Current law authorizes DNR to provide cost-sharing grants for projects to
assist agricultural facilities to comply with nonpoint source water pollution control
requirements established by DNR and DATCP. These cost-sharing grants are
currently funded with proceeds of general obligation bonds. This bill increases the
bonding authority for the cost-sharing grants from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000.
Under current law, the nonpoint source program is funded with general
purpose state revenues, segregated revenues from the environmental fund and
proceeds of state bonds. This bill provides additional funds for financial assistance
under the nonpoint source program from moneys paid to this state under Indian
gaming compacts. The bill also provides funds to be paid to the Oneida Nation under
the nonpoint source program from moneys paid to this state under Indian gaming
compacts.
Under current law, persons who discharge wastewater into the waters of this
state are required to pay an annual wastewater discharge fee to DNR. DNR is
required to structure the fee so that municipalities that are subject to the fee pay 50%
of the total charged and other persons that are subject to the fee pay the other 50%.
Currently, DNR may not charge total fees that exceed $7,450,000. This bill changes
the cap on the wastewater discharge fee to $7,925,000.
Under current law, DNR and the department of health and family services
establish standards for the concentration of contaminants in groundwater. When
the groundwater standards are exceeded, action must be taken under this state's
groundwater law. This bill authorizes DNR to charge a fee for placing information
concerning a property on which a groundwater standard is exceeded into a database.
Air quality
Under current law, the owner or operator of a stationary source of air pollution
who must obtain an air pollution control permit from DNR is required to pay an
annual fee to DNR. The fee is a specified amount per ton of certain air pollutants
emitted by the stationary source in the preceding year, except that an owner or
operator is generally not required to pay the fee for emissions of any pollutant in
excess of 4,000 tons per year.
This bill establishes a new facility fee for stationary sources that emit a total
of at least five tons of the pollutants on which the current fee is based. The fee ranges
from $50 to $20,000, depending on the total amount of those pollutants emitted.
Under current law, generally a person may not begin construction of a
stationary source of air pollution without a construction permit issued by DNR. This
bill authorizes DNR to issue general construction permits, each of which may cover
numerous similar stationary sources of air pollution.
Current law authorizes DNR to establish, by rule, fees for inspecting
nonresidential asbestos demolition and renovation projects regulated by DNR. The
fees may not exceed $200 per project. This bill raises the limit on fees for inspecting
nonresidential asbestos demolition and renovation projects to $210.
Under current law, the department of justice (DOJ) generally is responsible for
taking actions in court to enforce environmental laws. This bill authorizes DNR to
issue a citation (similar to a traffic ticket) if it determines that a person has violated
certain of DNR's rules related to asbestos abatement and management. The bill
requires DNR to promulgate rules, which must be approved by DOJ, specifying the
violations for which citations may be issued. Under the bill, the same procedures are
used for the issuance of a citation and the collection of a forfeiture as are used for
hunting and fishing violations.
Recycling
Under current law, DNR administers a financial assistance program to assist
with costs related to operating recycling programs and for complying with the
prohibition on disposing of yard waste in landfills. The amount of a grant under the
program is generally the lesser of 66% of eligible net costs or $8 per person served,
except that, if the lesser of those two amounts is less than 33% of the eligible
expenses, the amount of the grant is 33% of the eligible expenses.
This bill reduces the maximum amount of a grant that may be awarded under
this financial assistance program. Under the bill, the amount of a grant is the greater
of 66% of eligible net costs or 33% of the eligible expenses, except that the grant may
not exceed $8 per person. This change effectively sets a maximum grant amount of
$8 per person and makes grants based on 33% of the eligible expenses subject to
proration of grants if the sum of grants payable under the program exceeds available
funds. The financial assistance program currently expires after 2000. This bill
extends the program through 2001.
Current law prohibits the disposal of listed recyclable materials in a landfill.
