Senator Mark Pryor Press Releases

Washington – Members of the Arkansas congressional delegation today announced that Congress has finalized an omnibus appropriations package containing millions of dollars for numerous state and local priorities for Arkansas.

The members of the Arkansas congressional delegation include U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln (D) and Mark Pryor (D) and Representatives Marion Berry (D-1st), Vic Snyder (D-2nd), John Boozman (R-3rd), and Mike Ross (D-4th).

The omnibus appropriations package combines eleven of the twelve annual spending bills. The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2008, was signed into law earlier this year. The omnibus package passed the House late Monday. The Senate is expected to vote on it this week.

The following are important state and local priorities in Arkansas that the congressional delegation successfully fought to include in the omnibus package:

Agriculture

$1,056,552 for the Animal Science Food Safety Consortium (AR, IA, KS) - In Arkansas, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, UAMS, and Arkansas Children’s Hospital will use the funding for safety research and education activities.

$339,606 for the Center for Integrated Forest Management Strategies at the University of Arkansas in Monticello – The funding will be used for forestry research and education activities.

$825,183 for the Institute for Food Science and Engineering at the University of Arkansas – The funding will be used for research and education activities to improve the study of food science and human nutrition.

$74,475 for Enhancing Agricultural Profitability and Sustainability through Specialty Crops at the University of Arkansas – The funding will be used for research designed to help growers, producers, and processors to develop profitable production systems of specialty crops.

$1,328,634 for Geographic Information Systems - Arkansas is one of eight states to participate in this project.

$142,992 for the Small Farms Wetlands Management Center – The Small Farms Wetland Management Center will work in conjunction with the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff (UAPB), on conservation.

$1,951,245 for the National Water Management Center – The funding will be used for conservation operations.

$164,838 for the Big Slough Watershed Project.

$90,363 for the Departee Creek Watershed Project.

$44,316,000 for the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson County.

$2,979,000 for theDelta Regional Authority – The funding will be used to award grants in the Delta region. Some grant recipients may be located in Arkansas.

Approximately $5,610,450 for the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center in Little Rock – Funding will be used for investigations on optimizing the nutrition and health of children from conception through adolescence.

Approximately $3,972,000 for the Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville.

Approximately $4,193,439 for the Lower Mississippi Delta Nutrition Intervention Initiative - The funding will be used to initiate community involved planning, implement interventions, and conduct research to assess the effects on health and nutrition status in counties throughout the Delta Region over the next 5 years. This consortium consists of the Agriculture Research Service and six universities located in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Approximately $3,506,283 for the Dale Bumpers Rice Research Center in Stuttgart.

Approximately $577,926 for the National Center for Agricultural Law Research and Information at the University of Arkansas.

Approximately $1,058,538 for the Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville – The funding will be used to conduct endophyte research.

Approximately $3,636,366 for the Harry Dupree National Aquaculture Research Center in Stuttgart – The funding will be usedfor research on the genetic improvement of hybrid striped bass. Arkansas leads the nation in raising hybrid striped bass, as well as in producing 80 percent of the nation’s baitfish and other food fishes.

Approximately $296,142 for the Aquaculture Systems Research Unit at UAPB.

Approximately $1,568,934 for the Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit at the University of Arkansas.

Also, the bill provides funding for technical assistance for rural water systems, the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas program, and the Grassroots Source Water Protection Agency. Some of this funding will go to Arkansas. Additionally, the bill provides continued funding for animal, plant, and health inspection services in Arkansas.

Commerce, Justice, and Science

$679,150 for Criminal Justice Institute, Rural Executive Management Institute - The Rural Executive Management Institute delivers management education and training to rural law enforcement executives across the nation. It is implemented in Little Rock by the Criminal Justice Institute of the University of Arkansas System.

$401,850 for the Arkansas State Police, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force - The ICAC Task Force, made up of 16 state and local agencies, is working to develop an immediate forensic response in coordination with the state’s Morgan Nick/Amber Alert System. The core of the project will be a Forensic Recovery of Evidence Data Center, which will connect forensic computers statewide through high-speed satellites.

