Hog-farm next steps
studied, panel told
The head of Arkansas' energy department told members of a state pollution control commission Friday that officials will consider next steps after a proposed permanent moratorium on some hog farms in the Buffalo River watershed failed to get the approval of state lawmakers.
"We will consider our next steps necessary to comply with the current requirements in the fact that the vote was to not review and approve," Becky Keogh, energy and environment secretary, told the state's Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.
She did not elaborate on what her department's next steps might entail.
The proposed revisions comprising the permanent ban on medium and large hog farms in the watershed gained the approval of the commission in a vote last month, but lawmakers on the Administrative Rules Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council effectively killed the measure.
Legislators on June 17 recommended that the Legislative Council not approve the moratorium. They expressed concerns that the moratorium, which had the support of Gov. Asa Hutchinson but was opposed by the Arkansas Farm Bureau, would stymie agriculture in the state.
Despite the recent defeat in the Legislature, it is unclear whether Keogh and other officials are under any obligation to pursue the proposed permanent moratorium again because of stipulations contained in the five-year temporary moratorium, which said at the end of the five-years, Keogh must make the moratorium permanent or dissolve it.
In remarks to lawmakers earlier this month, Keogh indicated that she would pursue the permanent moratorium again if legislators rejected it, and the department's chief counsel, Shane Khoury, acknowledged there is a "legitimate question" as to whether the agency would have to repeat the rule-making process in the fall.
Watershed efforts
get $95,519 grant
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $95,519 multipurpose grant to the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality to support water-quality programs related to the Illinois River watershed, the federal agency announced in a Friday news release.
These programs include collaborative efforts between Oklahoma and Arkansas on the Illinois River watershed, which spans the two states.
According to the federal agency, the grant will support activities in Arkansas such as a forum to promote the use of fire to manage crop residue, plus the development of a data management system for the Illinois River Watershed Steering Committee.
"EPA's multipurpose grants allow recipients to fund issues that are important to them, even if those issues span different program areas, and [the Environmental Quality Division] shows how to put that flexibility into action," EPA regional administrator Ken McQueen said in a statement. "Increasing collaboration on the Illinois River watershed will help protect and maintain this vital resource for the people of Arkansas and Oklahoma."