Fort Smith Directors to consider inviting head of DOJ, EPA to the city

Some members of the Fort Smith Board of Directors are not letting go of the hope that new leadership in Washington, D.C., will provide the city some flexibility and relief from consent decree requirements they believe are too onerous.

On Tuesday (April 1), the board will vote on a resolution to invite U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to Fort Smith “for direct discussion with city officials, representatives and staff on issues the city faces regarding compliance, affordability, and enforcement of the Consent Decree,” according to a city memo on the proposed resolution.

It will be a big ask to bring two Cabinet-level officials to Fort Smith for talks about a sewer system with less than 40,000 customers.

After decades of failing to maintain sewer infrastructure to federal standards, the city entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in late 2014. The consent decree, which began in January 2015, required the city to make an estimated $480 million worth of sewer upgrades in 12 years. That amount is now estimated to be as high as $800 million.

City staff recently met with EPA, DOJ and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality officials to negotiate more time to fund and build improvements required by the consent decree. The outcome of those negotiations are not yet known.

The Fort Smith Board on Feb. 21 approved placing a sales tax reallocation plan before voters on May 13 to fund $385 million in bonds to fund consent decree work. According to city staff, the bonds would provide assurances to federal officials that the city is focused on sewer system improvements. The board also approved an ordinance to raise the sewer rate 3.5% starting June 1, 2025, and then Jan. 1 of each subsequent year through 2030.

The plan approved by board to be sent to the voters includes:
• Reauthorizing a 0.75% sales tax first approved by voters in 2022 to pay for consent decree work and to pay bonds, with 0.125% used for the Fort Smith Police Department; and,
• Renewing the 1% street tax but reallocating 0.625% for streets, bridges and drainage work, with the remainder of the tax to fund consent decree work and bonds.

The invitation to Bondi and Zeldin is part of a more aggressive effort to seek political help with the consent decree. Rep. Cindy Crawford, R-Fort Smith, has met with Gov. Sarah Sanders, who was press secretary during the first Trump administration, and asked her to “ask the Trump administration to loosen the hold on Fort Smith.”

“Let me be clear — we are fully committed to fixing our sewer system,” Fort Smith City Director Neal Martin noted in an email to Crawford. “That has never been in question. Our concern lies with the EPA’s inflexibility over the life of the (consent decree) and the tremendous financial strain it has placed on our residents.”

Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman has said the Trump administration also may be open to moving consent decree enforcement to state agencies.

“We believe working with our fellow Arkansans has helped our cause with the DOJ/EPA in the last few years and would welcome the opportunity to work with ADE&E as our regulating agency for this consent decree,” Dingman noted in an email to Crawford.