HB1762

House Bill 1762 amends the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act to impose stricter regulatory oversight on the management of industrial wastewater residuals. The bill mandates that the Division of Environmental Quality must assess the maximum allowable penalty for permit holders who commit violations related to over-application or precipitation-related surface land application of industrial waste. Surface land application is defined to include spraying, spreading, or incorporating waste onto land, excluding subsurface injection. Additionally, the bill directs the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission to initiate the rulemaking process to establish specific authorization for no-discharge land application permits. Until these new rules are finalized and effective, the Division of Environmental Quality is required to maintain current processes and procedures regarding land application permits.