Title 8, Environmental Law

(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…

(a) To the extent that there is no conflict with the definitions in subsection (b) of this section, this subchapter incorporates and adopts the definitions of terms defined in this chapter. (b) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Alleged violator” means a person that has been issued …

This subchapter applies to violations of this chapter, violations of Chapter 6 of Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission Rule 18, and violations of the Used Tire Recycling and Accountability Act, § 8-9-401 et seq.

(1) An act or omission that results in one (1) or more of the following in this state is prohibited by this subchapter:(1) The illegal dumping of solid waste or illegal disposal of solid waste;(2) The creation or participation in the creation or furtherance of an illegal dump sit…

The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission shall promulgate rules for the administration of the Environmental Compliance Resource Program under this subchapter.

(a) The Division of Environmental Quality shall develop, implement, and administer an Environmental Compliance Resource Program as provided under this subchapter and pursuant to the rules promulgated by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. (b) (1) The division s…

(a) The Director of the Division of Environmental Quality or his or her designee shall develop, implement, and administer the Environmental Compliance Resource Program. (b) The program shall provide:(1) Guidance and resources to all certified environmental officers;(2) Evaluation…

(a) (1) The Division of Environmental Quality shall develop and promulgate a uniform environmental citation form based on the laws applicable to this subchapter under § 8-6-2004 and conduct prohibited under § 8-6-2005 in consultation with the Attorney General.(2) The uniform envi…

This subchapter may be cited as the “Arkansas Solid Waste Management Act”.

(a) (1) An individual is eligible to apply for initial training as an environmental officer if the individual is a current employee of a municipality, city, county, regional solid waste management district, planning and development district, or state agency, board, or commission.…

(a) An environmental officer under this subchapter may perform one (1) or more of the following duties to ensure compliance with and enforcement of this subchapter:(1) Upon a showing of probable cause regarding environmental violations, and subject to the administrative warrant r…

(a) An environmental officer shall use the uniform environmental citation form referenced in § 8-6-2009 to issue a citation for an alleged environmental violation under this chapter. (b) An environmental officer may issue a citation for an alleged environmental violation committe…

A citation for an alleged environmental violation issued by an environmental officer shall be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction in the county where the alleged environmental violation was committed.

A citation for an alleged environmental violation issued under this chapter shall be served in person or by mailing a copy of the citation by certified mail to either the address obtained from evidence collected from the environmental violation location or to the last known addre…

(a) (1) (A) Except as provided under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, the alleged violator shall appear before the court named within the citation at the location and time designated in the citation.(B) The initial hearing shall occur no later than thirty (30) days after the t…

(a) (1) The environmental officer shall set the time period an alleged violator has to remove the solid waste or otherwise remediate the environmental violation.(2) The time period shall not exceed thirty (30) days from the date of the environmental citation. (1) The environmenta…