Wednesday WHEDA
1:00 p.m. 201 W. Washington Ave.
MADISON, WI
This hearing is held in accessible facilities. If you have special needs or circumstances that may make communication or accessibility difficult at the hearing, please call (608) 266-8741 or TTY at (608) 264-8777 at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Accommodations such as interpreters, English translators, or materials in audio tape format will, to the fullest extent possible, be made available upon request by a person with a disability.
Written Comments
Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearing and present comments on the proposed rules. Persons making oral presentations are requested to submit their comments in writing. Persons submitting comments will not receive individual responses. The hearing record on this proposed rulemaking will remain open until October 16, 1999 to permit submittal of written comments from persons who are unable to attend a hearing or who wish to supplement testimony offered at a hearing.
Copies of Rule
A copy of the proposed rules may be obtained without cost from Roberta Ward, Department of Commerce, Program Development Bureau, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, Wisconsin 53701, telephone (608) 266-8741 or (608) 264-8777 (TTY). Copies will also be available at the public hearing.
Analysis
Statutory authority: s. 145.26
Statute interpreted: s. 145.26
This rule revision was created in response to issues brought to the attention of the department by members of the advisory council, the public and inspection and/or licensing staff. This chapter, Comm 90, has had only minor revisions since 1989 when the chapter was moved from the then Department of Health and Social Services to the then Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations.
The proposed changes to the fee code, chapter Comm 2, clarify current fee schedule and review types which are standard for the plan review service within Commerce. The introduction of alternate and experimental system reviews not only provides a means for the review and approval of creative designs, but also provides the opportunity and the use of new technology on a site-by-site or statewide basis, as now specified in s. Comm 90.04 and ch. Comm 2, respective fees.
Section Comm 90.02 (2) provides standard language for the submittal of a petition for variance.
Sections Comm 90.08, 90.09 and 90.19 recognize that in some cases pools and pool decks are installed on existing sites and that existing structural supports may be present and considered an obstruction. The proposed text allows such `obstructions' when they do not impact on patron safety and pool operations, such as lifeguard access and visibility. Other revisions relate to clarification of bench and coping widths.
Section Comm 90.10 (1) is revised to reflect the safe distances between gate and fence openings, as per the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, established to prevent head entrapment by young children and limiting their access to an unsupervised pool area.
Section Comm 90.19 clarifies head room for rooms where whirlpools are installed, corner location of whirlpools with respect to providing accessible access, as well as use of waterproof materials around pool walls.
Some minor revisions occur throughout the rule draft which are made to recognize titles of specific chapters contained in the Wisconsin Administrative Code-- Commerce (Comm) and Department of Health and Family Services (HFS); clarification of wavier for plan submittal and fees; and the deletion of metric units.
The proposed rule revisions were developed by the department with advice from the Pool Advisory Code Council. The Council consists of: Dave Baker, pool operators; Bill Branson, plumbing inspectors; Bob Holling, City of Sun Prairie - Parks; Duane Jackson, City of Madison - Environmental Health; Hal Maier, pool contractors; Tim Mirkes, City of Appleton - Health; Chuck Neuman, Water World Park Assoc.; Doug Voegeli, Wisconsin DHFS; and Jack Waterman, Wisconsin Innkeepers Assoc.
Environmental Assessment
Notice is hereby given that the Department has prepared a preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) on the proposed rules. The preliminary recommendation is a finding of no significant impact. Copies of the preliminary EA are available from the Department on request and will be available at the public hearing. Requests for the EA and comments on the EA should be directed to:
Robert Langstroth
Division of Safety and Buildings
Department of Commerce
P.O. Box 2689
Madison, WI 53701
Telephone (608) 264-8801
or TTY (608) 264-8777
Written comments will be accepted until October 16, 1999.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
1. Types of small businesses that will be affected by the rules:
The rule revisions better clarify how pools and whirlpools may be installed in existing spaces with respect to obstructions and access. These changes should reduce some remodeling costs associated with indoor installations of pools and whirlpools.
2. