Arkansas counties rush to pass noise regulations for crypto miners

Several counties in the US state of Arkansas are rushing to pass emergency laws that would allow them to control noise and other activities related to crypto mining before a new state law goes into effect on August 1. according to local media reports.

The new state law puts crypto mining facilities under the same regulations applied to data centers, creating guidelines for miners and protecting them from discriminatory regulations and taxes. Arkansas residents barely had time to discuss the new legislation, which was proposeddiscussed in commissions and approved by legislators within a week, from March 30 to April 7.

State Rep. Rick McClure, the bill's author, reportedly said that "no one spoke out against this bill in committee or on the floor." Crypto mining companies in Arkansas include Green Digital, GMI Computing, United BitEngine, and Cryptic Farms.

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Local authorities are enacting more regulations to address complaints of excessive noise 24 hours a day. “I have no problem with cryptocurrency mining, just the noise level, the lack of attention to our neighbors,” Kris Kendrick, a justice of the peace in the Faulkner County Quorum Court, said during a meeting in July.

After the bill passed, the Arkansas Association of Counties developed a model ordinance counties can use before the law goes into effect. Since June, more than a dozen counties have passed noise ordinances targeting data centers.

"I also want to point out that it's not these people who go out on the front porch and [not] being able to enjoy a glass of tea sitting on the back porch. These people can hear this sound 24/7 from their bedrooms," Justice of the Peace Maree Coats said.

Despite not outright banning county regulations, the new legislation prohibits local governments from discriminating against crypto mining facilities or limiting decibel levels “apart from limits set for noise pollution in general.” Counties are also prohibited from rezoning areas "with the intent or effect of discriminating against" digital mining operations.

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