’s Water Quality Control rules impose a parallel duty: whenever a toxic or harmful substance is discharged into state waters, or is positioned where it could flow into them, the person in charge must immediately take all reasonable steps to prevent injury to property and downstream water users.⁷ In practice that means deploying absorbent barriers, berms, or vacuum recovery. For volatile compounds, vapor suppression or air filtration may be needed. Waiting for EPD to tell you what to do is not a defense.

Longer-term cleanup follows Georgia’s corrective action framework. For petroleum releases from underground storage tanks, contamination that exceeds established thresholds requires a Corrective Action Plan prepared under the Georgia Risk Based Corrective Action model.¹² Under the Hazardous Site Response rules, corrective action must remove or treat free product to the extent practicable, prevent food chain contamination, protect state waters, and keep vapors from accumulating in buildings at levels that threaten human health.¹³

When a compliance status report shows a site still exceeds Hazardous Site Response standards, the responsible party must submit a corrective action plan describing the proposed technology and timeline. Before EPD approves the plan, a 30-day public comment period opens for nearby residents and other stakeholders.¹⁴

Landing on the Hazardous Site Inventory

Georgia maintains a public list of contaminated properties, the Hazardous Site Inventory. The EPD’s Response and Remediation Program evaluates release notifications to decide whether a site should be added.⁴

A site gets listed when the EPD Director determines that a release exceeding a reportable quantity has occurred, or that a release poses a danger to human health and the environment. Releases are evaluated based on whether regulated substances in groundwater exceed concentration thresholds, whether soil contamination exceeds Appendix I levels, or whether hazardous materials have been improperly discarded or abandoned. Sites classified as Class I, III, IV, or V are designated as needing corrective action.¹³

The consequences run beyond cleanup. The listing is a matter of public record, which complicates property transactions. A site comes off the inventory only after the Director determines no further action is needed, at which point the owner may file an updated affidavit with the superior court clerk.

Penalties for Failing to Report or Clean Up

Under Georgia’s Water Quality Control Act, any person who violates the Act’s provisions, permit conditions, or a final or emergency order from the EPD Director faces civil penalties of up to $50,000 per day for each day the violation continues. A separate incident creating a new violation within 12 months raises the ceiling to $100,000 per day.² Weeks of unreported spillage or slow-walked cleanup compound quickly at those rates.

Enforcement usually opens with a Notice of Violation identifying what went wrong and what corrective steps are expected. Cooperative parties then negotiate a Consent Order setting compliance deadlines, stipulated penalties for future violations, and monitoring requirements. When cooperation breaks down, EPD can move to administrative hearings or civil litigation, and severe cases may be referred to the U.S. EPA or Department of Justice.

Under the Hazardous Site Response Act, the Director can order responsible parties to perform corrective action. If they refuse, the state can do the work itself using the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund and bill the responsible party. Those expenditures become a debt to the state carrying 12 percent annual interest, secured by a lien on the real property where the cleanup occurred.¹⁵

When to Bring in an Attorney

Routine spills with quick containment, prompt reporting, and straightforward cleanup can be handled with an incident response plan and cooperation with EPD. Legal counsel becomes important when EPD issues a Notice of Violation, when cleanup costs escalate, when you disagree with the agency’s classification of your site on the Hazardous Site Inventory, or when multiple parties share responsibility and none want to pay.

Consent Order negotiations are a particular pressure point. The compliance deadlines, stipulated penalties, and monitoring obligations locked in at that stage will govern operations for months or years. If the state has already used Hazardous Waste Trust Fund money to clean up your site, the debt and 12 percent property lien make early legal engagement even more valuable. Third-party claims from neighboring owners, downstream users, or affected communities can follow, and cost recovery from insurers, other responsible parties, or prior owners under indemnification clauses is often on the table alongside the state enforcement track.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 12-14-3 – Notification of Environmental Protection Division of Spill or Release
2
Justia. Georgia Code 12-5-52 – Civil Penalty
3
FindLaw. Georgia Code Title 12 Section 12-14-1
4
Environmental Protection Division. Hazardous Site Response Release Notifications
5
Environmental Protection Agency. Scope of the CERCLA Petroleum Exclusion Under Sections 101(14) and 104(a)(2)
6
Environmental Protection Division. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
7
Legal Information Institute. Georgia Code of Regulations 391-3-6-.05 – Emergency Actions
8
Environmental Protection Division. Emergency Response
9
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPCRA Emergency Release Notifications
10
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. State Contact Information – EPCRA Section 304 – Emergency Release Notification
11
US EPA. What Are the Oil Discharge Reporting Requirements in the SPCC Rule
12
Environmental Protection Division. UST Corrective Action
13
Georgia Secretary of State. Subject 391-3-19 Hazardous Site Response
14
Environmental Protection Division. Corrective Action Plan 391-3-19-.06(6)
15
Justia. Georgia Code 12-8-96 – Corrective Action Upon Release of Hazardous Wastes, Hazardous Constituents, or Hazardous Substances