TO PROTECT PUBLIC DRINKING WATER SOURCES; AND TO PROHIBIT SURFACE DISCHARGE OF WASTEWATER INTO A WATERSHED.

Senate Bill 556 aims to protect public drinking water sources in Arkansas. It proposes to prohibit any person or entity from discharging wastewater via surface discharge into a watershed that supplies public drinking water, specifically upstream of where public water systems draw water. This prohibition does not apply to stormwater discharges permitted under federal or state programs. The Division of Environmental Quality would be responsible for enforcing these new restrictions.