Agenda

• Legislative Proposals | View/Download >

Summary

The Arizona Legislature’s 2025 session officially adjourned sine die (last day of session) on June 27, 2025. ADEQ ran three agency bills in this session. While only one of the agency bills was signed into law by the Governor, that bill was amended to include a key provision from another agency bill. Additionally, other bills were passed that directly impacted ADEQ statutes and duties. This summary highlights the bills and budget items of the 2025 legislative session that most impact ADEQ, our customers, and the larger stakeholder community. Please note that except for bills with noted emergency clauses, the general effective date for legislation passed in the 2025 session is Sept. 26, 2025.

Important ADEQ and Stakeholder Bills

ADEQ House Bill (HB)

HB2104 — Emissions; Voluntary Vehicle Repair; Timeline & Waste Tire Extension | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — May 2, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary:
  • Voluntary Vehicle Repair Program (VVRP) update: Updates the relevant VVRP statutes to remove the outdated language regarding the counties, removes reference to the outdated retrofit program, and adds further clarity to the statutory language to remove ambiguity. The retrofit aspect of the program is being removed because the practice of retrofitting vehicles for emissions purposes is now obsolete and the retrofitting kits used are no longer available.
  • Waste Tire Program Extension: Extends the program sunset an additional three years (from Dec. 31, 2025, until Dec. 31, 2028) so the counties can work together to determine what changes are appropriate for the program.

Other Bills of Note

HB2127 — Hazardous Substance Release; Notice; Liability | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 7, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary: 
  • Requires that the owner of a qualifying property (a property on the hazardous substance site registry) shall provide written notice to a potential buyer & to ADEQ when the property is listed or offered for sale, when the property comes under contract for sale, and when the property purchase is complete (additional notice to the State Mine Inspector if the property is a mine or abandoned mine).

HB2128 — Environmental Remediation; Liability; Release | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 8, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary: 
  • Allows ADEQ to provide to a prospective remediator of a site, a written release and covenant not to sue. Prospective remediator defined: a person that wishes to remediate a site but does not wish to purchase the site. Allows the agreement with ADEQ and a prospective remediator to include an agreement by the prospective remediator to provide substantial funding or other resources to perform or facilitate remedial measures at a facility.
  • Prospective remediator agreements are similar to prospective purchase agreements.

HB2232 — Onsite Wastewater Treatment; General Permit | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — March 31, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary: 
  • Requires ADEQ to issue a general permit no later than Jan. 1, 2026, for a liquid effluent collection system that meets certain requirements as described in the bill. Liquid effluent collection system is defined as a collection of lines that convey liquid effluent from multiple septic tanks, as primary treated wastewater, to a common secondary treatment system or common dispersal area through a small diameter pumping system or gravity system.

HB2272 — Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — May 6, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary:
  • Modifies the definition of county as it relates to local stormwater quality programs to include counties that operate a regulated medium or large separate storm sewer system, rather than just a small municipal separate storm sewer system. 

House Concurrent Memorial (HCM) 2007 — Hardrock Mines; Remediation; Urging Support | View HCM >

• Transmitted to the Secretary of State — March 28, 2025
• Summary:
  • Urges the Arizona State Mine Inspector and ADEQ to work with federal agencies and members of the private sector to find qualifying legacy mining sites in Arizona and apply for the pilot program under the federal Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act.

Senate Bill (SB) 1730 — Underground Storage Tanks; Reimbursement | View SB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 18, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary:
  • Requires applicants for reimbursement from the Underground Storage Tank Revolving Fund to apply to ADEQ within one year after the completion of work. Requires ADEQ, by Sept. 1, 2025, and by September 1 every year thereafter, to compile a report on the Fund preapproval process.

Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 1004 — Prohibit Tax; Monitoring; Vehicle Mileage  | View SCR >

• Transmitted to the Secretary of State — June 16, 2025
• To be placed on the ballot for the 2026 General Election
• Summary:
  • Prohibits the state and any political subdivision of the state from imposing a tax or fee on vehicle miles traveled or enact any rule or law to monitor or limit vehicle miles traveled of any individual without the consent of that individual. This prohibition does not apply to interstate agreements for fuel taxes or multi-state commercial vehicle registrations or to motor vehicles owned or operated by the state or any political subdivision.

