Arkansas Extends Dyed Diesel Emergency Order as Diesel Averages $5.90 a Gallon
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed Executive Order 26-16, amending Executive Order 26-15 to extend the state of emergency and the temporary suspension of certain motor-fuel penalties for farmers and loggers who use tax-free dyed diesel on highways. Little Rock, the state capital in Pulaski County, Arkansas, issued the order for all 75 counties in the state.
The order lays out the reason for the extension: the average retail price of diesel in Arkansas is now $5.90 per gallon, while the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service built its 2026 crop enterprise budgets on an assumed diesel price of $2.46 per gallon, less than half the prevailing price. The order also cites U.S. Energy Information Administration data showing U.S. distillate inventories were 13 percent below the five-year seasonal average as of September 11, with global distillate production expected to remain below last year's levels.
Agriculture is Arkansas' largest industry, contributing more than $25.6 billion a year to the state economy and supporting over 248,000 jobs. The order notes that the state's 37,200 farms and ranches operate on 13.6 million acres, forestland covers about 18.8 million acres, and farm and forestry operations take place in all 75 counties; Arkansas ranks in the national top ten for rice, broilers, turkeys, cotton and several other commodities.
The order says farmers and timber harvesters keep dyed diesel in on-farm and on-site storage for nontaxable off-road use, and that allowing that fuel in highway vehicles engaged in agricultural and timber harvesting operations makes fuel immediately available to those operations. Arkansas is the most forestry-dependent state in the South, with forest industries contributing about $7.3 billion and operating year-round.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on emergency tax relief on diesel fuel on October 5, suspending federal penalties and enforcement for certain highway use of red-dyed diesel through December 31. Sanders' order invokes state law authorizing the governor to suspend regulatory statutes when strict compliance would hinder action needed to cope with a declared emergency.
The suspended state provisions cover the lower excise tax rate for dyed fuel, the ban on using dyed fuel in highway vehicles, and penalties for mixing dyed and undyed fuel, which previously included a penalty of ten dollars per gallon based on tank capacity. Existing exemptions for state and local government vehicles, transit and intercity buses, and school buses remain in place.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于阿肯色州普拉斯基县小石城的阿肯色州议会大厦（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，Daniel Schwen，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, by Daniel Schwen, via Wikimedia Commons.
