Finding of Emergency
The state of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection finds, pursuant to s. 224.24 (1), Stats., that an emergency rule is necessary to preserve the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The following circumstances justify the emergency rule:
1) In recent years, new forms of the highly virulent “Irish potato famine” fungus, Phytophthora infestans, have caused increasingly devastating losses to potato and tomato growers in the United States and Canada. The fungus causes a disease of potato plants which is commonly known as “late blight.”
2) The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture reports that late blight epidemics in 1992, 1993 and 1994 were the worst in decades, and that some individual farm losses have amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single year. The University of Wisconsin estimates that Wisconsin growers lost up to $10 million in 1994 and $6 million in 1995 due to late blight.
3) The potato industry is one of Wisconsin's most important agricultural industries. In 1995, Wisconsin was the 3rd leading state in the nation in potato production. Cash receipts to Wisconsin potato growers totalled over $150 million in 1995. Potatoes are an important food source for the people of Wisconsin and other states. Potato production also supports important processing and distribution industries in Wisconsin. The uncontrolled spread of late blight would have a devastating impact on Wisconsin potato growers, and would seriously affect the public health, safety and welfare.
4) Late blight appears on potato plant leaves, stems and tubers. It causes foliar lesions which are followed by severe defoliation in wet weather. It can also reduce marketable yield by directly infecting and rotting potato tubers. Once late blight appears, it spreads rapidly and can cause total crop loss.
5) Late blight fungal spores can be carried to other plants by many things, including wind, rain, machinery, workers, wildlife and infected seed potatoes. The University of Wisconsin reports that spores can be transported over 25 miles by storms.
6) There are very few registered fungicides in the United States that are effective in controlling the new forms of late blight fungus.
7) Because of the lack of registered fungicides, and the ease with which the late blight fungus spreads, potato growers must mitigate the spread of the disease by removing sources of the overwintering inoculum. Among other things, potato growers must properly dispose of potato cull piles and potato plants which germinate from waste potatoes.
8) If individual potato growers fail to implement necessary cultural practices to mitigate the spread of late blight, that failure will have a potentially devastating impact on other growers and on the Wisconsin potato industry as a whole.
9) In order to ensure that growers take adequate steps to mitigate the spread of late blight, it is necessary to adopt rules that spell out critical problems and establish sanctions for growers who fail to comply. Because of the imminent threat of harm to the potato industry, rules are urgently needed prior to the 1996 planting and growing season.
10) Under normal rulemaking procedures, it is not possible for the Department to adopt rules prior to the 1996 planting and growing season. Pending the adoption of permanent rules, the following emergency rules are needed to protect the public health, safety and welfare, and to mitigate the spread of late blight during the 1996 planting and growing season.
Publication Date:
May 1, 1996
Effective Date:
May 1, 1996
Expiration Date:
September 28, 1996
Hearing Dates:
May 30, 1996
2. Rules adopted revising chs. ATCP 10 to 12, relating to animal health.
Finding of Emergency
The state of Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection (“department”) finds that an emergency exists and that an emergency rule is necessary to protect public health, safety and welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:
(1) 1995 Wis. Act 79 was published December 8, 1995. Under its provisions, no person may keep farm-raised deer in Wisconsin after June 1, 1996, unless that person is registered with the department.
(2) 1995 Wis. Act 79 requires the department to adopt rules which specify the fee for registration. In addition, rules are necessary to establish the mechanism for registration.
(3) Prior to 1995 Wis. Act 79, persons who kept farm-raised deer were required to be licensed by the department of natural resources (DNR). Many persons who keep farm-raised deer will have become licensed with DNR for calendar year 1996. Those licenses will be transferred to the department as registrations.
(4) Permanent rules implementing 1995 Wis. Act 79 will not take effect until on or about January 1, 1997. This emergency rule establishes an interim procedure for registering herds of farm-raised deer, pending the effective date of the permanent rules. Without this emergency rule, no person would be able to start a farm-raised deer herd in Wisconsin between June 1, 1996, and the effective date of the permanent rules, because there would be no way to register that herd.
(5) 1995 Wis. Act 79 also requires animal owners to provide a means of testing those animals for tuberculosis without endangering the animal or the person performing the test. In addition, a non-statutory provision of that Act requires all keepers of farm-raised deer to have the deer tested for tuberculosis between December 8, 1995, and June 30, 1997.
