AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT - DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION.
HB1090 is a supplemental appropriation bill for the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality. It provides an additional $2.5 million for the Used Tire Recycling and Abatement cash fund for fiscal year 2025-2026, on top of the amounts already appropriated in Act 791 of 2025. The bill is framed as a budget measure to ensure the division has sufficient resources to continue operating and carrying out its environmental services.
The bill also directs the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State to transfer $2.5 million from the General Revenue Allotment Reserve Fund into the division’s cash fund to support these expenses. It includes standard appropriation language limiting spending to authorized purposes and requiring compliance with state fiscal, procurement, accounting, and salary laws. The bill contains an emergency clause, allowing it to take effect immediately upon passage and approval, or upon completion of the veto process, because the legislature found the funds necessary to avoid disruption of essential governmental services.
The bill’s impact on state law is primarily fiscal and administrative rather than regulatory. It does not change environmental standards or tire recycling policy directly; instead, it increases available funding for an existing program within the Division of Environmental Quality and authorizes a specific fund transfer. It affects the Department of Energy and Environment, the Chief Fiscal Officer, and the state treasury accounts tied to the used tire recycling and abatement program.
The available context suggests little overt controversy around the measure. There are no recorded committee transcripts or vote details in the provided materials, and the bill ultimately became Act 172. The language of the bill emphasizes urgency and operational necessity, indicating a generally supportive posture focused on maintaining essential services rather than debating policy direction.
Any contention would likely center on the use of General Revenue reserves for a supplemental appropriation and the size of the transfer, but the provided record does not show specific opposition or competing viewpoints. The bill appears to have been treated as a routine budget adjustment to address an identified funding shortfall in an environmental cleanup and recycling program.
HB1090 makes a supplemental appropriation of $2.5 million to the Department of Energy and Environment’s Division of Environmental Quality for the Used Tire Recycling and Abatement cash fund and authorizes a matching transfer from the General Revenue Allotment Reserve Fund. It affects state budgeting and treasury operations, but it does not amend substantive environmental statutes. The bill primarily impacts the division, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and the state funds used to support used tire recycling and abatement activities.
The overall sentiment appears supportive and pragmatic. The bill is presented as necessary to address an unforeseen funding shortfall and to preserve essential governmental services, and it was enacted as Act 172. No committee debate or recorded votes are provided, but the emergency clause and supplemental appropriation language suggest a consensus-oriented budget measure rather than a contested policy bill.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential concerns, based on the text, could include the transfer of $2.5 million from the General Revenue Allotment Reserve Fund and whether supplemental funding should be drawn from reserve resources. However, the record does not identify any legislators, agencies, or stakeholders opposing the measure or disputing the need for the appropriation.