RICHARD BELL

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE PHor: 501-683-4851 

FAX: 501-683-4852 

ARKANSAS AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT 

Mr. Mathy Stanislaus 

Assistant Administrator 

Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) 

USEPA Headquarters 

Ariel Rios Building 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Mail Code: 5101T 

Washington, DC 20460 

Dear Mr. Stanislaus: 

The Arkansas Agriculture Department respectfully requests an extension of the 

November 10, 2011 deadline for on-farm implementation of the Oil Spill Prevention, 

Control and Countermeasures Program (SPCC). The record flooding in Arkansas 

earlier this spring has prevented producers from implementing SPCC requirements as 

intended. 

Record rainfall within the state and the historic levels of the Mississippi River during the 

spring of 2011 caused unprecedented flooding of farms and communities in Arkansas. 

As of April 1, 2011, every county in Arkansas had received a Presidential Disaster 

Declaration. USDA officials indicate it is highly likely every county will receive a disaster 

declaration by the Secretary of Agriculture also. If so, 2011 will be the second year the 

entire state has received both types of disaster declarations for extreme weather 

conditions. 

The disaster conditions wreaked havoc on planting schedules and farm budgets, and 

farmers simply did not have the time or money to implement SPCC plans. When EPA 

updated the SPCC Farmers Fact Sheet in March and issued the SPCC Plan Template 

in April, weather conditions prevented farmers from conducting any SPCC site 

preparation or equipment installation. By the time weather conditions improved 

sufficiently and flood waters receded, farmers had to focus solely on getting crops 

planted within the narrow window of opportunity that remained. 

These weather challenges were compounded by two additional issues: (1) farmers 

were not provided the promised educational assistance; and (2) a lack of professional 

engineers in Arkansas who understand agriculture operations sufficiently to develop 

workable plans in a timely manner. Farmers were informed that instructional meetings 

would be held to explain the program and answer questions. As explained above, the 

only assistance provided was a fact sheet and a plan template issued in April. Many 

farmers were not aware of either tool and both came too late to be helpful in meeting 

the November deadline.
These weather challenges were compounded by two additional issues: (1) farmers 

were not provided the promised educational assistance; and (2) a lack of professional 

engineers in Arkansas who understand agriculture operations sufficiently to develop 

workable plans in a timely manner. Farmers were informed that instructional meetings 

would be held to explain the program and answer questions. As explained above, the 

only assistance provided was a fact sheet and a plan template issued in April. Many 

farmers were not aware of either tool and both came too late to be helpful in meeting 

the November deadline. 

Professional engineers in Arkansas historically have done little work on farms and few 

are familiar with the SPCC program. They need additional time and education to 

adequately meet SPCC program requirements also. 

Arkansas producers want to fully and correctly comply with SPCC regulations but need 

adequate time to do so. An additional 24 months to implement SPCC plans would 

provide producers time to recover financially from the impacts of the extreme weather 

conditions, find qualified engineers, and install the proper equipment. I would 

appreciate your consideration of this request. 

Richard Bell 

Secretary of Agriculture 

State of Arkansas 

Cc: Lawrence Elworth, Agricultural Advisor
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