$535,800 for the Arkansas State Police, COPS Methamphetamine Drug Hot Spots Program - This funding will be used to certify and equip officers assigned to investigate, seize, dismantle, and direct the clean-up of clandestine methamphetamine labs.

$535,800 for the City of Pine Bluff Police Department, Interoperable Communications System - These funds will enable the city of Pine Bluff’s Police Department to acquire an interoperable communications system linking the police department and fire department with the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency for county-wide 911 dispatch.

$620,400 for the Criminal Justice Institute, Methamphetamine Education and Training for the Arkansas Law Enforcement Community - The Criminal Justice Institute will use this funding to provide methamphetamine-focused courses for the Arkansas law enforcement community.

$89,300 for the Center for Healing Hearts and Spirits. This funding will enable the Center for Healing Hearts and Spirits to expand its ongoing Black on Black Crime Initiatives. For the past two years, the Center for Healing Hearts and Spirits has spearheaded numerous projects, workshops and meetings to address victim services’ disparities and black on black crime’s widespread consequences in the Greater Little Rock area.

$446,500 for the Arkansas World Trade Center (AWTC) at the University of Arkansas - This funding will help sustain the Trade Center’s mission of supporting trade initiatives, providing information for small- to medium-sized businesses in Arkansas, and offering students international trade experience. Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing regions of the nation, and there is a need to nurture exporting businesses in Arkansas. The AWTC is a non-profit organization comprising local, regional, and statewide business, government, and education leaders that is designed to meet the region’s trade needs.

$446,500 for the City of Fayetteville Police Department, Simulcast Communications System - This funding will help the city of Fayetteville’s Police Department to purchase, install, and implement an Astro 25 LE simulcast system. The system would improve radio coverage and provide police officers and firefighters with an interoperable communications system in emergency situations.

$223,250 for the Arkansas State Police, Criminal Investigation Division Wireless Network - This funding will provide wireless technology capabilities to the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) investigators. This technology will specifically enhance the CID’s ability to investigate narcotic crimes and missing and abducted children.

$235,000 for Save the Children, Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Project - Save the Children’s programs in the Arkansas Delta towns of Dermott and Helena West-Helena provide K-8 school children with safe and educational after-school activities from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Many parents are still working at this time when juvenile crime rates triple.

$267,900 for the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, University of Arkansas -The Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences at the University of Arkansas will use this funding to purchase equipment and support NASA research.

$305,500 for Criminal Justice Institute School Resource Officer Program - The Criminal Justice Institute will create a uniform School Resource Officer Program for Arkansas. Currently, Arkansas has no uniform standards, training guidelines, or certification requirements for its 214 school resource officers.

$235,000 for the Independence County Sheriff’s Department – This funding will enable the Independence County Sheriff's Office to enhance the security of the local Lyon College campus through a digital card access system.

$47,000 for the Hot Springs Police Department SWAT – The Hot Springs Police Department will use the funds to purchase bullet-proof vests and tactical assault rifles for its SWAT team.

$329,000 for the Hot Spring Police Department – The funds are intended for mobile data equipment such as computer upgrades for police vehicles.

$235,000 for Ouachita County Sheriff’s Department.

$188,000 for the Searcy Police Department.

$188,000 for the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office.

$188,000 for the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Department.

$47,000 for the Searcy County Sheriff’s Department.

$47,000 for the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office.

Energy and Water

$1,180,800 for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) - The UALR Nanotechnology Center will use these funds to continue to develop three new, unique approaches to convert solar energy into useful electrical current.

$1,476,000 for Arkansas State University (ASU) Ethanol - ASU currently has on staff a leading expert in the production of enzymes in a plant system that will lower the cost of ethanol production significantly. The Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI) laboratory will lead an effort to bring together a skilled team that would bring this industry to not only Arkansas, but to all agricultural areas in the U.S.

$492,000 for the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission (NCREPT) – This funding will help the NCREPT continue to develop improvements to overall power transmission reliability and efficiency.

$1,968,000 for the MidSouth/Southeast BioEnergy Consortium - Funds will go to three universities in the South, including Arkansas State University and University of Arkansas, to develop economic and environmentally viable systems to produce, harvest, and process relevant feedstocks for biodiesel and ethanol operations.

