Amending Chapter
NR 10 to establish that coyote hunting is allowed during firearm deer seasons in Wolf Management Zone 1.
Rule Type
Both permanent and emergency.
Finding/Nature of Emergency (Emergency Rule Only)
Non-statutory provisions in SECTION 21 of 2011 ACT 169 require the department to submit rules necessary for implementation or interpretation and establish that the department is not required to make a finding of emergency.
Detailed Description of the Objective of the Proposed Rule
The coyote hunting season is currently closed at times when firearm deer seasons are open in Wolf Management Zone 1. This rule would open the coyote season.
Under this proposal, wolves would continue to be protected during the firearm deer season and harvest would only be allowed by a person who possesses a valid wolf harvesting license.
The current closure was established when wolves were listed in Wisconsin and federally as an endangered species, to prevent incidents of misidentification by people who intended to harvest coyotes. The closure is no longer needed for protection of the wolf population and this coyote hunting opportunity can be restored. The wolf population has expanded and packs are established in many areas outside of Wolf Management Zone 1, where the current coyote season closure has never been in effect.
Description of the Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule, New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule and an Analysis of Policy Alternatives
Policies relevant to the rule are consistent with existing policies for hunting. Coyote harvest is currently and has historically been allowed during firearm deer seasons outside of Zone 1 and this does not seem to have impacted wolf management in those areas. The department has regulations in place establishing open and closed seasons or continuous open seasons for many established species.
Detailed Explanation of Statutory Authority for the Rule
Opening the coyote hunting season at times when a firearm deer season is also open is specifically authorized under 29.185 (5) (d) which was created by 2011 ACT 169.
Non-statutory provisions of 2011 ACT 169 exempt the department from making a finding of emergency in promulgating any rules that are necessary to implement the ACT.
The department is also directed by s.
29.014, Wis. Stats., to establish regulations for the taking of game that conserve populations, including coyotes, and provide opportunities for good hunting.
Estimate of Amount of Time that State Employees will Spend Developing the Rule and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rule
Fewer than 20 additional hours of effort will be needed to expand the coyote hunting season. The department is already actively promulgating rules to implement 2011 ACT 169 and promulgating this additional rule can be part of the ongoing effort.
List with Description of all Entities that may be Affected by the Proposed Rule
Coyotes are commonly harvested incidentally by deer hunters during the firearm deer season. Expanding that opportunity to hunters in Wolf Management Zone 1 will increase opportunity for those hunters and they are the only people who are likely to be affected by the proposed rule.
These rules are applicable to individual sportspersons and impose no compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses and no design or operational standards are established in the rule.
Summary and Preliminary Comparison with any Existing or Proposed Federal Regulation that is Intended to Address the Activities to be Regulated by the Proposed Rule
The department is not aware of any existing or proposed federal regulations related to coyote hunting.
Anticipated Economic Impact of Implementing the Rule (Note if the Rule is Likely to have a Significant Economic Impact on Small Businesses)
The department does not anticipate any economic impact from implementing this proposal. During the firearm deer season, hunters are primarily pursuing deer and that is what drives a person's decision to participate. Hunters may appreciate the opportunity to harvest a coyote incidentally to their deer hunting activities, but the opportunity is not anticipated to have any impact on hunter participation or their related activities and expenditures.
Contact Person
Scott Loomans, Wildlife Regulation Policy Specialist, 101 South Webster St., Madison, WI 53707. (608) 267-2452,
scott.loomans@wisconsin.gov.
Natural Resources
Environmental Protection — General, Chs.
NR 100—
This statement of scope was approved by the governor on May 29, 2012.
Rule No.
Relating to
Revisions to Chapter
NR 106 related to the Wisconsin's Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (WPDES) Program for the purpose of making the rules consistent with federal regulations (Rule Package #4).
Rule Type
Permanent.
Finding/Nature of Emergency (Emergency Rule Only)
Not applicable.
Detailed Description of the Objective of the Proposed Rule
The proposed rule will include changes to Chapter
NR 106 to address some of issues raised by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a July 18
th 2011 letter. In the letter, EPA identified 75 potential inconsistencies between Wisconsin's state statutory or regulatory authority and federal regulations. The proposed changes to Ch.
NR 106 will address some of the issues included in EPA's letter and will also include other related minor clarifying changes and corrections. Any proposed changes to current practices are discussed below. The proposed changes to Ch.
