Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ross Announces Opposition To EPA's Proposal

State Sen. Mike Ross, who has announced his candidacy as a Democrat for the Fourth U.S. Congressional District, has announced his opposition to the EPA's (Environmental Protection Agency) proposal to require many Arkansas landowners to obtain "needless federal permits."

Ross, of Prescott, spoke in El Dorado January 6 at the Timber Landowners meeting.

"As a small business owner, I know the last thing a business needs is more red tape and bureaucracy with no significant environmental benefits," he told the group of over 1,000. "It will increase costs to landowners, cause administrative delays and legal challenges, eliminate jobs, hamper economic development, and prevent landowners from practicing sound and sustainable forest management on their land.

He told the group that this was "another example of how the Washington, D.C., bureaucrats are out of touch with the people of Arkansas."

He said the EPA wants to expand the total maximum daily load (TMDL) Water Rules to force many landowners to obtain federal permits to simply manage their timber. "I believe this proposal goes too far in requiring landowners to obtain federal permits for timber management in the watershed of any stream that has impaired water quality," Ross said. "Forestry activities are not responsible for any impaired streams in Arkansas, and the EPA should not punish landowners by requiring them to obtain a federal permit due to a problem they did not create.

"As a state senator for the past nine years, I have worked very closely with landowners and the forest industry. In fact, Potlatch is one of the largest employers in my hometown and I appreciate the large number of jobs created in Arkansas by the forest industry. The state forest industry is already voluntarily following a set of best of management practices. Therefore, I am outraged that the EPA would even consider such a ridiculous regulation," Ross said.

Ross mailed a letter Thursday to the EPA requesting them to exempt forestry from any expansion of its rules or regulations relating to TMDL Water Rules. He will also attend a meeting Thursday night in El Dorado, where he will speak against the proposal.