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Modifies current rules related to poultry quarantines. Under this rule, a permit must accompany quarantined birds moved to slaughter. This rule repeals current requirements for quarantine release (2 negative flock tests at least 21 days apart). Instead, the quarantine order will spell out quarantine release terms, based on surrounding circumstances.
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Changes current poultry disease reporting requirements, consistent with the national poultry improvement plan:
- Under current rules, a veterinarian who diagnoses pullorum in poultry must report it to DATCP within 10 days. This rule shortens the reporting deadline from 10 days to one day.
- This rule adds a reporting requirement for mycoplasma meleagridis. A veterinarian who diagnoses this disease must report it to DATCP within one day.
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Modifies current rabies vaccination requirements for imported dogs and cats, based on recent statutory changes. Under this rule, if an imported dog or cat has never been vaccinated, or is due for re-vaccination, it must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian within 30 days after it enters the state or before it reaches 5 months of age, whichever is later.
Small Businesses Affected by this Rule
This rule affects livestock owners and veterinarians. Some of these persons are “small businesses" as defined in s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats.
Effects on Small Business
This rule will have a slight impact on small business. This rule eliminates some unnecessary burdens by making Wisconsin rules more consistent with federal rules. In some cases, this rule imposes slight additional record keeping and reporting requirements on veterinarians, but these requirements are necessary to protect Wisconsin livestock.
Notice of Hearing
The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds will hold a public hearing to consider a revision of ch.
ETF 50, relating to employer medical certification requirements under the Long-Term Disability Insurance (LTDI) program in accordance with the provisions of s.
227.16 (1), Wisconsin Statutes.
Date, Time and Place of Hearing
Tuesday, June 18, 2002 at 1:00 p.m.
Department of Employee Trust Funds
Room 2A
801 West Badger Road
Madison, Wisconsin.
The public record on this proposed rule making will be held open until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19, 2002, to permit the submission of written comments from persons unable to attend the public hearing in person, or who wish to supplement testimony offered at the hearing. Any such written comments should be addressed to Mary Pierick, Department of Employee Trust Funds, 801 West Badger Road, P.O. Box 7931, Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7931.
Analysis Prepared by the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds
Currently under the LTDI program, an employee is eligible for a LTDI disability benefit from the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) if he or she meets certain requirements under ch.
ETF 50, including the requirement to be certified by the employer as having left employment due to an apparent disability. Under ss.
ETF 50.48 (3) and
50.50 (5), the employer is required to provide a medical determination whether the employee is disabled within the meaning of the LTDI subchapter and to certify whether the disability was employment related in cases where the employee did not meet the service requirement.
If the Department receives a certification from the employer indicating that the employee is not disabled within the meaning of the LTDI subchapter or if the employer indicates they have no information on which to base an opinion, the Department is required to deny the application (claim) for LTDI benefits. The application is denied even if the Department receives the required medical documentation from the two required physicians certifying the claimant's disability. The proposed rule will be amended to remove the responsibility of the employer to make a medical determination related to employment and to instead rely on the physicians' medical determinations.
Fiscal Estimate
The proposed rule has no fiscal impact on county, city, village, town, school district, technical college district or sewerage district fiscal liabilities and revenues. The rule itself has no anticipated state fiscal effect during the current biennium and no future side effect on state funds.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The Department anticipates that the provisions of this proposed rule will have no direct adverse effect on small businesses.
Copies of Rule and Contact Persons
Copies of this rule are available without cost by making a request to the Department of Employee Trust Funds, Office of the Secretary, P.O. Box 7931, Madison, Wisconsin 53707, telephone (608) 266-1071. For questions about this rule making, please call Mary Pierick, Division of Insurance Services, at (608) 267-2847.
Notice of Hearings
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.111.09 (1) and (2), 111.11, 111.61, 111.70 (4) (c) 3. b., (4) (cm) 8s. and (8) (c), 111.71 (1) and (2), 111.88 (3) and 111.94 (1) and (2), Stats., and interpreting ch.
111, Stats., Subchapters I (Employment Peace Act); III (Public Utilities); IV (Municipal Employment Relations Act); and V (State Employment Labor Relations Act), the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission will hold public hearings at the dates, times and places identified below to receive public input regarding the creation, amendment and repeal of rules relating to the administration of Chapter
111, Stats., Subchapters I (Employment Peace Act); III (Public Utilities); IV (Municipal Employment Relations Act); and V (State Employment Labor Relations Act).
The Commission invites the public to attend the hearings and to present verbal and/or written comments regarding the proposed rules. In addition to or instead of verbal testimony, written comments can also be sent directly to the Commission at Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, P. O. Box 7870. Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7870 postmarked anytime prior to July 26, 2002.
Date, Time and Place of Hearing
Tuesday June 18, 2002 - 10:00 a.m., Room C-106, North Central Technical College, 1000 West Campus Drive, Wausau, WI.
Thursday June 27, 2002 - 10:00 a.m., Room 301-A, City Hall, 200 East Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI.
Friday, June 28, 2002 - 10:00 a.m., Courtroom 2-B, City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Madison, WI.
