Emergency Rules Now in Effect
Under s. 227.24, Stats., state agencies may promulgate rules without complying with the usual rule-making procedures. Using this special procedure to issue emergency rules, an agency must find that either the preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare necessitates its action in bypassing normal rule-making procedures.
Emergency rules are published in the official state newspaper, which is currently the Wisconsin State Journal. Emergency rules are in effect for 150 days and can be extended up to an additional 120 days with no single extension to exceed 60 days.
Occasionally the Legislature grants emergency rule authority to an agency with a longer effective period than 150 days or allows an agency to adopt an emergency rule without requiring a finding of emergency.
Extension of the effective period of an emergency rule is granted at the discretion of the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules under s. 227.24 (2), Stats.
Notice of all emergency rules which are in effect must be printed in the Wisconsin Administrative Register. This notice will contain a brief description of the emergency rule, the agency finding of emergency or a statement of exemption from a finding of emergency, date of publication, the effective and expiration dates, any extension of the effective period of the emergency rule and information regarding public hearings on the emergency rule.
Copies of emergency rule orders can be obtained from the promulgating agency. The text of current emergency rules can be viewed at www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/code.
Beginning with rules filed with the Legislative Reference Bureau in 2008, the Legislative Reference Bureau will assign a number to each emergency rule filed, for the purpose of internal tracking and reference. The number will be in the following form: EmR0801. The first 2 digits indicate the year of filing and the last 2 digits indicate the chronological order of filing during the year.
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (2)
Finding of Emergency
On July 24, 2009, APHIS identified emerald ash borer in Brown County. On August 12, 2009, APHIS identified emerald ash borer in Kenosha County. Emerald ash borer is an exotic pest that poses a dire risk to the ash forest. When APHIS declares quarantine, DATCP has regulatory authority for import controls and quarantine for emerald ash borer under ATCP 21.17. It is anticipated that APHIS will declare quarantines for Brown County and Kenosha County but that it will take up to six weeks for APHIS to act. A six week delay until enactment of the federal quarantines leaves too much time for businesses or individuals to move potentially emerald ash borer infested material out of the county to areas of Wisconsin or other states that are not infested with emerald ash borer.
DATCP is adopting this rule as a temporary emergency rule, pending completion of federal quarantine regulations. DATCP does not anticipate completing a permanent rule.
Publication Date:
August 22, 2009
Effective: August 22, 2009 through
January 18, 2010
Hearing Dates:
September 29 and 30, 2009
Finding of Emergency
On August 28, 2009, APHIS identified emerald ash borer in Milwaukee County, near the borders of Racine County and Waukesha County. Emerald ash borer is an exotic pest that poses a dire risk to the ash forest. When APHIS declares quarantine, DATCP has regulatory authority for import controls and quarantine for emerald ash borer under ATCP 21.17. It is anticipated that APHIS will declare quarantines for Milwaukee County, Racine County and Waukesha County but that it will take up to six weeks for APHIS to act. A six week delay until enactment of the federal quarantines leaves too much time for businesses or individuals to move potentially emerald ash borer infested material out of the county to areas of Wisconsin or other states that are not infested with emerald ash borer.
DATCP is adopting this rule as a temporary emergency rule, pending completion of federal quarantine regulations. DATCP does not anticipate completing a permanent rule.
Publication Date:
September 14, 2009
Effective: September 14, 2009
through February 10, 2010
Hearing Date:
October 15, 2009
(See the Notice in this Register)
Children and Families
Finding of Emergency
The Department of Children and Families finds that an emergency exists and that an emergency rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or welfare. A statement of facts constituting the emergency is:
The recent large increase in foreclosures has caused tenants living in rental properties that are in foreclosure to lose their housing. Under the current rule, these tenants are not eligible for Emergency Assistance due to impending homelessness and would only be able to receive assistance if they became homeless. This emergency rule will allow these tenants to receive assistance for impending homelessness and avoid the additional expense and trauma of homelessness.
The current maximum payment amounts for Emergency Assistance due to homelessness and impending homelessness are insufficient to allow a smaller family to obtain or retain a permanent living accommodation. Increasing the payments for smaller households immediately will help them obtain or retain a permanent living accommodation with fewer resources from other sources and may prevent homelessness for these families.
