LRB-2461/1
RCT&KSH:cmh:hmh
1999 - 2000 LEGISLATURE
March 16, 1999 - Introduced by Senators George and Rosenzweig, cosponsored by
Representatives Kelso, Ainsworth, Olsen, Goetsch, Kaufert, Johnsrud and
Kreibich. Referred to Joint committee on Audit.
SB86,2,7
1An Act to repeal 101.143 (3) (g) 2.;
to renumber 18.52 (5) (c) and 18.56 (7) and
2(8);
to renumber and amend 18.52 (5) (intro.), 18.52 (5) (a), 18.52 (5) (b), 18.53
3(3), 18.56 (1), 18.56 (2) to (6), 18.56 (9) (intro.), 18.56 (9) (a) to (j), 18.56 (10),
418.57 (4), 18.60 (5), 25.47 and 101.143 (4) (cm);
to consolidate, renumber and
5amend 101.143 (3) (g) (intro.) and 1.;
to amend 13.485 (2), 18.51, 18.57 (1),
618.58 (1), 18.60 (1), 18.60 (2), 18.61 (2), 18.61 (3) (a), 18.61 (3) (b) (intro.), 18.61
7(3) (b) 1., 18.61 (3) (b) 3., 18.61 (3) (b) 4., 18.61 (3) (c), 18.61 (4), 20.143 (3) (v),
845.79 (9) (a), 84.59 (2), 85.52 (5) (c), 101.143 (3) (c) 2., 101.143 (3) (cm), 101.143
9(3) (d), 101.143 (4) (b) (intro.), 101.143 (4) (d) 2. (intro.) and 281.59 (4) (b);
to
10repeal and recreate 18.57 (title); and
to create 18.52 (2m) (intro.), 18.52 (7),
1118.52 (8), 18.53 (3) (a) and (b), 18.561 (title), 18.561 (1), 18.561 (7) (title), 18.561
12(8) (title), 18.561 (9) (k), 18.562, 18.60 (5) (a) to (c), 20.143 (3) (s), 20.143 (3) (t),
1320.143 (3) (u), 20.143 (3) (vb), 25.47 (5), 101.143 (1) (bm), 101.143 (1) (cq),
14101.143 (2) (h), 101.143 (2) (i), 101.143 (2) (j), 101.143 (2e), 101.143 (3) (cg),
1101.143 (3) (cp), 101.143 (3) (cs), 101.143 (3) (cw), 101.143 (4) (c) 10., 101.143
2(4) (c) 11., 101.143 (4) (c) 12., 101.143 (4) (cm) 2., 101.143 (9m) and 101.143 (11)
3of the statutes;
relating to: the petroleum storage remedial action program;
4authorizing revenue obligations to fund payment of claims under the petroleum
5storage remedial action program; authorizing a new type of revenue obligation;
6granting revenue bonding authority; granting rule-making authority; and
7making appropriations.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, the department of commerce administers a program to
reimburse owners of certain petroleum product storage tanks for a portion of the
costs of cleaning up discharges from those tanks. This program is commonly known
as PECFA. This bill makes numerous changes concerning PECFA and concerning
the issuance of revenue obligations by this state.
Revenue obligations
This bill authorizes the issuance of revenue obligations, to be paid from
revenues deposited in the petroleum inspection fund, to fund the payment of claims
under the PECFA program. Revenue obligations issued under this bill may not
exceed $450,000,000 in principal amount. In addition to this limit on principal
amount, the bill authorizes the issuance of revenue obligations to fund or refund
these outstanding revenue obligations, to pay issuance or administrative expenses,
to make deposits to reserve funds or to pay accrued or capitalized interest. The
building commission may pledge any portion of revenues received from the proceeds
of the obligations or the petroleum inspection fund to secure revenue obligations
issued under this bill. The building commission may issue the revenue obligations
when it reasonably appears to the building commission that the obligations can be
fully paid on a timely basis from the petroleum inspection fund. The bill provides a
so-called "moral obligation pledge" which applies if the legislature reduces the rate
of the petroleum inspection fee. If the rate is reduced and there are insufficient funds
in the petroleum inspection fund to pay the principal and interest on the revenue
obligations, the legislature expresses its expectation and aspiration that it would
make an appropriation from the general fund sufficient to pay the principal and
interest on the obligations.
