Arkansas

Arkansas legislature passes bills regulating crypto mining noise, banning foreign owners

Published

2 years ago

May 2, 2024

Arkansas legislature passes bills regulating crypto mining noise, banning foreign owners

Arkansas lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to two bills regulating cryptocurrency mining operations in the state and delivered them to the governor’s office to be signed into law.

Both bills are meant address what proponents say are shortcomings in 2023’s Act 851, the Arkansas Data Centers Act, which bars local governments from regulating crypto mining operations.

Act 851 passed easily in 2023’s regular session but has since come under fire for allowing crypto mines to operate without sufficient oversight. Many members of the General Assembly say that they didn’t fully understand aspects of the law when it was passed.

Crypto mines face widespread criticism for the loud noise that they often produce as well as the large amounts of water and electricity they consume.

Many lawmakers voiced worry that the facilities could put a strain on already overtaxed aquifers, hurting farmers, and potentially overburden the energy grid.

Some lawmakers voiced concerns about cybersecurity risks related to foreign ownership.

The intense backlash to the passage of Act 851 has now led to the passage of the first major pieces of substantive non-budget legislation ever passed during a fiscal session, according to several lawmakers.

The final passage in the House on Wednesday comes after the sponsors of the two bills appeared before a legislative committee Tuesday for a final round of questioning and debate.

Rep. Rick McClure, R-Malvern, and Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, the sponsors of Senate Bill 78, as well as Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, and Rep. Jeremiah Moore, R-Clarendon, the sponsors of Senate Bill 79, fielded questions from members of the House City, County and Local Affairs Committee.

Most agreed that something had to be done to address the many disparate concerns related to crypto mining and the bills were an acceptable start, though there was not a consensus that the bills presented a perfect or permanent solution.

Noise reduction in new bills

Senate Bill 78 requires crypto facilities to use noise reduction, listing methods such as liquid cooling, submerged cooling, building at least 2,000 feet from the nearest building or “fully enclosing the envelope” — meaning building solid walls on all sides of the crypto mine.

The bill also requires noise reduction and bans crypto operations from using water to cool their servers.

Some lawmakers, including Rep. Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, and Rep. Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, pointed to language they said didn’t require these specific noise mitigation measures explicitly enough. They said the language is ambiguous as to whether other noise reduction might also technically meet the letter of the law.

McCullough asked whether the bill mandates the specific types of noise reduction listed, or might “open it up to maybe just putting some cotton balls outside the walls and saying ‘we tried to reduce the noise.’”

Bryant said the bill should be read to mean that noise reduction must be as effective as those methods.

Foreign ownership barred

Both bills would bar many foreign nationals from owning any interest in crypto mining.

Nationals of countries on the list of countries subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations would not be able to own a stake in a crypto mine.

Bryant and Irvin worked together to merge the sections of SB 78 and SB 79 regarding foreign ownership so that they are compatible. Bryant lowered the percentage stake that a foreign national can own from 15% to 0% in order to match SB 79.

Bryant said that using the list of countries in the regulations as opposed to barring nationals of particular countries was not a perfect solution but an efficient one.

“[As] a legislative body, we don’t have time to react to everything that’s happening in the world. Is it the best way to handle it? I’m not sure. But as it’s been said, we just don’t know and this is a step to try to control that.”

An owner of a crypto mine whose country is added to that list would have to divest from the mine, Bryant said.

Hobby mining allowed

Bryant said that under SB 78, crypto mining would be allowed as a hobby “within the four walls of the castle of your home.”

A handful of lawmakers asked how home crypto mining would be defined and differentiated from commercial crypto mining. Bryant and Entergy’s Director of Public Affairs John Bethel said that the scale of crypto mining out of a residence will be necessarily limited by the constraints of residential grade electrical service.

“It’s almost like going to the diamond mines out here and having a good fun day, and you might get lucky that day, versus buying a diamond mine with all the equipment, all the employees and everything else. It’s just two different things,” McClure said.

Skepticism and criticism

“These are really stopgap bills until we get to the ’25 general session?” asked Rep. Carol Dalby, R-Texarkana.

Bryant agreed, saying that “there’s going to be a lot more discussion unfolding in 2025 and also between now and then.”

Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, said of SB 78: “Everybody can probably find something that they’re not 100% on board with but with the big issues as it pertains to this bill, those being noise, vicinity and foreign ownership, I think it address all the big things.”

Collins appeared to be the only “no” in the final voice votes that passed both bills.

“I think in a lot of ways, it’s positive,” he said of SB 78, but “the reason I have to be a ‘no’ on it is that it goes too far in taking away liberties. In restricting foreign ownership in this way, we are casting a net that is both too wide and too narrow. It’s going to catch people up who are totally innocent and it’s going to miss a lot of people who are either home grown or from one of the countries not on this list.”

“We can’t really put that back in the bottle if we pass this,” Collins said.

Others disagreed, saying that there would be opportunities to improve upon the legislation.

“We’ve got between now and January to work with the sponsors and with other members of this body and the Senate, to get us there,” said Rep. David Whitaker, D-Fayetteville. “The people who are calling me say at least get started… I urge you not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

“I’m not sure whether we’re helping or hurting but I’m going to support it because I know we need to do something,” said Rep. Mike Holcomb, R-Pine Bluff.

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Arkansas

Baseball notebook: Kansas and Arkansas to play in winner’s bracket

Published

9 hours ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

Baseball notebook: Kansas and Arkansas to play in winner’s bracket

Last year Kansas and Arkansas were in the Fayetteville Regional but never got a chance to play. That will change tonight at 5 p.m. when the top two seeds face off in the winner’s bracket of the Lawrence Regional.

Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn watched the Jayhawks last year and believes they are a better team than last year.

“They are a very good team,” Van Horn said. “They were in our regional last year. We didn’t face them, but you could see from the stands or our offices when we watched them play that they’re physical.

He continued:

“They added to it, got a couple key guys back, and they can hit the ball over your head with the best of them. Really good here (at home). They had one rough weekend here against West Virginia. Other than that, they’ve been great.”

Kansas will face a talented pitcher in Dietz

The Jayhawks are set to face one of the best pitchers they have seen this season. Hunter Dietz is expected to start for the Razorbacks and should be healthy.

In the SEC tournament against Texas, he took a line drive off his leg that sidelined him. He threw a bullpen earlier in the week and looked good according to Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn.

“That’s the plan, is to pitch him,” Van Horn said. “Unless something crazy goes on with his leg or whatever. But yeah, he seems to be feeling good. He seems to be moving around good and no complaints. I feel like he’s ready to go, so that’s who we’ll go with.”

[Jayhawks open with a win over Northeastern]

Dietz is projected to go in the first round and some draft analysts say he might be the best left-handed pitcher in the country. The 6-foot-6 lefty’s fastball is consistently in the 93-96 mph range and he mixes in a cutter and slider.

This year he has eye-opening numbers with 121 strikeouts and only 29 walks.

Containing the running game from Northeastern

A lot of the talk going into the first round against Northeastern was their speed on the bases. They led the nation in stolen bases by a wide margin but did not get one against Kansas.

“It was the emphasis going in,” said head coach Dan Fitzgerald. “Now, the Big 12 prepares us for that. You think of the teams that we play against, you’ve heard me refer to the Big 12 as the take-what-they-give-you league.”

Fitzgerald gave credit to his coaching staff working with the pitchers on their delivery and holding runners on.

“It took a lot of game planning,” Fitzgerald said. “I thought that Coach Scott and Coach Holland did a tremendous job today. I thought the scout was amazing, but that was a big deal to hold them down.”

Kansas will have a rested bullpen

One good thing going into the Arkansas game is a rested bullpen. Dominic Voegele threw seven innings on 102 pitches and was followed by Boede Rahe who threw 32 over two innings of work.

Fitzgerald said after the game it was a key factor to get through game one with two pitchers.

“It was huge, and they were both fantastic,” he said. “Boede has told me daily the entire season that he’s good to go, so he’ll be able to bounce back. Dom was so efficient, and again, it’s so hard to be efficient against a lineup like that.”

Rahe leads the team in saves and he has appeared in back-to-back games this season. If he is needed in a close game tonight don’t be surprised to see him available for a limited pitch count.

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Arkansas

No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks’ Historic Season Comes to an End at WCWS

Published

19 hours ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks’ Historic Season Comes to an End at WCWS

Hunter Corneliusen
May 30, 2026

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – No. 5 National Seed Arkansas Razorbacks’ historic season came to an end on Friday night with an 11-0 (5 inn.) loss to UCLA at the Women’s College World Series inside Devon Park.

With the loss, Arkansas finished its season with a 47-13 record that culminated in the program’s first Women’s College World Series berth. The Hogs’ 47 wins were the second-most in program history, trailing only the 2022 team’s 48-11 overall record.

Tianna Bell, Atalyia Rijo, and Kailey Wyckoff all recorded base hits for Arkansas in the loss. Wyckoff and Karlie Davison both drew walks. Payton Burnham (14-4) took the loss for Arkansas after allowing four runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work.

Taylor Tinsley (33-7) took the win for UCLA, pitching five shutout innings while striking out two and allowing three hits and two walks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Payton Burnham made her 19th start of the season for Arkansas, while UCLA went with senior Taylor Tinsley.

In the top of the first inning, Atalyia Rijo had a hand in all three outs of a 1-2-3 frame that featured a pair of groundouts and a popout. Tinsley responded with a 1-2-3 inning herself, courtesy of a strikeout, flyout, and lineout in the home half of the first inning.

Aleena Garcia gave UCLA a 1-0 lead with a lead-off solo home run to dead center field in the top of the second inning. Kaniya Bragg got hit by a pitch, and Alexis Ramirez singled before Soo-Jin Berry made it a 4-0 game with a three-run home run to left field. Following Ramirez’s homer, Saylor Timmerman entered in relief for Arkansas. Megan Grant later extended the Bruins’ lead to 7-0 by way of a three-run home run to center field, her 42nd of the season. Senior LHP Robyn Herron entered with two runners on and two outs in the inning. UCLA extended its lead to 9-0 courtesy of a two-RBI double off the top of the wall in right field by Bragg.

In the bottom of the second inning, Karlie Davison became the first baserunner of the game for Arkansas after reaching on a two-out walk. She later advanced to second base on a single from Atalyia Rijo. Kailey Wyckoff later walked to load the bases, but UCLA would escape with a flyout to get out of the inning.

In the top of the third inning, Herron registered a pair of strikeouts while UCLA made it 10-0 by scoring a run by way of a wild pitch. Tinsley retired the Hogs in order in the bottom of the third inning.

Herron retired UCLA in order in the top of the fourth inning while picking up a pair of strikeouts. Tianna Bell singled down the third-base line to lead off the bottom of the fourth.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Bruins’ Jolyna Lamar increased the UCLA lead to 11-0 with a solo home run to right field.

Kailey Wyckoff singled down the third-base line to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning before UCLA retired three consecutive batters to end the game.

NOTABLES

Arkansas finished the season with a 47-13 overall record. The Razorbacks’ 47 wins were the second-most in program history, trailing only the 2022 team’s 48-11 overall record.

Up Next

The Razorbacks will be back in action in the spring of 2027.

For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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