Change to plant act's penalties sails in panel

Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, is shown in this file photo.
Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, is shown in this file photo.

A bill that would raise the bar for assessing penalties for farmers misusing dicamba or certain other herbicides flew through a House committee Wednesday.

House Bill 1512 -- sponsored by Rep. David Hillman, R-Almyra; Sen. David Wallace, R-Leachville; and Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning -- would amend the Arkansas Plant Act of 1917 by clarifying the definition of an "egregious violation" in relation to the use of certain herbicides.

"Basically what it does is say if you apply certain chemicals off the federal label or against the state Plant Board regulations and you cause damage to someone else, or damage is caused to someone else, then you're guilty of egregious action and can be punishable by up to a $25,000 assessment," Hillman said.

The bill was approved by the House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee. HB1512 will now go before the House for consideration.

Currently, a violation is considered "egregious" only if significant off-target crop damage occurs as a result of herbicide application.

[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]

Under HB1512, the definition requires the intentional application of dicamba, an auxin-containing herbicide or any new herbicide technology released after Aug. 1, 2017, if it is not used according to federal label requirements or a state application law or rule.

According to Arkansas Code Annotated 2-16-203, any person who violates the application rules can be charged and fined up to $100 as well as face a civil penalty by the state Plant Board of not more than $1,000.

If the board finds the violation "egregious," the board can assess a civil penalty of more than $1,000, up to $25,000.

"The Plant Board has assured me they're not out to get a lot of money out of this," Hillman said.

Officials with the state Plant Board were unavailable for comment Wednesday because they were at an all-day hearing on when to spray dicamba.

The proceeds from the civil penalties up to $1,000 would fund the Arkansas State Plant Board Scholarship program. For higher penalties, the first $1,000 would go to the scholarship fund, with the 60 percent of the remainder going to scholarships and 40 percent earmarked for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.

Complaints of dicamba damage have plagued row-crop agriculture, spawning lawsuits and fighting among neighboring farmers.

A Section on 02/21/2019

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