Attorney General Opinions
Relating to County Government

2009 Solid Waste

Under the “Local Approval Law” (T.C.A. §§ 68-211-701 through -707), local governing bodies have the power to approve or disapprove the construction of any new solid waste facility either within or in close proximity to their jurisdictions. The procedure for local approval of a landfill contained in T.C.A. § 68-211-703 allows simultaneous publication of both the notice of a proposed landfill and the notice of a public hearing on the proposal, as long as the timing requirements of the statute are met. The Local Approval Law requires that parties seeking to construct a new landfill submit plans for the facility to the local governing body, if the governing body has opted into the law. The information that must be considered by the governing body is found in T.C.A. § 68-211-704(b), and the plans submitted to the governing body must include sufficient information to enable the governing body to assess the eight land use criteria set out in that statute; it is not necessary for the governing body to review formal construction/engineering plans. Opinion No. 09-115 (June 11, 2009).

A private act that would prohibit any person or entity located outside the county from obtaining a permit to construct a new solid waste disposal or processing facility within a county would contravene the Solid Waste Management Act of 1991 and the “Jackson Law, both of which are general laws controlling when local governments can prohibit the construction of new solid waste disposal or processing facilities within their borders. Such a private act would be unconstitutional because there is no rational basis for excepting one county from the general laws that apply to all other counties in Tennessee controlling when they can prohibit the construction of new landfills. Opinion No. 09-12 (February 5, 2009).