Under current law, the state may issue "revenue obligations" for certain
specified purposes. In general, a revenue obligation is an obligation that is: 1)
incurred to purchase, acquire, lease, construct, improve, operate or manage a
revenue-producing enterprise; and 2) repayable solely from, and secured solely by,
the property or income from the revenue-producing enterprise.
This bill broadens the definition of revenue obligation to allow revenue bonding
in situations which would not meet the current law definition of revenue obligation.
Under the bill, revenue obligations consist of two different types: enterprise
obligations and special fund obligations. The first type of revenue obligation, called
an enterprise obligation, includes all obligations authorized under current law; i.e.,
obligations that are incurred to purchase, acquire, lease, construct, improve, operate
or manage a revenue-producing enterprise and are repayable solely from, and
secured solely by, the property or income from that revenue-producing enterprise.
The definition of enterprise obligation under the bill is broader than the current law
definition of revenue obligation in that it eliminates the requirement that the bond
be repayable solely from, and be solely secured by, property or income from the
revenue-producing enterprise.
The second type of revenue obligation, a special fund obligation, is created by
the bill. Special fund obligations are an undertaking by the state to repay a certain
amount of borrowed money that is payable from a special fund consisting of fees,
penalties or excise taxes. The bill uses this second type of revenue obligation to
authorize the revenue obligation bonding for the PECFA program.
PECFA administration and reimbursement
This bill requires the department of commerce, in consultation with the
department of natural resources (DNR), to promulgate rules specifying a method for
determining the risk to public health, safety and welfare and to the environment
posed by discharges of petroleum products. Under the bill, to be eligible for PECFA
reimbursement, the owner of a petroleum product storage tank may not begin a
cleanup without the approval of the department of commerce and DNR. The
department of commerce and DNR will jointly determine the appropriate date to
begin a cleanup based on the determination of the risk posed by a discharge and on
the availability of funds to make PECFA reimbursements. The requirement for
approval to begin a cleanup does not apply to emergency cleanups authorized by
DNR or to cleanups of discharges from home heating oil tanks, small farm tanks and
school district heating oil tanks.
Under current law, DNR generally may order a responsible person to conduct
a cleanup of a hazardous substance that has been discharged into the environment
and may oversee the cleanup. However, under current law, the department of
commerce may order and oversee cleanups of certain discharges from petroleum
product storage tanks. The department of commerce has authority over cleanups if
the site of the discharge is classified as low or medium priority based on the threat
that the discharge poses to public health, safety and welfare and to the environment
and if the site is not contaminated by nonpetroleum hazardous substances. Current
law requires DNR and the department of commerce to enter into a memorandum of
understanding that establishes procedures and standards for determining whether
a site is high, medium or low priority. Under this state's groundwater law, DNR and
the department of health and family services set enforcement standards which
represent a concentration of a pollutant in groundwater. If an activity or facility
causes the concentration of a pollutant in groundwater to reach or exceed the
enforcement standard, the state agency that regulates the activity or facility must,
generally, prohibit the activity or practice that uses or produces the pollutant and
implement remedial action.
This bill requires the department of commerce to determine the least costly
method of conducting a cleanup and achieving compliance with enforcement
standards for PECFA sites that are classified as low or medium priority. The bill
requires the department of commerce and DNR jointly to determine the least costly
method of conducting a cleanup and achieving compliance with enforcement
standards for PECFA sites that are classified as high priority. The bill limits the
amount of reimbursement under PECFA to the amount necessary to implement the
least costly method of conducting the cleanup and achieving compliance with
enforcement standards. The bill requires the departments to consider whether
natural attenuation can be used for each cleanup. Natural attenuation is the
naturally occurring reduction in the amount and concentration of a substance in the
environment.
