LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers have endorsed a proposal to allow limited use of an herbicide that was banned following complaints that it drifted onto nearby crops and caused widespread damage.
A subcommittee of the Joint Budget Committee on Monday approved the state Plant Board's proposed rules regarding the use of the herbicide dicamba. The Plant Board last week voted to allow dicamba's use through May 25.
The rules now head to the full Joint Budget Committee.
The new restrictions also would impose a half-mile buffer zone around research stations, organic crops, specialty crops, non-tolerant dicamba crops and other sensitive crops. The state had previously banned dicamba's use from April 16 through Oct. 31. Arkansas enacted the ban last year after receiving nearly 1,000 complaints about damage from dicamba.