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Committee backs water-system oversight bill requiring trainings, audits and advisory representation
Summary
Senate Bill 386, sponsored by Sen. Clark, would require eight hours of training for most water-board members, water-specific audits every five years, rate-setting at or above cost, and advisory representation when more than 20% of a municipal system’s customers are outside city limits; the committee passed the bill after testimony from municipal and operator groups.
The City, County & Local Affairs Committee on Thursday voted to advance Senate Bill 386, a multi-part bill that sponsors and stakeholders say aims to strengthen oversight and long-term financial stability for local water systems across Arkansas.
Sponsor Senator Clark framed the bill as the product of a multi-year task force and said it responds to a large deferred-maintenance shortfall uncovered by engineers and stakeholders. "We had close to $10,000,000,000 deficit in water structure in Arkansas," Clark said while summarizing the task force findings, and he described the bill as a foundation rather…
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