§ 12-8-201 — Public policy

(a) It is declared to be the public policy of the State of Georgia, in furtherance of its responsibility to protect the public health, safety, and well-being of its citizens and to protect and enhance the quality of its environment, to encourage the clean up, reuse, and redevelopment of properties where there have been releases of hazardous waste, hazardous constituents, and hazardous substances, into the environment. (b) The General Assembly declares its intent to fund the execution of the public policy set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section by and through the division with application review fees established and collected by the division pursuant to Code Section 12-8-209 . The General Assembly further declares its intent to ensure that the funding provided by the application review fees will not be diverted for any purpose other than the administration of this article by the division. Appropriation of funds to the Department of Natural Resources for inclusion in the hazardous waste trust fund continued in existence by subsection (a) of Code Section 12-8-95 shall be deemed consistent with this declaration of legislative intent.