(1) Earthquake activity in Arkansas has never been closely monitored by a local network of seismic stations and that the realistic assessment of seismic hazards in this state can only be accomplished by long-term local monitoring of earthquake activity in this state;

(2) Although the monitoring systems operated by St. Louis University and the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis have provided a great deal of information for risk assessment in the New Madrid seismic zone, the need for monitoring within Arkansas has become apparent;

(3) It would be most beneficial to the residents of this state for a collaborative program to be established between St. Louis University, the University of Memphis, and the Arkansas Center for Earthquake Education and Technology Transfer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in order to coordinate efforts and prevent duplication;

(4) The Arkansas Center for Earthquake Education and Technology Transfer is ideally located to handle the logistics of installing and maintaining a network of seismic monitoring stations within this state and is committed to offering the necessary personnel and facilities to efficiently handle the undertaking; and

(5) The focus will be on establishing long-term, continuous monitoring of earthquake activity in Arkansas in order to provide reliable data for a realistic seismic hazard assessment, and it is the intent of this subchapter to accomplish that purpose.