Bill to have ADEQ and Agriculture review beef and dairy rules advances

Senator Gary Stubblefield introduced House Bill 1920 and an amendment that would charge the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Agriculture with reviewing rules and regulations that affect the beef and dairy industries to determine which remain relevant and which may be overly burdensome. "It just sets up a process by which ADEQ, the Department of Ag can look over these rules," Stubblefield said, describing the bill as a way to identify rules that should be retained or eliminated.

Stubblefield, speaking as a former dairy farmer, said some long-standing rules had become ineffective because they were not enforced and that the bill seeks a targeted review rather than blanket deregulation. Committee members asked no substantive questions and no outside proponents or opponents had signed up. The committee adopted the member's amendment and moved to give the bill a do-pass as amended; the motion carried.

The transcript does not record the specific review timeline, reporting requirements or any budgetary resources to support the review; those implementation details were not specified on the record.