The current rule has no maximum payment amount for Emergency Assistance due to an energy crisis. All other categories of assistance have a maximum payment based on group size. This emergency rule requires that families first exhaust resources available through the Wisconsin Home Energy Program and sets a maximum payment amount for assistance available for Emergency Assistance due to energy crisis to make better use of the program's limited funds.
Publication Date:
April 9, 2009
Effective: April 22, 2009 through
September 18, 2009
Extension Through:
November 17, 2009
Hearing Date:
June 11, 2009
Children and Families
Finding of Emergency
The Department of Children and Families finds that an emergency exists and that the rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or welfare. A statement of facts constituting the emergency is:
Disregarding income earned from temporary employment with the U.S. Census Bureau in determining Wisconsin Works and Wisconsin Shares eligibility and child care copayments is necessary for the public welfare to ensure Wisconsin has a broad pool of available workers to help ensure an accurate Census count, particularly in historically undercounted low-income neighborhoods. Census work is currently ongoing.
Publication Date:
May 28, 2009
Effective: June 1, 2009 through
October 28, 2009
Hearing Date:
July 14, 2009
Commerce
Licenses, Certifications and Registrations, Ch.
Comm 5
Wis. Commercial Building Code, Chs.
Comm 60-
66
Finding of Emergency
The Department of Commerce finds that an emergency exists within the state of Wisconsin and that adoption of an emergency rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety and welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is as follows:
1. Under Chapter
560 of the Statutes, the department of commerce is charged with facilitating the establishment and retention of business enterprises in Wisconsin, and with seeking closer cooperation and coordination between units of state government, so that the economy of the state may continue to develop fully and meet citizen and community needs.
2. Under Chapters
101 and
145 of the statutes, the department of commerce has oversight over the design, construction, alteration and maintenance of public buildings and places of employment, one- and two- family dwellings, public swimming pools and public water attractions in order to protect public safety, health and welfare and the waters of the state.
3. The department has proposed an administrative rule that would require the registration of various types of building contractors not already credentialed by the department under existing administrative rules. Under the proposed rules contractors must be registered with the department by January 1, 2010. A public hearing on that proposal was held on January 21, 2009.
4. The proposed rule has three main benefits to Wisconsin: first, it will enhance the department's ability to communicate with and educate building contractors throughout the state about their obligations to limit safety and health risks for the citizens of Wisconsin; second, it will enhance the ability of the department to cooperate and coordinate with the Department of Workforce Development relative to their administration of unemployment insurance and workers compensation insurance programs; and third, it will enhance the ability of the department to cooperate and coordinate with the Department of Revenue relative to their administration of the state income tax program.
5. Due to the current economic circumstances, the department has determined that the implementation for building contractor registration should be July 1, 2009 in order for the benefits to be in effect for the 2009 building construction season.
Publication Date:
March 2, 2009
Effective: March 2, 2009 through
July 29, 2009
Extension Through:
November 26, 2009
Effective: July 1, 2009 through
November 27, 2009
Hearing Date:
March 31, 2009
Commerce
Finding of Emergency
The Department of Commerce finds that an emergency exists within the state of Wisconsin and that adoption of an emergency rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety and welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is as follows.
1. Recently, chapter Comm 22, relating to energy conservation, was repealed and recreated to bring the Wisconsin requirements in line with the national model energy code. Effective April 1, 2009, chapter Comm 22 incorporates new prescriptive requirements that apply to individual components such as walls, windows, skylights, doors and ceilings. Within that subsection is section
Comm 22.31 (2) (a), that allows the use of a “total dwelling thermal envelope" method, and (2) (b), that allows the use of REScheck software, version 4.1.0, or later, to calculate compliance with the Uniform Dwelling Code thermal envelope requirements.
2. The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Energy Codes Program develops and distributes REScheck software. The software program simplifies and clarifies residential code compliance with the Model Energy Code (MEC) and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). REScheck software makes it easier for designers, builders, product manufacturers and code officials to comply with energy codes based on the IECC or ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 requirements. Also, REScheck can be tailored to meet state-specific codes.
3. The department included the REScheck software edition requirement in anticipation that Version 4.1.0 would be compatible with the current code. Working with Pacific Northwest Laboratories, who contracts with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the REScheck software, the department developed state-specific energy calculations that were not incorporated into REScheck software until Version 4.2.2. The calculations that reflect the current code are identified in the software as “Wisconsin 2009." Versions prior to 4.2.2 do not have the code choice “Wisconsin 2009."