This bill generally requires the department of commerce to use a competitive
public bidding process to help to determine the least costly method of conducting a
cleanup if the estimated cost to complete an investigation, clean-up plan and
cleanup exceeds $60,000. The bill provides an exemption from the bidding
requirement for certain sites with groundwater contamination near wells and allows
DNR to waive the bidding requirement.
This bill requires the department of commerce to conduct an annual review of
ongoing PECFA cleanups at low and medium priority sites and the department of
commerce and DNR to conduct an annual review of ongoing PECFA cleanups at high
priority sites. As part of an annual review, the departments must determine the least
costly method of completing the cleanup and achieving compliance with enforcement
standards. The bill limits the amount of reimbursement under PECFA for costs
incurred after the annual review to the amount necessary to complete the cleanup
and achieve compliance with enforcement standards using the least costly method.
Current law authorizes the department of commerce to establish a schedule of
usual and customary costs for items eligible for PECFA reimbursement. If the
department of commerce establishes a usual and customary cost for an item, PECFA
reimbursement for that item is limited to the usual and customary cost. This bill
requires the department of commerce to establish a schedule of usual and customary
costs for items that are commonly included in PECFA claims. The bill requires the
department of commerce to use the schedule to determine eligible costs for cleanups
for which a public bidding process is not used. This requirement applies until June
30, 2001.
Under PECFA, the owner of a petroleum product storage tank may receive an
award for the amount by which the cost of the cleanup exceeds a deductible amount,
up to a specified maximum. Currently, the PECFA deductible for underground tanks
is generally $2,500 plus 5% of eligible costs, but not more than $7,500, except that
the deductible for heating oil tanks owned by school districts and technical college
districts is 25% of eligible costs.
This bill reduces the PECFA deductible for certain underground petroleum
storage tanks. Under the bill, the deductible for underground tanks, other than
school district and technical college district heating oil tanks, is generally 2% of the
first $40,000 of eligible costs, plus 10% of the next $20,000 of eligible costs, plus 15%
of the amount by which eligible costs exceed $60,000, but the maximum deductible
remains $7,500.
This bill requires the department of commerce, in consultation with DNR, to
promulgate rules specifying the conditions under which the two departments must
issue approvals of cleanups under PECFA. The bill also requires the department of
commerce, in consultation with DNR, to promulgate rules specifying information
that must be submitted under PECFA, review procedures that must be followed by
employes of the department of commerce and DNR and training requirements for
those employes.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB86, s. 1
1Section
1. 13.485 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB86,5,82
13.485
(2) The building commission may, under s.
18.56 18.561 (5) and (9) (j)
3or 18.562 (3) and (5) (e), deposit in a separate and distinct fund, outside the state
4treasury, in an account maintained by a trustee, fees and charges derived from the
5facilities or from agreements entered into under sub. (4). The fees and charges
6deposited are the trustee's moneys in accordance with the agreement between this
7state and the trustee or in accordance with the resolution pledging the fees and
8charges to the repayment of revenue obligations issued under this section.
SB86, s. 2
9Section
2. 18.51 of the statutes is amended to read:
SB86,5,14
1018.51 Provisions applicable. The following sections apply to this
11subchapter, except that all references to "public debt" or "debt"
are deemed shall be
12read to refer to a "revenue obligation"
and all references to "evidences of
13indebtedness" shall be read to refer to "evidences of revenue obligations": ss. 18.02,
1418.03, 18.06 (8), 18.07, 18.10 (1), (2), (4) to (9) and (11) and 18.17.
