ADEQ Initiates Rulemaking for Administrative Appellate Procedures

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has proposed an omnibus amendment to Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission Regulation 8, which governs administrative procedure before the Commission. The Department explained that the purpose of the new regulation was to make the regulation consistent with the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, modernize notice and service requirements to expressly include email, and update the availability of information through the Department's website.

The proposed Regulation 8 would make a number of other changes to the existing regulation: several amended definitions (such as "general permit", "history of noncompliance", and "notice of intent"), procedural clarifications for general and specific permit decision appeals, extension of time to respond to Notices of Violation (from twenty to thirty days), and the ability of the Commission's Administrative Law Judge to issue warning orders. The proposed regulation would also touch on economic impact and environmental benefit analyses, licensing and certification appeals, and a number of procedural items that could impact practice before the Commission.

The Commission will accept written comments on the proposed regulation until 4:30 p.m. on August 31, 2018 via email to reg-comment@adeq.state.ar.us.