The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment is pausing some routine regulatory inspections because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Like other government offices in Arkansas, state agencies dealing with the environment have taken measures to limit contact with the public, send employees home and close facilities in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.
Arkansas' number of confirmed covid-19 cases had risen to 100 by Friday, up from 62 cases Thursday. It marked the state's biggest one-day jump in known cases since the outbreak began.
Although workers nationwide have been instructed to work from home or even "shelter in place" amid the pandemic, that is likely to be impossible for Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality inspectors who monitor compliance with state and federal laws and whose work cannot be accomplished remotely.
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Routine inspections that involve public interaction have been postponed for 30 days "to protect the health and safety of our employees and the community," according to a department spokesman.
"It's important to note that inspectors will continue to conduct monitoring rounds and are responding to environmental emergencies and complaints," spokesman Jacob Harper wrote in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Additionally, inspections that can be performed at unmanned sites, or without public interaction, will also continue."
Guidance issued to employees Monday from department Secretary Becky Keogh did not grant blanket approval for employees to work remotely. Instead, the department instructed employees who want to work from home to submit a request form for approval or denial by the supervisor chain reporting up to Keogh.
The department made it clear that employees who contract the coronavirus or self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution will have to use leave time like they would during any other illness, Keogh's office said in a March 12 memo.
In an update the following day, the department emphasized that leave policies had not changed in spite of the ongoing pandemic and the closure of schools across Arkansas for two weeks per an order from Hutchinson.
"Currently, all leave policies are to be followed as usual," the memo said. "We are aware that many schools have closed. Until future notice, employees staying home with their dependents should either have arranged to work remotely or follow the existing leave policies."
According to Harper, 118 of the 408 employees of the Department of Energy and Environment were working from home or remotely as of Wednesday.
The Game and Fish Commission and Department of Agriculture have taken similar steps.
The Department of Agriculture has allowed some employees, who may be particularly vulnerable to the virus or who have to look after their children during the day, to work remotely with the approval of their supervisors.
Forty employees, or about 7% of the department's workforce, were working remotely as of Thursday, according to Anna Thrash, an Agriculture Department spokeswoman. Employees who get sick or who have to care of their children and cannot work remotely will have to use leave time.
Department of Agriculture facilities remain open.
Keith Stephens, the chief of communications for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said Thursday that 29 of the commission's 584 employees were working remotely. However, Stephens noted that many commission employees work in the field because of their roles as wildlife officers, educators or biologists.
The commission has closed all facilities -- nature education centers, hatcheries, shooting ranges, field offices and the commission's Little Rock headquarters -- to the public through March 30. Outdoor areas such as hiking trails and lakes remain open to the public. The commission also voted during a special meeting Thursday to waive the fishing license requirement for the spring break period from March 21-29.
Additionally, the commission canceled an open forum public meeting and the commission's monthly meeting scheduled for March 18 and 19 in Hope. A monthly meeting scheduled for April 23 remains on the calendar.
Metro on 03/21/2020