Analysis Prepared by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission
Introduction
The Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission has undertaken a comprehensive review and revision of its rules concerning procedures in the administration of the following portions of ch.
111, Stats.,
Subchapter I — the (Wisconsin) Employment Peace Act (WEPA)
Subchapter III — concerning Public Utilities
Subchapter IV — the Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA)
Subchapter V — the State Employment Labor Relations Act (SELRA)
Because the Public Utilities statute was declared to be pre-empted by federal law many years ago in AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION V. WERB, 340 US 383 (1951), the ERC chapters relating to Subchapter III have been renumbered but otherwise left entirely unchanged. Accordingly, none of the references to rules changes below relate to the rules concerning the Public Utilities statute.
Overall Objectives
The overall objectives of the rules review project have been as follows:
-- correcting/updating outdated statutory references
-- conforming to the related statutes
-- conforming to the agency's established practices
-- removing internal inconsistencies
-- removing requirements that are unnecessarily burdensome
-- improving ease of understanding
-- adapting to changes in communications technology
Changes Common to All or Many Chapters
An effort has been made, wherever possible, to maintain or establish parallelism among the chapters concerning parallel subject areas under WEPA, MERA and SELRA.
The general chapters concerning WEPA, MERA and SELRA have been greatly shortened, with unnecessarily complex general rules eliminated and with other provisions replicated in each of the substantive chapters to which they apply. In that way, as many as possible of the rules concerning a particular type of case will now be found in the chapter specific to that type of case, rather than in multiple interrelated chapters. Those changes are intended to improve the ease of use and understandability of each substantive chapter at the recognized cost of a longer set of rules overall.
Throughout the rules, legalistic expressions such as “pursuant," “thereof," “deemed" etc. have been replaced with plainer English. In addition, the term “employe" has been replaced with “employee."
Throughout the rules, changes have been made to enable filing with commission by delivery, mail, fax, e-mail or other modes authorized in future, (compare, e.g., old s.
ERC 10.10 (2) with new s.
ERC 12.02 (1)). Exceptions to that approach have been made where a particular mode of transmittal is specifically required by law (e.g., new s.
ERC 10.07 (1) (f) requiring compliance with s.
111.07 (2) (a), Stats., as regards service of hearing notices and complaints on persons or parties located outside the state). Exceptions have also been made where a particular mode of transmittal is warranted by strong policy considerations (e.g., new s.
ERC 11.02 (2), requiring that a showing of interest supporting a representation election petition be filed in paper form by personal delivery or mail).
Changes have also been made to enable service of other parties by delivery, mail or fax, with initiating parties called upon to include the fax and e-mail addresses of parties and representatives if available (compare e.g., ss.
ERC 10.08 (4) and
12.03 (2) with new ss.
ERC 10.07 and
12.03 (2)).
For parties who choose to file in paper form, the number of copies required to be submitted has been reduced to the number the agency typically needs in its processing of the case (compare e.g., old s.
ERC 10.02 (3) with, e.g., new s.
ERC 12.02(1)).
Requirements of service both on parties and on their representatives have been changed to make service only on parties' representatives the norm. An additional copy is required to be sent to parties themselves only where specifically required by law (compare, e.g., old s.
ERC 10.10 (3) with new s.
ERC 10.06 and
10.07).
To emphasize the importance of impartiality of decision-makers and mediators, provisions on that subject have been added to all chapters relating to case handling (e.g., new ss.
ERC 12.05 (3) (c),
23.04 (4) and
23.07 (4)).
For completeness and parallelism, rules describing rehearing procedures have been added to each of the substantive chapters that involves hearings (e.g., new s.
ERC 12.10).
Changes Specific to Particular Chapters
As described below, the general provisions chapters have been greatly shortened, eliminating some unnecessarily complex provisions and revising and moving most of the retained provisions into each of the substantive chapters to which they apply.
The “purpose" and “policy" rules have been combined. The general interpretation standard has been revised to provide that rules are to be interpreted “to serve the purposes of the statutes and to permit the commission or examiner to encourage voluntary settlement of disputes" rather than the existing “liberally construed to effectuate the purposes of [the statute]." (E.g., compare old ss.
ERC 10.01 and
10.02 with new s.
ERC 10.01).
The scope of the general provisions has been limited to proceedings before commission and commission examiners. References to the applicability of the general provisions to fact finders are eliminated and no new references to their applicability to interest arbitrators has been added (compare, e.g., old ERC 10.01 with new ERC 10.01). These changes have been made because rules applicable to the functions performed by the commission and its staff are sometimes not suitable to ad hoc fact finders and interest arbitrators. It is therefore considered preferable to place procedures concerning fact finders and interest arbitrators exclusively in the respective separate substantive chapters (new ERC 14, 25, and 30-33).
The standard for waiver of a rule has been limited to situations “where necessary to avoid a significant injustice" rather than the existing “the commission may waive any requirement of these rules unless a party shows prejudice thereby." (Compare, e.g., old ERC 10.01 with new ERC 10.01). This change is intended to promote compliance with comprehensively updated rules instead of reliance on waivers of outdated rules.