HB2145 — Registered Sanitarians; Qualifications  | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 7, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary:
  • Specifies that an applicant is eligible for registration as a sanitarian if the applicant meets at least one of the following qualifications: 
    • has completed three, rather than five, years of employment as a sanitarian aide in either a recognized public health agency or private industry in a position directly related to environmental health; 
    • has satisfactorily completed at least three, rather than five, years of full-time military duty in the field of environmental health; 
    • has successfully completed 30 semester hours of credit at an accredited college or university in subjects relevant to the role of sanitarian, including 22 semester hours in the natural sciences, as approved by the Council, rather than 30 semester hours of credit at an accredited college or university in the natural sciences.

HB2200 — Professional Registration; Reciprocity; Endorsement | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 7, 2025
• Effective 90 days after sine die — Sept. 26, 2025
• Summary:
  • Outlines the qualifications for registration with the Arizona Board of Technical Registration (AZBTR) as a professional engineer, architect, land surveyor or landscape architect in Arizona through reciprocity or endorsement.
  • Requires an applicant for registration as a professional engineer, architect, land surveyor or landscape architect in Arizona through reciprocity or endorsement to hold both: 
    • a valid license, registration or certification issued by the proper authority of either another state, territory, district or possession or a country participating in the applicable profession's national council mutual recognition agreement; and  
    • a certification or model law designation from the applicable profession's national council.
  • Requires, as an additional requirement, an applicant for registration as a professional engineer through reciprocity or endorsement to hold a record from the profession's national council verifying that the person meets at least one of the following in the branch of engineering in which registration is sought: 
    • has at least four years of experience following the person's licensure, registration or certification by the other jurisdiction; 
    • passed a professional national examination; or 
    • earned a baccalaureate or equivalent degree or a postgraduate degree. 
  • Requires, as an additional requirement, an applicant for registration as a land surveyor through reciprocity or endorsement to pass the examination relating to surveying methods and legal principles in Arizona as prescribed by AZBTR in rule. 

Budget Highlights

• General Fund — $26M replaced with WIFA Long Term Water Augmentation Fund:
  • $15M to  Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF)
  • $9M to Water Quality Fee Fund (WQFF) 
  • $2M for Iron King Superfund Site remediation 
• Zero Emissions Eight Ton Pilot Project General Fund $1M, initially from FY25 budget, exempted from appropriation lapse
• $776K for WQFF for Aquifer Water Quality Standards (AWQS) for funding for 2 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) 
• $1.1M Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) appropriation increase
• $717K appropriation increase for Hazardous Waste Management Fund
• $1M appropriation increase for Recycling
• $1.3M appropriation increase for Solid Waste Fee Fund

Agenda 

• Legislative Proposals | View/Download >

Summary

The Arizona Legislature’s 2024 session officially adjourned sine die on Saturday, June 15, 2024. ADEQ ran four agency bills in the 2024 session, with all of them signed into law by the Governor. Additionally, other bills were passed that directly impacted department statutes. This summary highlights 2024 bills and budget items that most impact ADEQ, our customers, and the larger stakeholder community. Please note that except for bills with noted emergency clauses, the general effective date for legislation passed in the 2024 session is Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024.

Important ADEQ and Stakeholder Bills

ADEQ House Bills (HBs)

HB2367 — Solid Waste Fees; Rules | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 9, 2024
• Emergency clause; effective upon signature
• Summary:
  • Eliminates one-time rulemaking authorities
  • Authorizes moving waste tire and landfill disposal fees to rule
  • Authorizes rulemakings to establish new fees for services already being performed
  • Removes duplicative Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) review requirement language

HB2370 — Oxygenated Fuel; Federal Approval; Extension | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 2, 2024
• Emergency clause; effective upon signature
• Summary: Extends the conditional enactment date for the statutes in question to July 1, 2027, to allow time for EPA approval

