Title 8 — Environmental Law

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Commission” means the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission;(2) “Landfill” means a landfill permitted under the Arkansas Solid Waste Management Act, § 8-6-201 et seq., except a landfill where a…

(a) (1) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a trust fund to be known as the “Landfill Post-Closure Trust Fund”.(2) In addition to all moneys appropriated by the General Assembly to the fund, …

(a) (1) In addition to any other fee provided by law, there is imposed on each landfill permittee a landfill disposal fee of fifteen cents (15¢) for each uncompacted cubic yard of solid waste and thirty cents (30¢) for each compacted cubic yard of solid waste received at the land…

(1) Fees imposed pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter shall be collected as follows:(1) Each landfill permittee and each solid waste transporter shall submit to the Division of Environmental Quality on or before January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15 of each year …

Failure of the permittee or solid waste transporter to pay the fees assessed by the Division of Environmental Quality shall provide grounds for administrative or civil enforcement action. Sanctions may include civil penalties as provided in the Arkansas Solid Waste Management Act…

(1) The General Assembly finds that:(1) A growing number of regional solid waste management districts within the state are facing difficulty in funding the necessary costs of post-closure care of landfills owned by the districts; and(2) Without post-closure care of landfills, irr…

(1) A landfill of any class that receives moneys from the Division of Environmental Quality from the Landfill Post-Closure Trust Fund for remediation or closure shall remain closed and unavailable to receive solid waste until the following conditions are met:(1) Full reimbursemen…

(1) The General Assembly makes the following findings:(1) As of July 30, 1990, the landfill capacity in Arkansas stood at about four and three-tenths (4.3) years of landfill life for sixty-three (63) municipal solid waste landfills;(2) The present landfill capacity in the State o…

(a) As directed by Acts 1989, No. 870, the Arkansas Solid Waste Fact Finding Task Force [expired] has presented its findings and proposals. The task force report identifies serious and chronic deficiencies in how solid waste is managed in this state. The report is accompanied by …

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Board” means a regional solid waste management board established pursuant to § 8-6-701 et seq., or a successor board to the powers of the board;(2) “Commission” means the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission;(3) “District” means a …

In any instance in which a landfill has a useful life of less than one and one-half (1½) years, the Director of the Division of Environmental Quality may authorize any city utilizing that landfill to transport solid waste outside the boundaries of the regional solid waste managem…

(a) This section shall apply until the later of:(1) July 1, 1992; or(2) Until the capacity of landfills in both the regional solid waste management district and the state reach a ten-year capacity. (1) July 1, 1992; or (2) Until the capacity of landfills in both the regional soli…

The purpose of this subchapter is to protect the public health and the state's environmental quality by establishing standards and promulgating rules by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission for the disposal of potentially harmful materials, specifically incinerat…

The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to persons who produce incinerator ash with an input capacity of twelve (12) tons of materials or less per day or to a manufacturing facility which utilizes solid waste generated on the premises of that manufacturing facility in i…

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Incinerator ash” means any tangible residue resulting from the incineration of solid waste;(2) “Monofill” means a waste disposal facility specifically designed for the sole disposal of incinerator ash;(3) …

(1) The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission shall have the following powers and duties:(1) To adopt rules to meet the purposes of this subchapter;(2) To adopt specific design and operational criteria for the operation of a monofill;(3) To adopt criteria for the disp…

(a) (1) Within eighteen (18) months after the date of enactment of this subchapter, the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission shall, after consultation with the Advisory Committee on Petroleum Storage Tanks, adopt criteria for the disposal of petroleum-contaminated so…

(a) (1) On or before July 1, 1992, the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission shall adopt criteria for the disposal of incinerator ash in landfills that are permitted under the Arkansas Solid Waste Management Act, § 8-6-201 et seq. (2) In adopting such criteria, the co…

Any person who violates the provisions of this subchapter shall be subject to the civil penalties prescribed in § 8-6-204.

(a) The General Assembly has found that there is an increased interest in obtaining permits from the former Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality or the Division of Environmental Quality for the purpose of constructing and operating commercial medical waste incineration fa…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Commercial medical waste incineration facility” means any facility accepting medical waste materials for treatment and disposal by incineration from an off-site source and operating the treatment and disposal facility as a business for profit;(…

(a) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to affect the authority of cities and counties to enact zoning regulations or procedures that control the location of medical waste facilities or sites. (b) This subchapter shall be liberally construed so as to achieve remedial in…

(a) This subchapter shall not apply to medical waste incineration facilities constructed and operating before March 20, 1992, or to medical waste incineration facilities operated by healthcare facilities for the purpose of disposing of medical waste. (b) This subchapter shall not…

(a) The Division of Environmental Quality shall not accept any applications or issue any permits for the construction or operation of any commercial medical waste incineration facilities until the federal regulations promulgated pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7429(a)(1)(C) become effect…

