Pine Ridge Recycling, Inc., which owns property in Butts County, applied to the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for a permit to operate a solid waste landfill on the property. Pine Ridge has been unable to obtain final approval for a permit from the EPD because Butts County has refused to give written verification that the proposed landfill is consistent with its multijurisdictional solid waste management plan. See OCGA § 12-8-24 (g). Pine Ridge filed the instant declaratory judgment and mandamus action against Butts County, its board of commissioners, and individual members of the board. The court granted partial summary judgment to Pine Ridge, finding that the proposed landfill is consistent with Butts County’s solid waste management *511 plan and ordering the county to provide verification of such consistency to the EPD. Butts County appeals.
1. Butts County claims that the trial court erred in its interpretation of the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act. OCGA § 12-8-20 et seq. The trial court ruled that under the Act, Butts County must base its decision as to whether the Pine Ridge site is consistent with the county’s solid waste management plan solely on environmental and land use factors. Butts County argues that the court erred in failing to rule that in addition to these factors, Butts County may also consider the negative impact the proposed site will have on its program to reduce the amount of solid waste disposed of in the county. In making this argument, Butts County relies on OCGA §§ 12-8-21 (c) and 12-8-39.1, which require that the solid waste management plan of each city or county contain a program to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste being received at its disposal facilities by 25 percent. Construing this requirement in the context of the entire Act, we find Butts County’s argument to be unpersuasive.
“In all interpretations of statutes, the courts shall look diligently for the intention of the General Assembly.” OCGA § 1-3-1 (a). Here, the General Assembly’s intent is plainly stated in the Act. The policy of the State of Georgia is “to institute and maintain a
comprehensive state-wide
program for solid waste management.” (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 12-8-21 (a). Moreover, “[i]t is the intent of the General Assembly that every effort be undertaken to reduce on a
statewide
per capita basis the amount of municipal solid waste being received at disposal facilities during fiscal year 1992 by 25 percent by July 1, 1996.” (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 12-8-21 (c). We must construe the Act to effectuate the General Assembly’s intent and give force to all the Act’s provisions.
City of Roswell v. City of Atlanta,
“Where the language of a statute is plain and susceptible of but one natural and reasonable construction, the court has no authority to place a different construction upon it, but must construe it according to its terms.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.)
Nat. Svcs. Indus. v. Transamerica Ins. Co.,
We note that our interpretation of the Act is consistent with that of the EPD director, who is charged with primary responsibility for the state’s solid waste management program. OCGA § 12-8-21 (d). In an amicus curiae brief, the director states, “OCGA § 12-8-39.1 should not be construed so as to prevent the siting of new facilities within a local jurisdiction in order to meet the 25% reduction goals. This construction would eliminate regional facilities, a centerpiece of the Act. . . . OCGA § 12-8-39.1 is intended as a tool for local jurisdictions to determine their progress toward meeting the 25% per capita reduction goal, and . . . consistency with a solid waste plan should be determined based upon environmental and land use factors, as stated in OCGA § 12-8-31.1 (b).” Although courts are not bound by the EPD director’s interpretation of the Act, it is entitled to great weight and deference. See
Hosp. Auth. &c. v. State Health Planning Agency,
2. Butts County contends that the court erred in finding that it failed to demonstrate any valid land use or environmental criteria for excluding the Pine Ridge site from its solid waste management plan. The county claims that three valid criteria it relied on for excluding the site are solid waste reduction in the county, proximity of the site to an airport, and voter support of a publicly, rather than a privately, operated landfill. As already discussed in Division 1 of this opinion, Butts County’s argument concerning its attempt to reduce solid waste in the county by excluding the Pine Ridge site is without merit. The county’s other two claims also lack merit.
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), in compliance with the Act, prepared the Minimum Planning Standards and *513 Procedures for Solid Waste Management: Local and Multijurisdictional Plans. The Minimum Planning Standards provide a list of some of the environmental and land use factors to be considered in determining whether a site is unsuitable for a solid waste handling facility. The environmental limitations include floodplains, wetlands, groundwater recharge areas, water supply watersheds, fault zones, seismic impact zones and unstable areas. The land use factors include zoning restrictions, built-up areas, distance from national historic sites, proximity to airports, distance from jurisdictional boundaries and access. In the instant case, Butts County properly raised the proximity of the Pine Ridge site to an airport as a land use factor that it must consider. The trial court, however, ruled in favor of the county on this issue. The court held that Butts County must provide verification to the EPD that the Pine Ridge site is consistent with its solid waste management plan “except as to that portion contiguous to and including [the airport] which may violate [DCA] Rule 391-3-4-05 (1) (c).” Since the trial court found that the Pine Ridge site is consistent with the Butts County plan only to the extent that it falls outside the area banned by the DCA as too near an airport, the county has shown no error.
The court also did not err in failing to find that voter support for a publicly, instead of a privately, run landfill is a valid land use or environmental factor. While it is true that public involvement should be an element of a local solid waste management plan, the DCA Minimum Planning Standards list that involvement as an element separate and distinct from the environmental and land use considerations. The DCA Minimum Planning Standards provide that the goal of public involvement is to educate residents about solid waste management in terms of littering, recycling and waste reduction. Regardless of how a local government attempts to achieve this goal, the public involvement element of the local solid waste plan clearly is not a land use or environmental factor upon which the local government can find that a proposed site is inconsistent with the plan.
3. Butts County asserts that the trial court erred in ordering it to verify to the EPD that the Pine Ridge site is consistent with its solid waste management plan. The county argues that the appropriate remedy is for the court to invalidate the plan and order the county to rewrite it properly. We disagree and find that this case is analogous to and controlled by the decision in
Tilley Properties v. Bartow County,
In the instant case, Butts County’s refusal to verify that the Pine Ridge site is consistent with its solid waste management plan is invalid. Pine Ridge has the right to use its property as a solid waste landfill so long as it complies with all the requirements of the Act, including being consistent with the Butts County plan and obtaining a permit from the EPD. OCGA § 12-8-24. Because Pine Ridge has no other specific legal remedy for protecting its right, the trial court correctly found that a writ of mandamus will lie to compel Butts County to certify that the Pine Ridge site is consistent with its multijurisdictional solid waste management plan.
Judgment affirmed.