The prohibition does not apply to any city, village, town, county or other
governmental unit that is responsible for the region's solid waste management
(responsible unit) and that operates an effective recycling program. A recycling
program is an effective recycling program if it meets specified criteria. In addition
to the exception from the disposal prohibition, a responsible unit that administers
an effective recycling program is eligible for a state grant to reimburse the
responsible unit for some of its costs incurred in operating the effective recycling
program.
Under current law, beginning in 2000, a responsible unit's recycling program
is an effective recycling program only if the responsible unit has in place a system
of volume-based solid waste fees to generate revenue equal to the responsible unit's
costs for solid waste management other than those reimbursed by the state. This
criterion does not apply to any responsible unit that separates for recycling at least
25% by volume or by weight of the solid waste collected within the region by the
responsible unit or by any person under contract with the responsible unit, or to any
responsible unit that provides solid waste to an operating solid waste treatment
facility under a contract that was in effect on January 1, 1993.
This bill eliminates the requirement that, to have its recycling program
considered an effective recycling program, a responsible unit have in place a system
of volume-based solid waste fees to generate revenue equal to the responsible unit's
costs for solid waste management other than those reimbursed by the state.
The recycling market development board (board), which is attached to the
department of commerce and which will be eliminated on June 30, 2001, has various
powers and duties related to recycling, including awarding financial and other
assistance to improve the marketing of, and to develop markets for, certain materials
recovered from solid waste. The board may contract with other persons to accomplish
any of its powers and duties. Funding for the board's contracts comes from the
recycling fund. Funding for the financial assistance that the board awards comes
from the recycling fund and from repayments of loans made by recipients of financial
assistance awarded by the board. This bill eliminates the recycling fund as a funding
source for the board's contracts and financial assistance and provides that the
funding for both comes solely from repayments of loans made by recipients of
financial assistance awarded by the board.
The department of commerce made loans before July 1, 1995, for various
purposes related to recycling. Repayments of those loans are deposited in the
recycling fund. This bill provides that repayments of those loans are to be used to
fund the board's contracts and financial assistance that the board awards.
This bill requires DNR to award grants of $75,000 on September 1, 1999, and
$50,000 on July 1, 2000, to the Wheelchair Recycling Project for the purpose of
refurbishing used wheelchairs and other mobility devices and returning them to use
by persons who otherwise would not have access to needed or appropriate equipment.
Other environment
In 1998, DNR and Winnebago County entered into an agreement under which
the county agreed to accept sediments that are dredged from the Fox River and that
are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for disposal in the county's
landfill.
This bill authorizes DNR to enter into an agreement with Winnebago County
under which this state indemnifies the county against any liability or damage
resulting from the county's acceptance of PCB-contaminated sediments if the
sediments are disposed of in a manner approved by DNR. The bill also authorizes
DNR to enter into an agreement with the city of Oshkosh under which this state
indemnifies the city against any liability or damage resulting from the city accepting
PCB-contaminated leachate from the landfill that contains the PCB-contaminated
sediments.
Current law provides a process for negotiation and arbitration between a
person who wishes to construct or expand a landfill or a hazardous waste facility and
a committee representing those affected municipalities and counties that choose to
participate in the process. An affected municipality or county is one in which a
facility is proposed to be located or one whose boundary is within 1,500 feet of the
area in which waste would be treated, stored or disposed of. Other municipalities
may participate in the negotiation and arbitration process with the agreement of all
parties to the process. Under current law, a town, city or village in which all or part
of the facility is proposed to be located may appoint four members to a committee or
the number of members appointed by the county and other affected municipalities
plus two, whichever is greater.
Under this bill, a town, city or village in which all or part of a landfill or a
hazardous waste facility is proposed to be located may appoint four members to a
committee or the number of members appointed by the county, other affected
municipalities and any municipalities added by agreement of the parties plus two,
whichever is greater.
Under current law, DNR may require tests related to programs administered
by DNR to be conducted by laboratories certified or registered by DNR or DATCP or
certified or registered by another state or a federal agency that recognizes laboratory
certification by DNR and that uses standards equivalent to this state's standards.