(7) Concerns for the safety of farm-raised deer during testing prohibit testing during significant periods of the year. For example, deer should not be tested during the birthing season, the rut season and the season in which the animals are in velvet. Therefore testing is restricted to periods in late August to early October or during January and February.
(8) The department anticipates that many keepers of farm-raised deer will perform their testing in July, August or September of 1996, before a permanent rule can be adopted. This emergency rule establishes three alternative ways in which the animal owner can insure the safety of the persons doing the testing. This is necessary to insure the safety of the person conducting the test and to permit the keeper of farm-raised deer to know what constitutes adequate restraint of the animals.
(9) In September, 1995, the United States department of agriculture adopted new regulations relating to identification and slaughter shipment of bovines or cervidae which are reactors or suspects for bovine tuberculosis. Wisconsin's current administrative rules are in conflict with the current federal regulations. This emergency rule will make Wisconsin's rules consistent with the federal regulations, so that persons who comply with federal law will not be placed in violation of state law.
(10) In March 1996, the department was advised by the United States department of agriculture that the Russian federation intends to prohibit shipment of poultry meat into the Russian federation from any state which does not require veterinarians to report the presence of specific poultry diseases to the state animal health agency. Wisconsin's current administrative rules do not require reporting of 5 of the diseases which concern the Russian federation.
(11) Wisconsin poultry producers ship poultry meat valued in excess of $1 million per year to the Russian federation. By adopting a provision requiring veterinarians to report the existence of 5 diseases to the department, the department will protect the poultry producers' export market in the Russian federation. The department has proposed a permanent rule requiring reporting of the diseases. This emergency rule protects the export market during the period before the permanent rule is effective.
Publication Date:
June 3, 1996
Effective Date:
June 3, 1996
Expiration Date:
October 31, 1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT
Development
Rule adopted amending ss. DOD 6.18 (1) and 6.32 (2), relating to the community development block grant portion of the Wisconsin development fund.
Finding of Emergency
The Department of Development finds that an emergency exists and that the attached rule is necessary to the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is:
On the evening of January 5, 1996, a fire broke out at Stella Foods' cheese processing and packaging plant in the Village of Lena, Wisconsin, resulting in more than $15 million in property damage, more than $10 million in business interruption losses, and the loss of more than 300 full-time equivalent jobs for that small rural community. As a result of the fire, 70 percent of Stella Foods' plant was destroyed, all dairy and cheese processing ground to a halt, and approximately 350 dairy farmers had to find alternative facilities to receive and process their dairy products.
The scope of the Stella Foods fire and resulting damages was exacerbated by the lack of adequate water supply and pressure to fight the fire. To address various water supply, waste water treatment and insurance needs, and to persuade Stella Foods to reconstruct the Lena plant and rehire more than 300 former employees, the Village of Lena needs to replace its 50-year old 40,000 gallon water tank with a new 300,000 gallon water tank at an estimated cost of approximately $890,000, and to upgrade its current waste water treatment plant at an estimated cost of approximately $900,000. Adoption of these emergency rules will allow the Department of Development to provide the Village of Lena with the financial assistance to address the foregoing problems.
Publication Date:
April 3, 1996
Effective Date:
April 3, 1996
Expiration Date:
August 31, 1996
Hearing Date:
May 8, 1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT
Emergency Response Board
Rules adopted revising ch. ERB 4, relating to a fee for transporting hazardous material.
Finding of Emergency
The State Emergency Response Board finds that an emergency exists and that the attached rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health safety or welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is:
It is necessary to provide adequate protection against the risks to life and property inherent in the transportation of hazardous materials in commerce.
This emergency rule is being promulgated to allow continuation of the Wisconsin hazardous materials transportation registration program established in s. 166.20(7g), Stats. The State Emergency Response Board (SERB) promulgated a rule, ch. ERB 4, to implement the program. The original rule had a sunset date of June 30, 1995. A revised ch. ERB 4 was promulgated December 1, 1995, but was superseded by statutory changes to s. 166.20(7g), Stats., enacted in the Department of Transportation (DOT) biennial budget.
The emergency rule will enable the DOT to collect registration fees for the billing period July 1, 1995 through June 30, 1996. This was agreed upon as a necessary step by several agencies including SERB, Division of Emergency Government and DOT in consultation with Legislative Council and Joint Committee For Review of Administrative Rules staff. Through this collection, DOT will meet the statutory requirement to collect an annual registration fee for the transport of hazardous materials. These fees are deposited to the State Transportation Fund to partially offset the DOT appropriations funding the level A and level B hazardous materials emergency response teams in Wisconsin. The legislature has supported the emergency response team system in Wisconsin by adopting legislation to authorize teams and fund them through a combination of fees and the State Transportation Fund.
The SERB, the Department of Military Affairs-Division of Emergency Government and the Department of Transportation are jointly developing a permanent rule to reflect the statutory fee structure enacted by the legislature in the DOT 1995-97 biennial budget. It is expected a revised permanent rule will be promulgated later this year.
Publication Date:
February 23, 1996
Effective Date:
February 23, 1996
Expiration Date:
July 22, 1996
Hearing Date:
April 2, 1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT
Wisconsin Gaming Commission
A rule was adopted amending s. WGC 24.13 (1) (d), relating to simulcasting fees.
Finding of Emergency
The Wisconsin Gaming Commission finds that an emergency exists and that a rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is:
The previous fee of $50 per performance made simulcasting cost prohibitive, and as a result, prevented the expansion of employment and residual economic benefits. The emergency rule will allow for the increased economic activity.
Publication Date:
March 1, 1996
Effective Date:
March 1, 1996
Expiration Date:
July 29, 1996
Hearing Date:
April 15, 1996
Extension Through:
August 30,1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT (3)
Health and Social Services
(Community Services, Chs. HSS 30--)
1. Rules were adopted creating ch. HSS 38, relating to treatment foster care for children.
Exemption From Finding of Emergency
The Legislature in s. 182 (1) of 1993 Wis. Act 446 directed the Department to promulgate rules under s. 48.67 (1), Stats., as amended by Act 446, for licensing treatment foster homes, to take effect on September 1, 1994, by using the emergency rule-making procedures under s. 227.24, Stats., but without having to make a finding of emergency. They will remain in effect until replaced by permanent rules.
Analysis prepared by the Department of Health and Social Services
This rule-making order implements s. 48.67 (1), Stats., as amended by 1993 Wis. Act 446, which directs the Department to promulgate rules establishing minimum requirements for issuing licenses to treatment foster homes, including standards for operation of those homes.
Treatment foster care is a family-based and community-based approach to substitute care and treatment for children who are medically needy or emotionally disturbed and for some developmentally disabled children, and could be an alternative to institutionalization for some children. Treatment foster care is provided in a foster home by foster parents who meet education and training requirements which exceed the requirements for regular foster care, and by social service, mental health and other professional staff.
A number of public and private agencies have recently begun providing “treatment foster care,” but since there are no standards currently for this type of care, those programs vary considerably in the type and quality of services they provide. These rules establish minimum standards that agencies, professional staff and foster parents would have to meet in order to claim that they are providing treatment foster care.
The rules require treatment foster homes to comply with ch. HSS 56 for regular foster homes except when there is a conflict between a provision of these rules and ch. HSS 56, in which case these rules take precedence.
The rules cover making application to a licensing agency for a treatment foster home licensee, licensee qualifications, licensee responsibilities, respite care for foster parents, responsibilities of the providing agency, the physical environment of a treatment foster home, care of the children and training for treatment foster parents.
Publication Date:
September 1, 1994
Effective Date:
September 1, 1994
Expiration Date:
1993 Wis. Act 446, s. 182
Hearing Dates:
January 24, 25 & 26, 1995
2. Rules were adopted revising ss. HSS 55.70 to 55.76, relating to administration of child care funds.
Exemption From Finding of Emergency
The Legislature in s. 275 (2) of 1995 Wis. Act 289 directed the Department to promulgate rules relating to public assistance required under chs. 46, 48 and 49, Stats., as affected by the Acts of 1995, before July 1, 1996, for the period before permanent rules take effect, by using emergency rulemaking procedures but without having to make a finding of emergency. These are public assistance-related rules. They are for administration of health care funds. They will take effect on July 1, 1996.
Analysis
The Department's rules for county agency, tribal agency and other child care administrative agency administration of funds for child day care under s. 46.98, Stats., are revised by this order to bring the rules into compliance with statute changes made by 1995 Wis. Acts 27 and 289 and changes in federal regulations, including federal regulations for child care and development block grant funding, 45 CFR Parts 98 and 99, and at-risk child care, 45 CFR Part 257, since the rules were last revised in late 1991; to made policies relating to eligibility for low-income child care more like child care eligibility policies under the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) training program under 42 USC 682 and s. 49.193, Stats.; to prevent and deal with fraud; and to clarify the applicability of certain policies.
