Ark. Code Ann. § 8-6-701

The purpose of this subchapter is to protect the public health and the state's environmental quality by establishing regional solid waste management and planning. The current system, relying upon solid waste management by individual counties and municipalities, has fostered present conditions in which certain areas of the state are facing capacity shortages of crisis proportions, while others experience a surfeit of capacity with individual disposal facilities which cannot muster the resources for environmentally responsible operators. Given these disparate environmental and economic concerns, the General Assembly concludes that regional solid waste management and planning, under the oversight of the Division of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, is essential to address the imminent and future needs of the state. The terms and obligations of this subchapter shall be liberally construed so as to achieve remedial intent.