This bill authorizes DNR to apply to the federal environmental protection
agency to be approved to accredit laboratories under a national environmental
laboratory accreditation program. If DNR is approved to accredit laboratories under
the national program, an accredited laboratory may conduct tests that currently
must be conducted by a certified or registered laboratory, this state must accept test
results from laboratories accredited by other accrediting authorities and other
accrediting authorities must accept test results from laboratories accredited by
DNR.
Under current law, DNR, the department of commerce and the board of regents
of the University of Wisconsin (UW) System are required to promote hazardous
pollution prevention, which means changes in processes or raw materials that
reduce or eliminate the use or production of hazardous substances, toxic pollutants
and hazardous waste. This bill requires DNR, the department of commerce and the
board of regents of the UW System to promote pollution prevention, which means an
action that prevents waste from being created, reduces the amount of waste that is
created or changes the nature of waste being created in a way that reduces the
hazards to public health or the environment posed by the waste.
Gambling
Under current law, the compensation paid to a retailer who sells lottery tickets
is 5.5% of the retail price of the lottery tickets. In addition, under current law, the
compensation paid to a retailer who sells scratch-off or instant games is 6.25% of the
retail price of scratch-off or instant games. This bill authorizes the department of
revenue to establish, by rule, a program to provide for additional compensation to be
paid to retailers who meet certain performance goals. Under this program, the total
compensation provided to retailers who meet the performance goals may not exceed
1.0% of gross lottery revenues.
Under current law, the department of health and family services may award
grants to individuals or organizations in the private sector to conduct compulsive
gambling awareness campaigns. These grants are funded from the lottery fund,
from revenues generated by pari-mutuel wagering and from moneys paid to the
state under Indian gaming compacts. This bill provides that the grants must be
funded entirely from moneys paid to the state under Indian gaming compacts.
health and human services
Long-term care; family care
Current law
Currently, home and community-based long-term care is provided to persons
who are elderly, physically or developmentally disabled, chronically mentally ill or
chemically dependent as a benefit under one or more programs administered by the
department of health and family services (DHFS). These programs are funded by
federal, state or, in some instances, county moneys, and each program has
individualized eligibility criteria and benefit restrictions. For elderly and disabled
persons, these programs include medical assistance (MA), the long-term support
community options program (COP), three community integration programs (CIPs)
and community aids. MA is a comprehensive jointly funded federal-state health
program for persons with low income and few assets. COP provides assessments of
functionality and home and community-based care to, among others, elderly and
disabled persons as an alternative to institutionalized care; one part of COP is
funded by state moneys and the other part is funded under a joint federal-state
program under a waiver of federal medicaid laws. Under other joint federal-state
programs under waivers of federal medicaid laws, CIPs provide home and
community-based services and continuity of care for persons relocated from
institutions, including state centers for the developmentally disabled, and persons
who meet requirements for MA reimbursement in nursing homes.
Currently, under a pilot project, DHFS contracts with a public or private entity
to serve as a clearinghouse of information for individuals who are interested in home
or community-based long-term support services or institutional long-term care
services and to perform assessments to determine an individual's functional
abilities, disabilities, personal preferences and need for home or community-based
services or institutional services. Under a second pilot project, DHFS may contract
with counties or federally recognized American Indian tribes or bands to
demonstrate the ability of counties or tribes or bands to manage all long-term care
programs under a long-term care management organization.
Currently, nursing homes are prohibited from admitting patients until a
physician has completed a plan of care and the patient has been assessed under COP
or the long-term care pilot project or has waived the assessment.
Creation of family care benefit, resource centers and care management
organizations
This bill establishes a program of financial assistance for long-term care and
support items, called a family care benefit, for persons who are eligible and are
enrolled in a care management organization, an entity whose attributes are
established in this bill. The family care benefit is funded by general purpose revenue
appropriated for MA, COP and community aids. DHFS must request from the
federal secretary of health and human services any waivers of federal medicaid laws
necessary to permit the use of federal moneys to provide the family care benefit to
recipients of MA; however, regardless of whether a waiver is approved, DHFS may
implement the family care benefit. Persons are eligible for, but not necessarily
entitled to, the family care benefit if they are at least 18 years of age, do not have a
primary disabling condition of mental illness, substance abuse or developmental
disability and meet certain functional and financial eligibility criteria. A person is
entitled to the family care benefit and may enroll in a care management organization
if he or she is financially eligible, meets cost-sharing requirements and meets any
of several functional eligibility requirements or if he or she has a primary disabling
condition of developmental disability and was a resident of a county or member of a
tribe or band that operated a care management organization under a pilot project.
