Little Rock, Arkansas – The state’s authority to impose permit moratoriums along the Buffalo River and adjacent watersheds would be terminated by a measure that was sponsored in the Arkansas legislature.
The state prohibition on granting permits for confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) along the Buffalo River watershed, for instance, will end if Senate Bill 84 is signed into law.
Buffalo’s Future Marshall talks about the National River.
At the moment, the state is temporarily prohibiting medium- and large CAFOs near Buffalo from obtaining new permits. Following environmental concerns regarding the waste produced by a large-scale hog farm next to the river, the Department of Environmental Quality started the moratorium in 2014. After the state bought its assets, the farm shuttered in late 2019.
The measure would terminate any existing moratoriums and require consent from the Legislative Council before any moratoriums are implemented. In its text, it particularly mentions the Buffalo River Watershed.
The bill is on the Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development committee’s Tuesday schedule after completing its first readings on the Senate floor.
Sen. Blake Johnson (R-Corning) and Rep. DeAnn Vaught (R-Horatio) are the sponsors of SB84, which is an agreement to close a hog farm close to the Buffalo River in Arkansas.