SB86, s. 3
15Section
3. 18.52 (2m) (intro.) of the statutes is created to read:
SB86,6,2
118.52
(2m) (intro.) "Enterprise obligation" means every undertaking by the
2state to repay a certain amount of borrowed money that is all of the following:
SB86, s. 4
3Section
4. 18.52 (5) (intro.) of the statutes is renumbered 18.52 (5) and
4amended to read:
SB86,6,85
18.52
(5) "Revenue obligation" means
every undertaking by the state to repay
6a certain amount of borrowed money which is: an enterprise obligation or a special
7fund obligation. A revenue obligation may be both an enterprise obligation and a
8special fund obligation.
SB86, s. 5
9Section
5. 18.52 (5) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 18.52 (2m) (a) and
10amended to read:
SB86,6,1311
18.52
(2m) (a) Created for the purpose of purchasing, acquiring, leasing,
12constructing, extending, expanding, adding to, improving, conducting, controlling,
13operating or managing a revenue-producing enterprise or program
;.
SB86, s. 6
14Section
6. 18.52 (5) (b) of the statutes is renumbered 18.52 (2m) (b) and
15amended to read:
SB86,6,1716
18.52
(2m) (b) Payable
solely from and secured
solely by the property or income
17or both of the enterprise or program
; and.
SB86, s. 7
18Section
7. 18.52 (5) (c) of the statutes is renumbered 18.52 (2m) (c).
SB86, s. 8
19Section
8. 18.52 (7) of the statutes is created to read:
SB86,6,2120
18.52
(7) "Special fund obligation" means every undertaking by the state to
21repay a certain amount of borrowed money that is all of the following:
SB86,6,2222
(a) Payable from a special fund consisting of fees, penalties or excise taxes.
SB86,6,2323
(b) Not public debt under s. 18.01 (4).
SB86, s. 9
24Section
9. 18.52 (8) of the statutes is created to read:
SB86,7,3
118.52
(8) "Special fund program" means a state program or purpose with
2respect to which the legislature has determined that financing with special fund
3obligations is appropriate and will serve a public purpose.
SB86, s. 10
4Section
10. 18.53 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 18.53 (3) (intro.) and
5amended to read:
SB86,7,136
18.53
(3) (intro.) The commission shall authorize money to be borrowed and
7evidences of revenue obligation to be issued
therefor up to the amounts specified by
8the legislature to purchase, acquire, lease, construct, extend, expand, add to,
9improve, conduct, control, operate or manage such revenue-producing enterprises
10or programs as are specified by the legislature as the funds are required. The
11requirements for funds shall be established by the state department or agency head
12carrying out program responsibilities for which the revenue obligations have been
13authorized by the legislature
., but shall not exceed the following:
SB86, s. 11
14Section
11. 18.53 (3) (a) and (b) of the statutes are created to read:
SB86,7,1815
18.53
(3) (a) In the case of enterprise obligations, the amounts specified by the
16legislature to purchase, acquire, lease, construct, extend, expand, add to, improve,
17conduct, control, operate or manage such revenue-producing enterprises or
18programs as are specified by the legislature.
SB86,7,2019
(b) In the case of special fund obligations, the amount specified by the
20legislature for such expenditures to be paid from special fund obligations.
SB86, s. 12
21Section
12. 18.56 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 18.56 and amended to read:
SB86,8,8
2218.56 Revenue bonds
obligations. The commission may authorize, for any
23of the purposes described in s. 18.53 (3), the issuance of
revenue-obligation bonds 24revenue obligations. The
bonds
revenue obligations shall mature at any time not
25exceeding 50 years from the date thereof as the commission shall determine. The
1bonds revenue obligations shall be payable only out of the redemption fund provided
2under
sub. s. 18.561 (5)
or 18.562 (3) and each
bond revenue obligation shall contain
3on its face a statement to that effect.
Any such bonds A revenue obligation may
4contain a provision authorizing redemption, in whole or in part, at stipulated prices,
5at the option of the commission and shall provide the method of redeeming the
bonds.
6The state and a contracting party may provide in any contract for purchasing or
7acquiring a revenue-producing enterprise or program, that payment shall be made
8in such bonds revenue obligations.
