Arkansas Counties Hurry to Regulate Crypto Mining Noise

According to local media reports, several counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas are rushing to pass emergency legislation allowing them to regulate noise and other crypto mining-related activities before a new state law takes effect on August 1.

The new state law subjects cryptocurrency mining facilities to the same regulations as data centers, establishing guidelines for miners and shielding them from discriminatory regulations and taxes.

However, Arkansans scarcely had time to discuss the new legislation, which was proposed, discussed in committees, and passed within a week, between March 30 and April 7.

According to the law’s author, state representative Rick McClure, “no one spoke against this bill in committees or on the legislative floor.”

Arkansas is home to Green Digital, GMI Computing, United BitEngine, and Cryptic Farms, among others. Local governments are enacting more regulations to address complaints of excessive pollution around the clock.

Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023. Source: Arkansas State Legislature.

During a July meeting, Kris Kendrick, a justice of the peace on Faulkner County’s Quorum Court, stated, “I don’t have any issues with crypto mining, just the noise level and the lack of concern for our neighbors.”

After the measure was passed, the Association of Arkansas Counties drafted a model ordinance for use by counties before the law’s implementation.

More than a dozen counties have reportedly enacted noise ordinances against data centers since June. “I also want to emphasize that it’s not these individuals stepping out on the front porch who are unable to enjoy a cup of tea while sitting on the back porch.

These individuals can hear this noise 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from their bedrooms, according to Justice of the Peace Maree Coats.

Despite not completely prohibiting county regulations, the new law prohibits local governments from discriminating against crypto mining facilities or limiting decibel levels “other than the limits established for sound pollution in general.”

It is also prohibited for counties to rezone areas “with the intent or effect of discriminating against” digital mining operations.