A bill introduced in the Arkansas legislature would end the state’s ability to hold moratoriums on permits along the Buffalo River and other watersheds.

If Senate Bill 84 becomes law, it will end the state moratorium on issuing, for example, confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) permits along the Buffalo River watershed.

The state currently maintains a temporary moratorium on issuing new permits for medium and large CAFOs along the Buffalo. The Department of Environmental Quality initiated the moratorium in 2014 after environmental concerns about the waste generated by a large-scale hog farm near the river. The farm closed in late 2019 when the state purchased its assets.