Ark. Code Ann. § 8-7-203 (2026)
Definitions
As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
- “Commission” means the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission;
- [Repealed.]
- [Repealed.]
- “Disposal” means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water in whatever manner so that such hazardous waste or any constituent thereof might or might not enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters including groundwaters;
- “Facility” means any land and appurtenances thereon and thereto used for the treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste;
- “Generation” means the act or process of producing waste materials;
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“Hazardous waste” means any waste or combination of wastes of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous, or semisolid form which, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics, may in the judgment of the Division of Environmental Quality:
- Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness; or
- Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise improperly managed.
- “Hazardous waste” includes, but is not limited to, those which are radioactive, toxic, corrosive, flammable, irritants, or strong sensitizers or those which generate pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means;
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“Hazardous waste” means any waste or combination of wastes of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous, or semisolid form which, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics, may in the judgment of the Division of Environmental Quality:
- “Hazardous waste management” means the systematic control of the generation, collection, distribution, marketing, source separation, storage, transportation, processing, recovery, disposal, and treatment of hazardous waste;
- “Manifest” means the form used for identifying the quantity, composition, and the origin, routing, and destination of hazardous waste during its transport;
- “Person” means any individual, corporation, company, firm, partnership, association, trust, joint-stock company, state agency, government instrumentality or agency, institution, county, city, town, or municipal authority or trust, venture, or any other legal entity, however organized;
- “Site” means any real property located within the boundary of the State of Arkansas contemplated or later acquired for the purpose of, but not limited to, landfills or other facilities to be used for treatment, storage, disposal, or generation of hazardous waste;
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- “Storage” means the containment of hazardous waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of hazardous waste.
- Storage by means of burial shall be deemed to constitute disposal within the meaning of this subchapter;
- “Transport” means the movement of wastes from the point of generation to any intermediate points and finally to the point of ultimate storage or disposal;
- “Treatment” means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize the hazardous waste or to render the hazardous waste less hazardous, safer for transport, amenable to recovery, amenable to storage, amenable to disposal, or reduced in volume; and
- “Treatment facility” means a location at which waste is subjected to treatment and may include a facility where waste has been generated.
History. Acts 1979, No. 406, § 3; A.S.A. 1947, § 82-4203; Acts 1989, No. 643, § 2; 1993, No. 994, § 2; 1997, No. 1219, § 9; 1999, No. 1164, § 90; 2019, No. 910, §§ 2708, 2709.
Amendments. The 2019 amendment repealed (2) and (3); and substituted “Division of Environmental Quality” for “department” in the introductory language of (7)(A).
Case Notes
Authority of Commission.
The legislature intended both the Waste Act and the Hazardous Waste Act to allow the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology (PC & E), within certain guidelines, to determine what substances are permitted under those acts, and a decision by PC & E permitting a category of waste not defined in any of the acts was not an abuse of discretion. Bryant v. Mathis, 310 Ark. 737, 839 S.W.2d 528 (1992).
Disposal.
The phrase “at the time of disposal” formerly contained in § 8-7-512(a)(3) and (4), taken in conjunction with the definition of disposal found in this section, should be construed to mean at the time the hazardous substances were discharged, deposited, injected, dumped, spilled, leaked, or placed any hazardous substances into or on any land or water. Ark. Dep't of Envtl. Quality v. Brighton Corp., 352 Ark. 396, 102 S.W.3d 458 (2003) (decided under former version of section).