Most existing general provisions rules regarding initiation of proceedings, method, forms, where to file, filing, form, number of copies and service have been deleted from the general provisions chapter. Most of those provisions have been replicated in each of the various substantive chapters to which they relate (compare e.g., old ERC 10.06, 10.08, 10.09 and 10.10 with new ERC 10.06, 10.07, 12.02 (1) and 12.02 (2)). General provisions have been retained regarding filing and service (e.g., new ERC 10.06 and 10.07).
Provisions regarding the computation of time have been simplified by elimination of unnecessarily complex provisions regarding “Additional time after service by mail" and “extension of time." (Compare old ERC 10.08 and 20.08 with new ERC 1.09, 10.09 and 20.09).
Signature requirements have been moved to those substantive chapters involving pleadings, petitions or stipulations, and revised to treat a signature facsimile as equivalent to an actual signature. Those changes enable all documents to be electronically transmitted except showing of interest documents (compare old ERC 10.09 (4) and 20.09 (4) with e.g., new 12.02 (1)). Requests for services generally do not require a signature or signature facsimile (e.g., new 23.03 (1)).
Statement of service requirements have been simplified. The new provisions require only that the commission be provided with the names of those receiving copies of the document involved rather than a formal and more elaborate affidavit of service (compare, old ERC 10.10 (4) and 20.10 (4) with new ERC 1.06 (3), 10.06 (3) and 20.06 (3)).
Rules regarding motions have been replicated in the various substantive chapters' provisions to which they apply and expanded to include provisions concerning the limited nature and extent of pre-hearing discovery (e.g., new ERC 12.04 and 18.06). The previously specified time limit for filing a motion to reschedule hearing has been eliminated (compare e.g., old ERC 10.12 (1) with, e.g., new ERC 12.04 (2) (e)).
Topics related to the conduct of hearings have been moved to the various substantive chapters and combined, reorganized and in some respects expanded as appropriate to the chapter involved. The resultant hearings provisions fall into the following five categories:
- adversary hearings by agency personnel (e.g., new ERC 12.05 regarding complaint cases);
- investigatory hearings by agency personnel (e.g., new ERC 11.07 regarding representation election cases; e.g., new ERC 18.07-18.08 regarding declaratory ruling cases; e.g., new ERC 14.04 (3) regarding formal investigations by agency personnel prior to orders initiating fact finding or interest arbitration);
- grievance arbitration hearings by agency personnel (e.g., new ERC 23.05);
- grievance arbitration hearings by ad hoc arbitrators (e.g., new ERC 23.08); and
- impasse resolution hearings by ad hoc fact finders and interest arbitrators (e.g., new ERC 14.07).
The general provision in old ERC 10.13 (1) and 20.13 (1) to the effect that hearings are open to the public has been moved to each chapter regarding hearings in statutory proceedings (e.g., new ERC 12.05 (1) and 18.08 (1)). However, no similar provision has been included in the rules regarding grievance arbitration hearings (e.g., new ERC 23.05).
The general provisions in old ERC 10.14 and 20.14 regarding hearing subpoenas has been moved to the various substantive chapters involving hearings and revised to include subpoenas issued by parties' representatives and to cover subpoena enforcement (e.g., ERC 12.05 (6) (e) and 18.08 (6) (d)).
The general provisions in old ERC 10.15 and 20.15 regarding depositions has been moved to the motions sections of the various substantive chapters involving hearings and revised to narrowly limit use of depositions (e.g., new ERC 12.04 (2) (c) and 18.08 (6) (d)).
The general provisions in old ERC 10.16 (2) and 20.16 (2) regarding the rules of evidence applicable in hearings has been moved to the various substantive chapters involving hearings; retaining reference to Sec. 227.45 (1), Stats., evidence rules in all such chapters (e.g., ERC 12.05 (6) and 18.08(6)).
The general provisions in old ERC 10.17 and 20.17 making the person conducting the hearing responsible “to inquire fully into all matters in issue" and “to obtain a full and complete record" have been moved to the various substantive chapters involving hearings other than complaints (e.g., new ERC 18.08 (1)). That language has not been included in the adversary hearing provisions regarding complaint hearings (e.g., new ERC 12.05 (2)).
The general provision rules in old ERC 10.19 and 20.19 entitled “close of hearing" have been renamed “close of evidence" and moved to the various specific chapters involving hearings (e.g., ERC 12.05 (8) and 18.08 (8)). Separate references have been included in the various chapters regarding hearing type cases regulating the exhaustion of time for submission of final arguments (e.g., new ERC 12.05 (9) and 12.06 (1), and 18.08 (9)).
The general provisions in old ERC 1.08, 10.21 and 20.21 concerning fee administration have been replicated in each of the various substantive chapters to which filing fees are applicable (e.g., new ERC 2.02 (1)). However, a schedule of filing fees and transcript fees has been retained in each of the revised general provisions chapters (new ERC 1.08, 10.08 and 20.08).
The complaint filing fee has been increased $10 to $50 (new ERC 1.08 (1), 10.08 (1) and 20.08 (1)).