(a) No permits may be issued by the Division of Environmental Quality for the construction or operation of a commercial medical waste incineration facility in which any of the following factors are present:(1) The location of the commercial medical waste incineration facility is …

(a) (1) Prior to initiating operations at a commercial medical waste incineration facility, the owner or operator must demonstrate:(A) Evidence of liability insurance in such amount as the Division of Environmental Quality may determine to be necessary for the protection of publi…

The purpose of this subchapter is to protect the public health and safety by requiring the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission to establish standards and promulgate rules regarding the post-closure use of solid waste landfills and adjacent areas for residential purp…

(1) The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission shall have the following powers and duties:(1) To adopt rules to meet the purposes of this subchapter;(2) To adopt specific design criteria on the post-closure of solid waste landfills to limit the types and kinds of uses …

(1) The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission shall adopt rules for specific criteria:(1) To limit any person, partnership, company, corporation, or other entity from building, erecting, or constructing any house or building for residential purposes upon any land used…

(a) Six (6) months after August 13, 1993, it shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, company, corporation, or other entity to build, erect, or construct any house, home, or building to be used for residential purposes upon any land used as or which has been used as a solid…

Any person who violates the provisions of this subchapter shall be subject to the civil penalties prescribed in § 8-6-204.

(a) Through extensive legislation since 1989, the State of Arkansas has made significant strides toward a comprehensive and regionalized approach to solid waste management. The General Assembly recognizes the need to develop viable facilities for managing and disposing of the sta…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Hazardous substance sites” means the same as set out in § 8-7-503;(2) “Hazardous waste” means the same as set out in § 8-7-203;(3) (A) “High impact solid waste management facility” means, excluding the facilities described in subdivision (3)(B)…

The Division of Environmental Quality shall not process any application for a permit subject to § 8-6-1504 until the affected local and regional authorities have issued definitive findings regarding the criteria set out in § 8-6-1504.

(a) (1) There shall be a rebuttable presumption against permitting the construction or operation of any high impact solid waste management facility, as defined in this subchapter, within twelve (12) miles of any existing high impact solid waste management facility.(2) This presum…

(a) The purpose of this subchapter is to establish the procedure for posting financial assurance for all permitted solid waste management facilities. (b) The procedure for issuance of permits for solid waste management facilities shall be as provided in the rules adopted by the A…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Active life” means the period of operation beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste and ending at completion of closure activities;(2) “Closure plan” means a written plan that describes the steps necessary to close any solid waste mana…

(a) Financial Assurance for Closure. (1) The owner or operator must have a detailed written estimate, in current dollars, of the cost of hiring a third party to close the largest area of the facility requiring closure as required under the rules issued pursuant to this subchapter…

(a) A Solid Waste Performance Bond Fund is hereby established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State. (b) In addition to any moneys appropriated by the General Assembly to the fund, there shall be deposited into the…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) (A) “Open burning” means the incineration or combustion of waste materials as a method of disposal without any means to control the fuel/air ratio.(B) “Open burning” does not include activities exempted from rules as air pollution in § 8-4-305 o…

It is the policy of this state that the open burning of residential yard waste should be discouraged and that alternative methods of yard waste disposal should be developed and made readily available to all citizens. In enforcement of this policy, the state and local governments …

(a) The open burning of yard waste is discouraged. Enforcement shall be through informal educational efforts, unless such efforts are proven to be manifestly ineffective in preventing specific instances of open burning. (b) No citation or civil fine shall be issued or levied agai…

This subchapter shall not be construed as impairing common law private rights of action.

(1) If the Division of Environmental Quality requires a person to obtain an animal waste management plan, including a permit application, prepared by a professional engineer as defined in § 17-30-101, the person may substitute a plan prepared under the supervision of a profession…

This subchapter may be known and cited as the “Statewide Solid Waste Management Plan Act”.

(1) The General Assembly makes the following findings:(1) The Division of Environmental Quality has been charged by the General Assembly with the responsibility of developing the Statewide Solid Waste Management Plan which, when feasible, gives emphasis to regional planning;(2) T…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Board” or “regional board” means a regional solid waste management board established pursuant to § 8-6-701 et seq.; and(2) “Commission” means the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. (1) “Board” or “regional board” means a regiona…

(a) The Division of Environmental Quality shall develop the Statewide Solid Waste Management Plan to establish minimum requirements for all regional solid waste management plans, including requirements for:(1) Strategic planning;(2) Reporting;(3) Public notice and participation;(…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Environmental Compliance Resource Act”.

(1) The purpose of this subchapter is to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the state by:(1) Improving the operational efficiency of the Division of Environmental Quality concerning the resources provided to local governments and other state agencies, boards, and c…