All Roll Calls
Yes: 120 • No: 26
ArkansasSB4372025 Regular SessionSenate
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ACT.
Sponsored By: Brad Hall (Republican), Bart Hester (Republican)
Enacted
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
10 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 7 mixed.
Landowners gain payment checks and insurance
Landowners paid based on wind electricity under an agreement must receive a payment explanation and verification instructions within 10 business days. They can inspect supporting records once per calendar year for payments made during the previous 24 months. Records must be available in Arkansas during normal business hours. Before construction, owners or operators must obtain and maintain liability insurance at commission-established industry standards, or approved self-insurance with excess coverage. Hosting landowners must be additional insureds, receive proof of coverage, and get at least 30 days' notice before material changes, cancellation, or termination.
Neighbors gain noise and shadow limits
Turbine noise is limited to 35 dBA at a nonparticipating landowner's home and 45 dBA at the property line. An applicant-paid expert must measure existing noise before construction; qualified experts measure turbine noise under commission rules. The noise limits do not apply during bad weather that prevents noise control. Turbine shadow flicker is limited to 30 hours per year, verified through a professional assessment with recommendations to reduce flicker and specified risks. A nonparticipating landowner can sign written waivers allowing higher noise, shadow flicker, ice throw, or blade shear on their property.
Wind turbines must keep their distance
A nonparticipating landowner is someone without a lease or other agreement for the wind project. Turbine bases must stay at least 3.5 times their total height or 2,500 feet from that owner's property line, whichever is greater. The landowner can sign a waiver allowing a distance as short as 1.1 times the turbine's total height. Turbine bases must also stay at least 1 mile from listed schools, hospitals, nursing homes, churches, municipal limits, parks, and public airports. That 1-mile rule applies to places existing when the permit application is filed.
Neighbors get hearings but limited records
Applicants must send certified-mail notice to specified offices, affected county libraries, and landowners and residents within 4 miles. Notices must describe turbine numbers and sizes, include a map and timeline, and list places to review the application. Applicants must publish application and hearing information in a local newspaper. Within 60 days after publication, they must hold a hearing in each affected county and give substantive answers to public questions. Permit and review records are generally public, but proprietary information must remain confidential.
Wind applicants fund environmental impact reviews
Applicants must pay for a qualified third-party assessment, subject to commission approval, of possible harms within 4 miles of the facility perimeter. It covers economic effects, code compliance, wildlife, views, water, hazards, aviation, communications, and lighting. No separate assessment is required when a federal environmental review of the facility or part of it includes public input, a hearing, an environmental impact statement, and a viewshed analysis. The commission cannot issue a permit before applicants obtain required state or federal environmental permits. Its permit does not replace other required approvals or limit state pollution and wildlife oversight.
Wind operators must prepare for emergencies
Applications must include a written federal aviation finding of no hazard and a development plan addressing public health and safety. Operators must follow applicable electrical and building codes and maintain emergency procedures. They must notify the commission and local emergency agencies within 24 hours of an emergency. Plans must cover shutdowns, evacuation within two miles, alternate emergency aircraft landing zones, annual review and distribution to local officials and responders, worker training and annual testing, and post-emergency reviews. Owners must fund annual first-responder training when local government requires it.
Older wind projects escape new requirements
The law covers wind facilities meeting its 5-megawatt capacity and greater-than-200-foot height thresholds. Residential wind devices under 200 feet are excluded. Facilities built or whose construction began on or before September 1, 2024, are exempt. Projects under development as of April 9, 2025, are also exempt. These projects avoid the new requirements, but nearby residents do not receive this law's protections for those projects.
Wind developers face permits and fees
Wind developers need a Public Service Commission permit to build, operate, redevelop, or expand a covered facility. Each application carries a $2,500 filing fee. Local permits are also required where local governments have adopted wind construction or expansion rules. Local rules must follow state and federal law, cannot be less strict than state standards, and must be certified to the commission. The commission can approve permit transfers when the new holder agrees to follow the permit's terms.
Wind projects must coordinate with drilling
Wind applicants must send certified-mail notice to specified oil and gas operators and qualifying lessees on affected tracts. Notice must include a map or plat, an approximate construction start date, and a return address. Recipients must provide site, operations, and infrastructure information needed for safe construction and operation within 30 days of receipt. Applicants must submit that information and the notice to the Oil and Gas Commission. They must obtain its approval or conditional approval before receiving a wind permit.
Wind owners must fund site cleanup
Before construction, applicants must provide financial security covering 100% of removal costs estimated by an independent consultant they select and pay. Security is filed with the commission using approved bonds, guarantees, credit, cash, or other approved instruments. The commission may require updated estimates and security at least once every five years after permit issuance. Owners pay for removal, including specified equipment and foundations to 48 inches below ground, within 12 months after abandonment, useful life's end, or a commission removal notice. A turbine idle for 180 consecutive days triggers removal unless law required the shutdown; the commission can grant two 180-day extensions while the facility remains in working order. Noise violations lasting 180 days also trigger removal unless corrected, with one compliance extension allowed. Land restoration is generally due within 12 months after removal or expansion; construction-related tree replacement is not required, and landowner agreements can set stricter terms. If an owner fails to remove the facility, the commission uses available security to complete the work.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Brad Hall
Republican • House
Bart Hester
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
James Eaton
Republican • House
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 4/16/2025
Senate Vote - Wednesday, April 16, 2025 12:04:51 PM
Yes: 18 • No: 14 • Other: 3
House vote • 4/16/2025
House Vote - Wednesday, April 16, 2025 10:32:26 AM
Yes: 73 • No: 11 • Other: 13
Senate vote • 4/7/2025
Senate Vote - Monday, April 7, 2025 1:41:53 PM
Yes: 29 • No: 1 • Other: 5
Actions Timeline
Notification that SB437 is now Act 945
4/22/2025SenateDELIVERED TO GOVERNOR.
4/16/2025SenateReported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.
4/16/2025SenateORDERED ENROLLED
4/16/2025SenateRead the third time and passed.
4/16/2025SenateRules suspended.
4/16/2025SenateHouse Amendment No. 1 read first time, rule suspended, read second time and concurred in.
4/16/2025SenatePlaced on second reading for purpose of amendment.
4/16/2025SenateRules suspended.
4/16/2025SenateReturned from the House as passed as amended # 1 .
4/16/2025SenateReturned to Senate as passed, as amended # 1
4/16/2025HouseRead the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.
4/16/2025HouseREPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
4/15/2025HouseAmendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.
4/15/2025HousePlaced on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
4/15/2025HouseReturned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 1
4/14/2025HouseRead the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on INSURANCE & COMMERCE- HOUSE
4/7/2025HouseRECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
4/7/2025HouseOrdered immediately transmitted to the House.
4/7/2025SenateRead the third time and passed.
4/7/2025SenateReturned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass
4/3/2025SenateRe-referred to INSURANCE & COMMERCE - SENATE
3/20/2025SenateREPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
3/20/2025SenateAmendment # 1 read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and adopted, ordered engrossed.
3/20/2025SenateWithdrawn from Committee and placed on 2nd reading for purpose of amendment # 1
3/20/2025Senate
Bill Text
SB437 - Introduced
3/12/2025
Act Version
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