Construction

Grand Prairie, AR, $9,840,000

Mississippi River Levees, $54,129,000

AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN

St. Francis Basin, AR and MO, $6,888,000

Channel Improvements, $54,527,000

AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN

Ozark-Jeta Taylor Powerhouse, AR, $22,632,000

Red River Emergency Bank Protection, $3,277,000

AR & LA

Red River Below Denison Dam, $2,060,000

AR, LA, OK & TX

White River Minimum Flow, AR, $935,000

General Investigation and Studies

Boeuf Tensas project, $394,000

Bayou Meto, $2,657,000

Pine Mountain Dam Planning, $461,000

Red River Navigation Study, $197,000

White River Basin Investigations, $140,000

White River Navigation to Newport, AR, $331,000

Lower Mississippi River Resource Assessment, $246,000

AR, IL, KY, IA, MS, MO and TN

May Branch, Fort Smith, AR, $107,000

Operations and Maintenance

Channel Improvement, $63,912,000

AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO &TN

Helena Harbor, Phillips County, $394,000

Inspection of Completed Works, $245,000

Lower Arkansas River, North Bank, AR, $295,000

Lower Arkansas River, South Bank, AR, $113,000

White River Backwater, $984,000

Mississippi River Levees, $11,611,000

AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN

St. Francis Basin, AR & MO, $9,840,000

Tensas Basin, Boeuf and Tensas Rivers, $2,624,000

AR & LA

Osceola Harbor, $767,000

Yellow Bend, $164,000

White River, $2,669,000

McClellan-Kerr Navigation system, $28,678,000

Beaver Lake, $4,814,000

Blakely Mt. Dam, Lake Ouachita, $7,441,000

Blue Mountain Lake, $1,913,000

Bull Shoals Lake ,$6,350,000

Dardanelle Lock and Dam, $6,482,000

DeGray Lake, $8,634,000

DeQueen Lake, $1,430,000

Dierks Lake, $1,529,000

Gillham Lake, $997,000

Greers Ferry Lake, $6,425,000

Helena Harbor, $405,000

Inspection of Completed Works, $211,000

Millwood Lake, $2,183,000

Narrows Dam, Lake Greeson, $3,866,000

Nimrod Lake, $2,298,000

Norfork Lake, $5,360,000

Ouachita and Black Rivers, AR & LA, $11,651,000

Ozark - Jeta Taylor Lock and Dam, $4,491,000

Project Condition Surveys, $8,000

The bill also included language recommending that the Corps of Engineers conduct environmental improvement projects in the Lower Cache Restoration, Millwood Lake, and Grassy Lake; extend the White River Navigation project from Newport to Batesville; and execute small flood control projects in Wynne, AR.

Financial Services

$500,000 for the Arkansas Research and Technology Park (ARTP) – These funds will be used to make general infrastructure improvements necessary for the development of the ARTP, which is an economic development engine focused on innovation. The technology park will attract and retain knowledge-based workers and support technology-based business cluster formation.

Interior

$147,660 for the Lane House Theater in Eureka Springs – This funding will help complete renovation of the Lane House Theater, which will house an after-school arts program that will provide intergenerational programming, theatre, dance, film making, and community dinners.

$2,180,446 for Moro Big Pine - The Nature Conservancy will create a 15,000 acre working forest conservation easement intended to maintain open-forest conditions that will increase the diversity and abundance of wildlife and rare species in Bradley and Calhoun Counties. It will be open for public hunting and managed as a Wildlife Management area.

$295,320 for the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority – These funds will be used to begin property acquisition, design, easement preparation, and abstract services for the project which will provide a safe and reliable source of drinking water to over 21,500 people in North Central Arkansas.

$295,320 for the City of Fayetteville’s Water System Improvements – These funds will be used to repair the deteriorated piping infrastructure.

$98,440 for Clover Bend - As a multi-purpose, historically significant site, the funding will be used to become a fully functional museum and education center.

