Proclamation to Declare a State of Emergency in Arkansas

WHEREAS: On or about January 30, 2023, severe winter weather began in Arkansas and continues to cause dangers, hardships, and suffering throughout the state, which in turn, warrants this executive action;

WHEREAS: Within the State of Arkansas, great hardship has fallen upon its citizens, including their businesses and their public and private property;

WHEREAS: The winter weather is limiting commercial vehicles from accomplishing their designated responsibilities of hauling heavy equipment, oversized loads, transformers, necessary hardware, and other transmission and distribution equipment to line crews for the purpose of restoring power to the citizens of the State of Arkansas;

WHEREAS: There is a likelihood of numerous downed power lines, and it is important to maintain a safe distance from the downed power lines and from the line crews and equipment restoring power to the citizens of the State of Arkansas;

WHEREAS: The winter weather has resulted in dangerous road conditions creating a backlog of deliveries by commercial vehicles transporting essential items of commerce to customers in Arkansas;

WHEREAS: The winter weather is limiting commercial vehicles from accomplishing their designated responsibilities of hauling feed and picking up poultry; and

WHEREAS: Pursuant to 49 CFR §390.23, the Governor is authorized to declare a regional emergency for the duration of emergency conditions, not to exceed thirty (30) days from the date of the initial declaration of emergency, and any motor carrier or driver operating a commercial motor vehicle to provide emergency relief is temporarily exempt from the regulations found in 49 C.F.R. §390 to §399 for the duration of the declared emergency.

NOW THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, acting under the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Arkansas and pursuant to Act 511 of 1973, as amended, do hereby declare that a state of emergency exists in the State of Arkansas as applied:

To commercial vehicles hauling heavy equipment, oversized loads, transformers, necessary hardware, and other transmission and distribution equipment to line crews for the purpose of restoring power to the citizens of the State;

To commercial carriers transporting essential items of commerce to customers in Arkansas during this emergency, including but not limited to groceries, pharmacy items, medical equipment, goods, commodities, fuel, poultry, livestock, and feed;

FURTHERMORE, I hereby invoke the emergency executive powers vested in me under Ark. Code Ann. §§ 12-75-101 et seq., as amended, and suspend all provisions of regulating statutes prescribing procedures for the conduct of the State Office of Purchasing, the Arkansas Building Authority, the State Office of Personnel Management, and all other State departments and agencies to render maximum assistance to the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment and the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, through the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management, relative to the removal of any potential impediment to the rapid and orderly remediation of the disposal site and to rendering of assistance to political subdivisions.

This state of emergency, as well as the provisions of this Declaration, shall exist and be in effect until such time as the emergency conditions cease to exist.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed on this 31st day of January, in the year of our Lord 2023.