Divestment prohibitions, prohibitions on treatment of certain trusts, provisions on
protection of income and resources of a couple for maintenance of a spouse in the
community, and estate recovery provisions, all of which correspond to similar
prohibitions and provisions under MA, apply to enrollees. A client may contest
denial of eligibility, the determination of cost sharing, denial of entitlement, failure
to provide timely services and support items in the plan of care, reduction of services
or support items, development of an unacceptable plan of care and termination of the
family care benefit, by filing a written request for a hearing within 45 days after
receipt of notice of the contested matter.
The bill establishes requirements for a resource center, which, among other
things, must provide information and referral services, determine functional and
financial eligibility for the family care benefit, assist persons to enroll in a care
management organization and determine eligibility for certain other benefits,
including MA. Within six months after the family care benefit is available to all
eligible persons in the area of the resource center, the resource center must provide
information about its services to all older persons and persons with physical
disabilities who reside in nursing homes, community-based residential facilities,
adult family homes and residential care apartment complexes in the area of the
resource center. A resource center must have a governing board that reflects the
ethnic and economic diversity of the geographic area served by the resource center,
and at least one-fourth of the governing board's members must be older persons or
persons with physical or developmental disabilities or family members, guardians
or other advocates of such persons.
The bill establishes requirements for a care management organization, which
must accept the enrollment of persons who are entitled to the family care benefit, as
well as the enrollment of persons who are eligible for the family care benefit and for
whom funding is available. Under a contract with DHFS, the care management
organization must, among other things, conduct a comprehensive assessment for
each enrollee, develop a comprehensive care plan for the enrollee and provide or
contract for the provision of necessary services. DHFS may, by contract, require
solvency protections for a care management organization. A care management
organization must have a governing board that is subject to requirements that are
similar to those for the governing board of a resource center. The bill specifically
exempts a care management organization from requirements for licensure as a home
health agency.
Under the bill, DHFS must prescribe and implement a per person monthly rate
structure for costs of the family care benefit. DHFS also must prescribe and enforce
performance standards for the operation of resource centers and care management
organizations, conduct ongoing evaluations of the system implementing the family
care benefit and ensure that independent organizations conduct reviews of the
quality of management and service delivery of resource centers and care
management organizations.
Family care district
This bill authorizes county boards of supervisors to create, on a single county
or multicounty basis, family care districts. Under the bill, a family care district is
a separate local unit of government, the primary purpose of which is to operate a
resource center or a care management organization, but not both. The jurisdiction
of the family care district is the county or counties of the county board or boards of
supervisors who created the district. The family care district's board is appointed by
the county board or boards of supervisors and must consist of 15 persons for a single
county and, for a multicounty family care district, an additional member for each
county in excess of two. Board members must be residents of the family care district's
jurisdiction and must satisfy certain additional requirements.
The bill grants to a family care district various local government powers,
including the power to adopt and alter an official seal; adopt bylaws and policies and
procedures to regulate its affairs; sue and be sued; negotiate and enter into leases
and contracts; employ agents, employes or special advisers; and buy, sell or lease
property. However, a family care district may not issue bonds or levy a tax or
assessment. Under the bill, a family care district must appoint a director, who must
manage the family care district's property, business and employes. The family care
district must also develop and implement a personnel structure and other
employment policies. With respect to the hiring of employes who formerly were
county employes to perform the same or substantially similar functions that they
previously performed, the family care district must perform certain tasks to ensure
that the employes' compensation, benefits, seniority and status in class under county
employment are not diminished. If the county has established its own retirement
system the county must include family care district employes in participation and
applicable benefits.