$344,540 for a Memphis Aquifer Study - The University of Memphis, Arkansas State University, and the University of Mississippi in collaboration with local, state and federal agencies, seek to address ground water sustainability and quality in the tri-state area of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

$492,200 for the City of Pine Bluff – The funds are intended to extend the sewer lines in Pine Bluff South under Interstate 530 and will provide service to the industrial area on both sides of Olive Street.

$492,200 for the Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority - This funding will enable several communities, particularly in rural areas of Benton and Washington Counties, to receive sewer and wastewater services.

Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education

$957,967 for the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas - This unique graduate school is the first in the nation to offer a Master’s Degree in Public Service. The Clinton School offers a variety of additional academic programs to undergraduate and graduate students, cooperates in research projects, and emphasizes practical experience in communities throughout the world. This funding will support faculty expenses, students participating in public service projects in the U.S. and abroad, the school’s lecture series, and curriculum development.

$574,781 for Community Health Centers of Arkansas – Community Health Centers of Arkansas (CHCA) will use these funds to develop a comprehensive programmatic approach to meeting the capital needs of Arkansas's health centers. This program would help Arkansas's community health centers overcome the significant challenges posed by a lack of available funds for capital projects.

$143,450 for the KIPP Foundation – The KIPP Foundation will use this funding to support student programs and extended learning time at KIPP Delta College Prep in Helena-West Helena.

$71,725 for Lyon College - Because Lyon College currently lacks an alternate source of power generation in the case of a natural disaster, the funds will be used for an auxiliary power source that can supply the college with power in time of disaster.

$205,349 for North Arkansas College in Harrison - North Arkansas College will use this funding to meet the technology and infrastructure needs of its recently purchased 65,000-square-foot building.

$1,359,822 for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) – This funding will help UAMS construct a new Thyroid Diagnostic Center, enhance a multi-state Master’s degree program in genetic counseling, improve facilities, and purchase equipment.

$421,506 for the Drew County Memorial Hospital - These funds will be used for the construction of facilities and the purchase of equipment for the Drew County Memorial Hospital.

$71,725 for the Critical Access Hospital in Heber Springs - Funding will be used to help provide water and sewer utilities for a proposed new medical facility.

$215,175 for the Woodruff County Health Center - The Woodruff County Health Center would construct and equip a dialysis treatment center in McCrory, Arkansas.

$598,361 for Instructional Technology and Curriculum Development at the University of Central Arkansas - The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) will use these funds to continue its successful technology infrastructure improvements.

$957,967 for the Nursing Program at Jefferson Regional Medical Center for Equipment Acquisition - The Jefferson Regional Medical Center recently approved an expansion of its nursing school, and these federal funds will be used to equip the new classrooms with new nursing education technology.

Transportation and Housing and Urban Development

$2,626,400 for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport - Funding will be used for the construction of a second landing surface. The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is the busiest commercial service airport in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Southwest Region.

$656,600 for the Texarkana Regional Airport - Funding will be used for the construction of a new Aircraft Firefighting and Rescue station.

$392,000 for an Instrument Landing System at the Saline County Airport.

$2,626,400 for the Interstate 69/Great River Bridge: Highway 65-MS Highway 1 (South Arkansas).

$1,803,200 for the Caraway Bridge Overpass Completion (Jonesboro) - The overpass will be built over two local railroads to alleviate vehicle and rail traffic conflicts.

$3,116,400 for the Interstate 430/630 Interchange (Little Rock).

$656,600 for the Northwest Arkansas Western Beltway - The Western Beltway project was recommended by elected officials in Northwest Arkansas during the Long Range Transportation Planning process to provide an alternative to Interstate 540. Funding will be used for the necessary Draft Environmental Impact Study.

$490,000 for the Bella Vista Bypass.

$490,000 for the Highway 165 Overpass - This funding will provide a four-lane overpass at the Highway 165 crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad main line in Stuttgart.

$490,000 for Highway 77 Rail Grade Separation (Marion) - The project will provide a grade separation crossing over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks.

$980,000 for Highway 71/Future Interstate 49 Development and Construction (Doddridge).

