Upon receipt of an application for the issuance of a permit for a new cemetery or for an extension of the boundaries of an existing cemetery, the Arkansas Cemetery Board shall cause the Department of Health to make an investigation of the proposed cemetery location or extension, with respect to a sanitary viewpoint.

The department in making the investigation shall take into consideration the proximity of the proposed cemetery, or extension, to human habitation, the nature of the soil, the drainage of the ground, the danger of pollution of springs or streams of water, and such other conditions as would bear upon the situation.

Having completed this investigation, the department shall promptly submit in writing its approval or disapproval from a sanitary standpoint to the board. In the event that the department disapproves the proposed cemetery location or extension, further action on the application shall be suspended until the applicant acquires a location which meets with the approval of the department or until other action, as necessary, is taken.