Environment notebook

Comments sought on air-permit draft

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality seeks comment on the final phase of its development of a protocol for screening air permits.

When applying for an air permit, entities must demonstrate compliance with air-quality standards by using modeling that shows expected air pollutant concentrations.

The proposal would affect permit applicants who plan to emit or increase their current emissions by 100 tons per year of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

The department has sought input from outside groups for the past few years on the current draft, said Stuart Spencer, department associate director overseeing the office of air quality. The department is accepting comments through Sept. 5.

The draft protocol calls for including in the modeling all terrain at a facility, specifies how certain data should be used and notes that emergency generators need not be included in the modeling.

The draft plan can be accessed through the department’s website at www.adeq.state.ar.us/air/permits/.

Wetlands project in

state gets $4.8M

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced plans to send $4.8 million to Arkansas to restore more than 1,500 acres of critical wetlands.

The service announced the funding last month as part of $13 million for seven states to improve wetlands, according to a USDA news release. Other partners in wetland restoration will contribute another $2 million toward the projects.

Arkansas’ service headquarters will receive the most funding for restoring portions of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the release said.

The project will address water quality and quantity and wildlife habitat, including that of the Louisiana black bear and migratory waterfowl, the release said.

The service will funnel $4 million toward another project spearheaded in Tennessee that will “restore or enhance” 1,301 acres of of wetlands in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

Wetlands are critical for certain wildlife, flood control and groundwater.

“These locally-led partnerships are instrumental in achieving greater wetland acreage and maximizing their benefits to farmers, ranchers and the local and rural communities where wetlands exists,” Mike Sullivan, state conservationist with the resource service, said in the news release.

Upcoming Events