NR 106 include changes related to acute limit calculations, the allowance for extended compliance schedules for tier II value based limitations, ammonia water quality based effluent limitations, time periods for expression of certain water quality based effluent limitations, chloride water quality based effluent limitations, alternative limitations when test methods are not sufficiently sensitive, whole effluent toxicity testing (WET) reasonable potential procedures and other WET issues, and TMDL procedures required under the Great Lakes Initiative federal regulations. It should be noted that the department will be proposing a total of eight packages to address most of the 75 issues identified in EPA's July 18
th letter. The department combined issues together based on subject matter. There will be other packages that include revisions to Ch.
NR 106.
Description of the Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule, New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule and an Analysis of Policy Alternatives
Chapter
NR 106 will be modified to address the following specific issues identified by EPA in its July 18, 2011 letter:
•
Issue #10 – Revisions regarding the Great Lakes Initiative and its impact on Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL), waste load allocations (WLA), determining reasonable potential and establishing water quality-based effluent limits (WQBEL). These requirements already apply directly to Wisconsin waters in the Great Lakes basin because EPA overpromulgated the procedures for Wisconsin waters in
40 CFR 132.6(h).
•
Issue #28 – Revise rule for calculating acute toxicity limits (would not affect strictness of limits when viewed in context with chronic toxicity limits).
•
Issue #32 – Revise language addressing compliance schedules for limits based on “secondary" values in Great Lakes Basin permits.
•
Issues #31, #35, #36, #37 and #38 – Ammonia rule language clarifications regarding compliance schedules, water quality based effluent limits and variances.
•
Issues #2, #30, #34, #41 – Language clarifications addressing the expression of contaminant limits, including the duration of time over which limits for toxic substances are expressed, mass limitations, chloride effluent limits, ammonia effluent limits, contaminants in intake water and internal waste streams.
•
Issues # 39, #40, #42 and #43 – Chloride rule language clarifications addressing variances, water quality based effluent limits, Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Testing and chlorinated source water.
•
Issue #70 – Rule changes regarding alternative limits.
•
Issue #74 – Language clarification regarding Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing. This rule will result in procedural changes, including an increase in testing requirements following failed WET tests.
Detailed Explanation of Statutory Authority for the Rule (Including the Statutory Citation and Language)
The purpose of this proposed rule package is to ensure that Wisconsin's WPDES permit program is consistent with federal regulations. Stat. s.
283.11 (1) states that the department shall promulgate by rule effluent limitations, standards of performance for new sources, toxic effluent standards or prohibitions and pretreatment standards for any category or class of point sources established by the U.S. environmental protection agency and for which that agency has promulgated any effluent limitations, toxic effluent standards or prohibitions or pretreatment standards for any pollutant. Subject to a few exceptions, Wis. Stat. s.
283.11 (2) further states that rules must comply with and not exceed federal law and regulations. Wis. Stat. s.
283.11 clearly provides rulemaking authority for this rule package. Additional authority is discussed below.
Section
283.55 (1) (d) provides the department with rulemaking authority for effluent sampling methods. Section
283.55 (1) (e) requires that permittees provide any other information to the department that is needed to determine the type and quantity of pollutants discharged.
Wisconsin Stat. s.
283.15 provides the department with authority for rules on variance procedures.
In addition, s.
283.31 (3) and
(4), Stats., states that the department may issue a permit upon condition that the permit contains limitations necessary to comply with any applicable federal law or regulation, state water quality standards and total maximum daily loads. Wis. Stat. s.
283.13 (5) states that the department shall establish more stringent limitations than required under subs. (2) and (4) (technology based requirements) and shall require compliance with such limitations in any permit issued, reissued or modified if these limitations are necessary to meet applicable water quality standards, treatment standards, schedules of compliance or any other state or federal law, rule or regulations. All of these explicit statutory requirements in combination with s.
227.11 (2) provide the department with authority to promulgate rules that are consistent with federal regulations.
Estimate of Amount of Time that State Employees will Spend Developing the Rule and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rule
To comply with the requirements noted by U.S. EPA in its July 2011 letter, it is estimated that rule development will require staff time of about 600 hours.
List with Description of all Entities that may be Affected by the Proposed Rule
Publicly-owned Treatment Works (POTW) facilities and other facilities requiring Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permits may be affected by the proposed rule.
Summary and Preliminary Comparison with any Existing or Proposed Federal Regulation that is Intended to Address the Activities to be Regulated by the Proposed Rule
The proposed changes in this rule will bring Wisconsin Administrative Code Ch.