$980,000 for the I-555 Access Road (Poinsett County) - This funding will create an access road along the highway from Marked Tree to Payneway which will provide an artery for agriculture and local transportation to the St. Francis River floodway.

$3,283,000 for the State of Arkansas, Bus and Bus Facilities for Urban, Rural, and Elderly & Disabled Agencies - Funding will be used for buses and bus facilities for Arkansas’s small urban and rural transit systems. In addition, funding will help secure vans and small buses for Arkansas’s 250 community service organizations serving the elderly and persons with disabilities.

$393,960 for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Completion of UAPB Business Support Incubator - This funding will assist the Economic Research and Development Center in completing Phase II of the Business Support Incubator project.

$196,000 for Development of the Little Rock Audubon Center - This continuation of funding, initially provided to the city of Little Rock in 2005, will support Phase II development of the Little Rock Audubon Center located in the Granite Mountain Community in Southeast Little Rock. Phase II will include construction of wildlife observation stations and five miles of trails, improvements to an existing outdoor pavilion, construction of a storage facility, and construction of bathroom facilities.

$656,600 for the City of Fayetteville Attainable Housing Partnership - The city of Fayetteville has taken the lead in developing a program in partnership with local developers to provide attainable workforce housing. The program would create a sustainable revolving infrastructure fund that would allow teachers, firefighters, police officers, and others a homeownership opportunity.

$245,000 for ASU-Mountain Home – The funding will be used for the construction of the multipurpose Veda Sheid Center, which will host a variety of community focused outreach programs.

$343,000 for ASU-Newport for the Regional Transportation Technology Center - The funding will be used to help build a Commercial Driver Training Program facility at ASU-Newport. The facility will help the transportation industry meet the growing demand for qualified motor carrier operators and to provide additional safety training to drivers.

$147,000 for Conway County – The funding will be used for the renovation of the historic Morrilton Post Office.

$49,000 for the Renovation of the Quapaw Community Center (Hot Springs).

$196,000 for the Peace at Home Family Shelter (Fayetteville).

VA and Military Construction

$10,682,000 for the Little Rock Air Force Base Multi-Purpose Education Facility - These funds will go to the construction of a new, improved educational facility off-base, so classes can continue to operate without interruption during times of increased security restrictions. Arkansas State University will operate the new facility, providing a wider selection of academic programs to active duty and reserve military personnel, their dependents, and interested civilians.

$9,800,000 for Runway Repair for the Little Rock Air Force Base - The funding allows the airfield to repair deteriorated runway and shoulder pavements, remove or eliminate airfield obstructions, replace runway lighting, and reorganize instrument guidance and navigation systems. This construction upgrades the operational life of the airfield and supports mission-essential flight training.

$1,900,000 for an Urban Assault Course at Camp Robinson - This range will support the individual and collective familiarization and qualification requirements of all personnel assigned to units in the Brigade Combat Team. In addition, it is expected that other units will use this facility.

Protected $5,500,000 in the President’s Budget for the Ammunition Supply Point at Camp Robinson - This project will provide an ammunition supply point with specially designed anti-terrorism force protection upgrades. In addition to anti-terrorism force protection upgrades, improvements will include military and privately owned vehicle parking, fencing, outside lighting, access road improvements, perimeter fence installation and key card control access.

Protected $18,400,000 in the President’s Budget for the GED Plus Program Complex at Camp Robinson’s Professional Education Center (PEC) - The new facility, sitting on 4.5 acres, will include barracks, classrooms, a dining area and administrative offices. The PEC is the national training center for the Army National Guard, hosting more than 20,000 conferees annually from the National Guard, Army Reserve, Active Army, DOD, State and Federal agencies.

$840,000 for the Cabot Readiness Center - Funding will be used to construct a new facility in Cabot consisting of approximately 30,000 square feet, which will include an assembly area, administrative office space, supply and storage areas, classrooms, kitchen, parking, and a maintenance training bay.

As a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process, Arkansas is slated to receive funding to modernize the Aerospace Ground Equipment and Engine facility at the Little Rock Air Force Base, to build a Joint Force Vehicle Maintenance facility at Fort Chaffee, and to build an Armed Forces Reserve Center Building in Arkadelphia.

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