News & Articles

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is set to announce the first major reorganization of the USDA since 1994. The restructuring is set to take effect this June, and congressional approval is not required. Under the plan, the office of Undersecretary for Rural Development will be abolished, and the office of Rural Development will report directly to Secretary Perdue.

After Wednesday’s unanimous vote by the Arkansas Plant Board, Arkansas farmers are one step closer to facing fines of up to $25,000 for spraying Dicamba and related herbicides. The Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 778 in March that allows for higher fines for Dicamba spraying. However, the Plant Board has to enact a new fine and civil penalty matrix to be approved by the Governor prior to the stiffer fines going into effect.

This week the Arkansas Bar Association announced that Chase Carmichael was elected to the open seat representing Board of Governors District 3, and Molly Shepherd was elected to the open seat representing House of Delegates District C-09. Their terms will begin at the Arkansas Bar Association’s Annual Meeting in June. Mr. Carmichael and Ms. Shepherd are attorneys in PPGMR’s El Dorado office.

The Senate dealt an unexpected blow to the fossil-fuel industry on Wednesday by failing to reverse an Obama-era regulation limiting the methane emission from oil and gas wells on federal lands. The regulation requires energy companies to capture methane that would otherwise be flared at drilling sites.

PPGMR Law’s Scott Morgan and Patrick Feilke recently appealed a lower court decision and successfully obtained a reversal from the Arkansas Court of Appeals for firm client SEECO, Inc., and co-Plaintiff Joyce Walls, parties to a lease of certain partial mineral rights connected with acreage located in White County, Arkansas.