NR 106 into compliance with federal regulations
40 C.F.R. s. 122 and with the Federal Clean Water Act.
Anticipated Economic Impact of Implementing the Rule (Note if the Rule is Likely to have a Significant Economic Impact on Small Businesses)
Many of the rule changes are not substantive, as the changes would merely clarify language without changing current interpretation or departmental procedures. Potential increases in the frequency of sample collection and the amount of water quality tests conducted, including increases in WET testing are expected to have a moderate economic impact on small businesses.
Contact Person
Peggy Wischhoff (608) 267-7627.
Natural Resources
Environmental Protection — General, Chs.
NR 100—
Environmental Protection — Wis. Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Chs.
NR 200—
This statement of scope was approved by the governor on May 29, 2012.
Rule No.
Relating to
Rule revisions related to the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) Permit Program to ensure that permit limitations and requirements are consistent with federal regulations (Rule Package #5).
Rule Type
Permanent.
Finding/Nature of Emergency (Emergency Rule Only)
Not applicable.
Detailed Description of the Objective of the Proposed Rule
On July 18, 2011, the department received a letter from EPA identifying seventy five questions or potential inconsistencies with Wisconsin's authority to administer its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) approved program. In the letter, EPA stated that the department must either demonstrate that it has adequate authority to administer the program for the seventy five issues, or promulgate rules or enact statutory language clarifying the department's authority. In response to the questions and comments, the department proposed a broad based approach that included rulemaking, statutory changes, a demonstration of authority through an Attorney General's statement, and an addendum to Memorandum of Agreement.
For the rule making component of this broad based approach, the department is proposing eight different rule packages to address some of the listed concerns. Four of the rule packages have already initiated the rule making process. The department had begun addressing the issues in the four rule packages prior to EPA's letter because the department was aware that rule revisions were needed for consistency with federal regulations.
In addition to the rule packages already started, the department is proposing four additional rule packages to address EPA's concerns and this proposed rule is one of the four. The department has compiled the issues into packages based on either subject matter or rule chapter. Each proposed rule packages will also include minor clarification changes to affected chapters.
This proposed package will address some of the issues raised in EPA's July 18
th letter, and includes revisions to Chapters
NR 106,
200,
205,
210, and
220 through
296. The purpose of the proposed changes is to ensure that the state's regulations are consistent with federal regulations. Specifically, the proposed rules will address EPA's issues regarding Technology Based Limits, New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), Expression of Limits in Permits and other limitation provisions in
40 CFR 122.45, Mass limits in Permits, General Reasonable Potential Procedures, Pollutants in the Intake for Technology Based Limits, Best Management Practices in Permits, General Compliance Schedule provisions, Permit Application requirements for Industrial dischargers, and Intake requirements for new facilities under CWA (316(b)). Minor corrections, reorganization and clarifying changes may also be made to Chapters
NR 106,
200,
205,
210, and
220 through
296 to incorporate the federal changes.
Description of the Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule, New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule and an Analysis of Policy Alternatives
In the July 18, 2011 letter, EPA notified Wisconsin that changes must be made to state rules or statutes to ensure consistency with federal laws and regulations for the NPDES permit program, or alternatively, the state must demonstrate that it has adequate authority (through an Attorney General's Statement or other information). For all of the issues addressed in this rule package, the department determined that rule changes should be made so state rules for the WPDES permit program are more specific and clearly consistent with the federal regulations specified below.
For most of the issues addressed in the proposed rules, the department has been issuing permits under state statutory provisions that are consistent with federal regulations. Therefore in most cases, there will be little change for permittees affected by these proposed rule changes. One exception may be EPA Issue involving expression of limits in permits. For some permits there may be added limits. Although there may be changes in how limits are expressed in some permits, the changes should not significantly impact a permittee's ability to meet the limits or the monitoring necessary to demonstrate compliance. The department continues to work on this issue with EPA.
Detailed Explanation of Statutory Authority for the Rule (Including the Statutory Citation and Language)
Wisconsin Stat. s.
283.11 (1) states that the department shall promulgate by rule effluent limitations, standards of performance for new sources, toxic effluent standards or prohibitions and pretreatment standards for any category or class of point sources established by the U.S. environmental protection agency and for which that agency has promulgated any effluent limitations, toxic effluent standards or prohibitions or pretreatment standards for any pollutant. Subject to a few exceptions, Wis. Stat. s.
283.11 (2) further states that rules must comply with and not exceed federal law and regulations. Wis. Stat. s.
283.11 clearly provides rulemaking authority for the majority of this rule package. Additional authority is discussed below.