HB2369 — Dredge; Fill; Permits; Cleanup | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 8, 2024
• Effective 90 days after sine die (the last day of session) — Sept. 14, 2024
• Summary: Clean-up bill. Makes technical corrections to several portions of statute that still refer to or were modified to be compatible with Title 49 Chapter 2 Article 3.2, which was conditionally repealed in the fall of 2023 after ADEQ determined that it was not in the best interest of the state to pursue primacy of the Clean Water Act 404 Dredge and Fill permitting program

HB2628 — Department of Environmental Quality; Omnibus | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 10, 2024
• Effective 90 days after sine die (the last day of session) — Sept. 14, 2024
• Summary:
  • Small Water Systems Fund Amendment: Allows the deposit of federal monies into the fund in addition to appropriations from the legislature
  • Drinking Water Monitoring Assistance Program (MAP) Amendments:
    • Expansion of allowable scope of assistance for small drinking water systems beyond only what is required as baseline monitoring under the Safe Drinking Water Act
    • Creates fiscal solvency in the fund to manage new regulations from EPA, inflation, and increased costs for testing and monitoring by changing the cap on monies that can be retained in the fund year over year from $200,000 to the value of the annual operating costs (based on the average of the previous three years)
  • Vehicle Emissions Inspection (VEI) Technical Correction: Corrects an error assigning the wrong emissions testing methodology to a certain type of vehicle. This correction had to be made before EPA could approve the related State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision
  • Solid Waste Amendments:
    • Clarifies requirements for Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) facilities in closure and post-closure status to align with the federal program
    • Updates the definition of recycling facility to align with the current federal definition and remove confusing language
  • Underground Injection Control (UIC) Amendment: Repeals applicability of federal definitions to the state UIC program — state-level definitions have since been developed in rule
  • Waste Tires Disposal Amendment: Allows tires to be landfilled in a statutorily specified manner (based on approved disposal methods in other states — as a single layer at the base of a new landfill cell, or at a specified depth), if the disposal method is approved by ADEQ in the site facility plan

Other Bills of Note

HB2195 — Onsite Wastewater Treatment Facilities; Permitting | View HB >

• Signed by the Governor — April 10, 2024
• Effective 90 days after sine die (the last day of session) — Sept. 14, 2024
• Summary:
  • NOTE: The general permit option created by this bill will not fall under County delegation agreements as currently written. ADEQ’s intent is to retain authority for permits issued pursuant to this bill.
  • Allows an onsite wastewater treatment facility to discharge under a general permit if the operation complies with existing permit rules, is operated by a technology manufacturer-certified service provider, and has a design flow of 3,000 gallons or more per day but less than 75,000 gallons per day
  • Requires ADEQ to require maintenance, monitoring, records keeping and reporting for the systems previously described 
  • Allows ADEQ to require adequate financial assurance for design flow that exceeds 50,000 gallons per day, or a site that has multiple onsite wastewater treatment facilities with a collective design flow of 50,000 gallons or more per day
  • Requires ADEQ to establish fees and deposit fees in the Water Quality Fee Fund
  • Requires permittees to transfer to the applicable permit established in rule within 180 days after the Phase II rules are effective

Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 1012 — Rulemaking; Legislative Ratification; Regulatory Costs | View >

• Transmitted to the Secretary of State — June 13, 2024
• Summary:
  • Subject to voter approval on the upcoming November 2024 ballot, statutorily prohibits a proposed rule from becoming effective, if the proposed rule is estimated to increase regulatory costs by more than $500,000 within five years after implementation until the Legislature enacts legislation ratifying the proposed rule
  • Requires an agency to submit a proposed rule that is estimated to increase regulatory costs in Arizona by more than $100,000 within five years after implementation to the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) for review
  • Allows a person regulated by an agency that is proposing a rule to request the OEO to review the rule
  • Allows a legislator to also request the OEO to review a proposed rule
• Potential impacts to ADEQ: ADEQ has primacy enforcement authority for many federal environmental and health programs and is required to maintain and implement state regulations consistent with federal regulations, in order to maintain its primacy authority. If ADEQ is delayed in implementing regulations, Arizona may lose its primacy enforcement authority resulting in the US EPA enforcing the impacted programs instead of Arizona. The programs include: the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. ADEQ also implements the Underground Storage Tank program, which is federal law.