SB86, s. 13
9Section
13. 18.56 (2) to (6) of the statutes are renumbered 18.561 (2) to (6) and
10amended to read:
SB86,9,1811
18.561
(2) Security interests of owners of enterprise obligations. There
12shall be is a mortgage lien upon or security interest in the income and property of
13each revenue-producing enterprise or program
to for the benefit of the
holders 14owners of the related
bonds and to the holders of the coupons of the bonds. The note
15or other instrument evidencing the security interest of a bondholder in a loan made
16or purchased with revenue obligation bonds shall constitute a statutory lien on the
17revenue enterprise obligations. No physical delivery, recordation or other action is
18required to perfect the security interest. The
income and property of the 19revenue-producing enterprise or program shall remain subject to the lien until
20provision for payment in full of the principal and interest of the
bonds enterprise
21obligations has been made
, as provided in the authorizing resolution. Any
holder 22owner of such
bonds or attached coupons enterprise obligations may either at law or
23in equity protect and enforce the lien and compel performance of all duties required
24by this section. If there is any default in the payment of the principal or interest of
25any of such
bonds enterprise obligations, any court having jurisdiction of the action
1may appoint a receiver to administer the revenue-producing enterprise or program
2on behalf of the state and the
bondholders owners of the enterprise obligations, with
3power to charge and collect rates sufficient to provide for the payment of the
4operating expenses and also to pay any
bonds or enterprise obligations outstanding
5against the revenue-producing enterprise or program, and to apply the income and
6revenues thereof in conformity with this subchapter and the authorizing resolution,
7or the court may declare the whole amount of the
bonds
enterprise obligations due
8and payable, if such relief is requested, and may order and direct the sale of the
9revenue-producing enterprise or program. Under any sale so ordered, the purchaser
10shall be vested with an indeterminate permit to maintain and operate the
11revenue-producing enterprise or program. The legislature may provide for
12additions, extensions and improvements to a revenue-producing enterprise or
13program to be financed by additional issues of
bonds
enterprise obligations as
14provided by this section. Such additional issues of
bonds enterprise obligations shall
15be subordinate to all prior related issues of
bonds
enterprise obligations which may
16have been made under this section, unless the legislature, in the statute authorizing
17the initial issue of
bonds enterprise obligations, permits the issue of additional
bonds 18enterprise obligations on a parity therewith.
SB86,9,25
19(3) Dedication of revenues. As accurately as possible in advance, the
20commission and the state department or agency carrying out program
21responsibilities for which
bonds enterprise obligations are to be issued shall
22determine, and the commission shall fix in the authorizing resolution for such
bonds 23enterprise obligations: the proportion of the revenues of the revenue-producing
24enterprise or program which shall be necessary for the reasonable and proper
25operation and maintenance thereof; the proportion of the revenues which shall be set
1aside as a proper and adequate replacement and reserve fund; and the proportion of
2the revenues which shall be set aside and applied to the payment of the principal and
3interest of the
bonds enterprise obligations, and shall provide that the revenues be
4set aside in separate funds. At any time after one year's operation, the state
5department or agency and the commission may recompute the proportion of the
6revenues which shall be assignable under this subsection based upon the experience
7of operation or upon the basis of further financing.
SB86,10,19
8(4) Replacement and reserve fund. The proportion set aside to the
9replacement and reserve fund shall be available and shall be used, whenever
10necessary, to restore any deficiency in the redemption fund for the payment of the
11principal and interest due on
bonds enterprise obligations and for the creation and
12maintenance of any reserves established by the authorizing resolution to secure such
13payments. At any time when the redemption fund is sufficient for said purposes,
14moneys in the replacement and reserve fund may, subject to available
15appropriations, be expended either in the revenue-producing enterprise or program
16or in new
acquisitions, constructions, extensions
or, additions
, expansions or
17improvements. Any accumulations of the replacement and reserve fund may be
18invested as provided in this subchapter, and if invested, the income from the
19investment shall be carried in the replacement and reserve fund.