Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 265 3
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By: Senator Irvin 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO REDUCE AND MODIFY THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE 9
LICENSING COMMITTEE RELATING TO WASTEWATER; TO REDUCE 10
AND MODIFY THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE LICENSING COMMITTEE 11
RELATING TO SOLID WASTE; TO ELIMINATE THE 12
APPRENTICESHIP LICENSES FROM SOLID WASTE LICENSING; 13
TO AMEND PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL 14
OFFICERS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 15
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Subtitle 18
TO REDUCE AND MODIFY THE MEMBERSHIP OF 19
THE LICENSING COMMITTEE RELATING TO 20
WASTEWATER AND THE LICENSING COMMITTEE 21
RELATING TO SOLID WASTE; AND TO 22
ELIMINATE THE APPRENTICESHIP LICENSES 23
FROM SOLID WASTE LICENSING. 24
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 26
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 8 -5-204(a), concerning the membership of 28
the licensing committee relating to wastewater, is amended to read as 29
follows: 30
(a)(1) There is created and established a licensing committee the 31
"Wastewater Licensing Committee" to advise and assist the Arkansas Pollution 32
Control and Ecology Commission and the Division of Environmental Quality in 33
the administration of the licensing program. 34
(2) The committee shall be composed of eight (8) five (5) 35
members: 36 SB265
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(A) Five (5) Three (3) members, to be appointed by the 1
commission, of which three (3) two (2) members shall be active wastewater 2
treatment plant operators licensed by the commission and two (2) members one 3
(1) member shall be employed by a private corporation or industry located in 4
Arkansas and nominated at large by the corporations or industries for service 5
on the committee; 6
(B) One (1) member, to be appointed by the commission, 7
shall be an employee of a municipality operating a wastewater treatment plant 8
who holds the position of chief administrative officer, city engineer, 9
director of public utilities, or other equivalent position; 10
(C) One (1) member, to be appointed by the commission, 11
shall be a faculty member of an accredited college, university, or 12
professional school in this state whose major field is related to water 13
resources or sanitary engineering; and 14
(D)(C) One (1) member shall be the Director of the 15
Division of Environmental Quality or a qualified member of his or her staff 16
who shall act as executive secretary of the committee. 17
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 8 -6-904(a) and (b), concerning the 19
licensing committee relating to solid waste, are amended to read as follows: 20
(a)(1) There is created a licensing committee the "Solid Waste 21
Licensing Committee" to advise and assist the Arkansas Pollution Control and 22
Ecology Commission and the Division of Environmental Quality in the 23
administration of the licensing program. 24
(2) The committee shall be composed of seven (7) five (5) voting 25
members as follows: 26
(A) Three (3) Two (2) members, to be appointed by the 27
commission, shall be solid waste management facility operators licensed by 28
the division; 29
(B) One (1) member, to be appointed by the commission, 30
shall be an employee of a county operating a solid waste management facility 31
who holds the position of solid waste management facility on -site operator or 32
supervisor; 33
(C) One (1) member, to be appointed by the commission, 34
shall be or an employee of a municipality operating a sanitary landfill who 35
holds the position of landfill on -site operator or supervisor; 36 SB265
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(D)(C) One (1) member, to be appointed by the commission, 1
shall be a representative of one (1) of the duly constituted regional solid 2
waste management boards; 3
(E)(D) One (1) member, to be appointed by the commission, 4
shall be an on-site operator or supervisor of a nonsegregated materials 5
recovery, transfer, or composting facility; 6
(F)(E) One (1) member, to be appointed by the commission, 7
shall be a representative of a designated solid waste operator training 8
academy and shall serve ex officio with no vote; and 9
(G)(F) One (1) member, to be appointed by the Director of 10
the Division of Environmental Quality, shall be a qualified member of his or 11
her staff who shall serve ex officio with no vote as executive secretary of 12
the committee. 13
(b)(1) In the event of a vacancy, a new member shall be appointed by 14
the commission to serve out the unexpired term. 15
(2)(A) A nonstate agency member shall not serve more than two 16
(2) consecutive three -year terms. 17
(B) Those members serving unexpired five -year terms may 18
serve an additional one (1) consecutive three -year term. 19
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 8 -6-905(2), concerning the powers and 21
duties of the Division of Environmental Quality related to solid waste 22
licensing, is amended to read as follows: 23
(2) To issue licenses to qualified solid waste management 24
facility operators, to renew those licenses, to suspend or revoke the 25
licenses for cause after due notice and opportunity for hearing, to issue 26
one-year two-year apprenticeship licenses to operators -in-training, and to 27
issue provisional certificates; and 28
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SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 8 -6-2010(a)(1), concerning an applicant's 30
eligibility as an environmental officer, is amended to read as follows: 31
(a)(1) An individual is eligible to apply for initial training as an 32
environmental officer if the individual is a current employee of a 33
municipality, city, county, regional solid waste management district, 34
planning and development district, or state agency, board, or commission. 35
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