Budget Highlights

Negotiations for the FY25 budget focused on addressing an estimated $1.8 billion dollar deficit in the current and upcoming budget years. Major budget line items pertinent to ADEQ are as follows:

• One-time funding transfer to General Fund of:
  • $20 million from the Underground Storage Tank Fund
  • $2.3 million from the Air Quality Fund
  • $5 million from the Emission Inspection Fund
  • $900,000 from the Hazardous Waste Management Fund
  • $500,000 from the Emergency Response Fund
• One-time transfer of $7.2 million from the Air Quality Fund to the Water Quality Fee Fund
• Requirement for a 5% reduction from FY24 Area A fee revenues to the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Fund
• $15 million deposit into WQARF from the General Fund
• $1 million General Fund appropriation for zero-emissions heavy-duty eight-ton pilot program
• $3.4 million appropriation increase in the Air Quality Fund for Voluntary Vehicle Repair Program (VVRP) and State Implementation Plan (SIP)
• $2.7 million appropriation increase in the Emissions Inspection Fund
• $950,000 appropriation increase for the Recycling Fund for Solid Waste

Agenda 

• ADEQ did not run any agency bills during this session. 
  Note: The FY24 Executive Budget Request is available | View/Download >

Summary

The Arizona Legislature’s 2023 session officially adjourned sine die on Monday, July 31. At 204 days, this was the longest session in Arizona history. While ADEQ did not directly run any agency bills in the 2023 session, several bills were passed that directly impacted department statutes. This summary highlights 2023 bills and budget items that most impact ADEQ, our customers, and the larger stakeholder community. Please note that other than bills with noted emergency clauses, the general effective date for legislation passed in the 2023 session is Oct. 30, 2023.

Important ADEQ and Stakeholder Bills

HB2215 – Hazardous Waste Manifest Resubmittals; Fees 

Repeals statute allowing ADEQ to return an improperly completed manifest for a shipment of hazardous waste to the person who prepared the manifest and requires the person to complete and resubmit the manifest, and eliminates the fee of $20 for resubmittal of the manifest. This statute was no longer necessary, as hazardous waste manifest have been submitted electronically directly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 2018 | Learn More >

HB2216 – Hazardous Air Pollutants Program

Authorizes, instead of requires, the ADEQ Director to establish by rule a state program for the control of hazardous air pollutants in addition to the existing federal program already implemented by ADEQ | Learn More >

HB2439 – Vehicle Emissions Inspections, Enactment Date

Modifies the conditional enactment for statute modifying vehicle emissions testing requirements to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approve the proposed modifications by July 1, 2027, instead of July 1, 2023. The emergency clause in the bill ensured the bill was effective the day it was signed | Learn More >

HB2669 – Prohibition; Biosolids; Land Application

Requires the ADEQ Director to require any land application of a substance that contains domestic, commercial, or industrial sewage or septage to comply with Biosolids Program rules. A biosolid combined with solid waste is required to be regulated as solid waste | Learn More >

HB2143 – Gray Water; Residential Standards; Rules

Authorizes the ADEQ Director to establish by rule minimum requirements for residential gray water treatment systems that are used indoors for toilet flushing that are necessary to address public health or safety concerns. Until rules are adopted, residential gray water may be used indoors for toilet flushing with a gray water treatment system that uses less than 400 gallons of gray water per day and complies with a list of specified requirements | Learn More >

SB1188 – Regulation; Permissible Consumer Fireworks

Changes one of the ranges of dates that the use of permissible consumer fireworks is allowed in Arizona to December 26 through January 4, instead of December 24 through January 3 | Learn More >

Budget Highlights

• One-time $9.5M Water Quality Fee Fund Deposit
• Ongoing $15M for WQARF
• One-time $5M for PFAS Mitigation (non-lapsing)
• One-time $1.5M for Advanced Water Purification (previously called Direct Potable Reuse) program development 
• One-time $3M increase for the Recycling Fund