§ 8-6-716 - Regional needs assessment. - Arkansas Statutes

8-6-716. Regional needs assessment.

(a) (1) (A) (i) Each regional solid waste management board created pursuant to this subchapter shall prepare a regional needs assessment evaluating the solid waste management needs within its district. Provided, however, that such assessments need not include an evaluation of the need for landfills where a private industry bears the expense of operating and maintaining the landfill solely for the disposal of wastes generated by the industry or wastes of a similar kind or character.

(ii) Such assessment shall be submitted for Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality review, and the Director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality shall approve or disapprove it within ninety (90) days after submission.

(B) (i) The assessments for boards created pursuant to 8-6-703 shall be due every four (4) years.

(ii) The department may, at its discretion, stagger the due dates by random selection so that approximately one fourth (1/4) of the districts will submit a needs assessment each year.

(C) (i) The department will notify in writing the regional solid waste management districts of the date on which their needs assessments are due.

(ii) The board may obtain an extension of that deadline from the director.

(D) A board created pursuant to 8-6-703 in a region having a projected solid waste disposal capacity of less than five (5) years or in a region having no landfill for solid waste disposal shall prepare and submit a regional needs assessment annually, with the first needs assessment due on June 30, 1995, and with updated assessments due on June 30 of each year thereafter.

(E) Any board which submitted the biennial needs assessment due on January 31, 1995, under prior law, shall prepare and submit its next needs assessment on June 30, 1996, with updated assessments due on June 30 of each year thereafter.

(2) The assessment shall include, at the minimum, the following:

(A) An evaluation of the amount of solid waste generated within the district and the amount of remaining disposal capacity, expressed in years, at the solid waste disposal facilities within the district that are permitted under the Arkansas Solid Waste Management Act, 8-6-201 et seq.;

(B) An evaluation of the solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal needs of all localities within the district; and

(C) An evaluation and balancing of the environmental, economic, and other relevant factors which would be implicated by acceptance of solid waste from beyond the boundaries of the district.

(b) Each board shall update its regional needs assessment, at the minimum, every four (4) years.

(c) At a time not later than five (5) years before the disposal capacity in a region reaches its projected capacity, the board shall develop a request for proposals to increase the district's projected capacity for solid waste disposal within the district in accordance with its regional needs assessment.

(d) No landfill shall receive solid waste from beyond the district boundaries when projected solid waste disposal capacity within the district is less than five (5) years, except as may be otherwise specified pursuant to this subchapter.

(e) No owner or operator of a landfill serving a limited area of a district shall be required to increase the landfill's service area to accommodate the needs of the district.