Numerous laws that apply to special purpose districts and local units of
government apply to the family care district, including, among others:
1. The members of the family care district governing board and the director of
the family care district are subject to the code of ethics for local government officials.
2. The family care district is exempt from the sales and use taxes.
3. The family care district is subject to public employe occupational safety and
health laws.
4. The family care district is governed by unemployment compensation laws.
5. The family care district may participate in the local governmental property
insurance fund.
6. The family care district is governed by municipal administrative procedures
concerning constitutionally protected rights.
7. Persons attempting to sue the family care district are subject to limitations
on actions that may be brought against it and limitations as to the filing of the notice
of the injury and recoverable damages.
The bill also provides that a family care district:
1. Must adhere to the open records laws, except in certain circumstances.
2. Must adhere to the open meetings laws.
3. Is subject to auditing by the legislative audit bureau and review of its
performance by the joint legislative audit committee.
4. Is an employer for all purposes of the municipal employment relations laws;
as such, employes of the district may organize and seek to establish all terms of
wages, hours and conditions of employment through collective bargaining.
5. Is subject to prohibitions on public funding for abortions and for
abortion-related activities.
6. May participate in the local government pooled-investment fund.
7. Is exempt from local property tax and income tax.
8. Is subject to laws regulating buildings and safety.
9. Is governed by state minimum wage and hour and family and medical leave
laws and is subject to worker's compensation laws.
10. May participate in programs of state retirement, health and long-term care
benefits, disability benefits and survivor benefits, deferred compensation plans,
employe-funded reimbursement accounts and health insurance premium credits
and be included as a coverage group under social security.
11. Is an employer for the purposes of coverage for group and individual health
benefits and for small employer health insurance.
12. Is a municipality for the purposes of laws relating to the publication of legal
notices.
Under the bill, obligations and debts of a family care district are not the
obligations or debts of the county that created the family care district. A family care
district may be dissolved by joint action of the family care district board and the
county board or boards of supervisors that created the district, subject to
performance of its contractual obligations and approval by the secretary of health
and family services. If the family care district was created by more than one county,
the county boards of supervisors that created the district must agree on the
apportioning of the district's property before dissolution may occur.
Expansion of pilot projects
This bill authorizes DHFS to continue contracting with counties or American
Indian tribes or bands under the current pilot projects until July 1, 2001. After that
date, DHFS may contract with one or more entities certified as meeting
requirements for a resource center and for services of an entity as a care management
organization. During the first 24 months in which a county has a contract with
DHFS under which the county accepts a per person per month payment for each
enrollee in the county's care management organization, the authority of DHFS to
contract with another organization to operate a care maintenance organization in
that county is restricted.
Under the bill, a county, an American Indian tribe or band, a family care district
or an organization may not directly operate both a resource center and a care
management organization. If a county board of supervisors and the county executive
or county administrator apply to DHFS for a contract to operate a resource center,
the county board may create a family care district to apply to DHFS for a contract
to operate a care management organization; if the county board and the county
executive or administrator apply for a contract to operate a care management
organization, the county board may create a family care district to apply to DHFS
for a contract to operate a resource center. If the governing body of an American
Indian tribe or band elects to apply for a contract to operate a resource center, the
tribe or band members may form a separate corporation to apply for a contract to
operate a care management organization; if the governing body elects to apply for a
contract to operate a care management organization, the tribe or band members may
form a separate corporation to apply for a contract to operate a resource center. A
county or family care district may apply jointly with a tribe or band or tribal or band
corporation for a contract to operate a care management organization or resource
center.
The bill authorizes a county department of social services, human services,
developmental disabilities services or community programs or an aging unit
authorized by the applicable county board of supervisors to apply to DHFS to operate
a resource center or a care management organization. The bill also authorizes the
secretary of health and family services, in order to facilitate the transition to the
family care benefit system, to grant a county limited waivers to certain COP and CIP
statutes and rules promulgated under those statutes.
Requirements of care facilities
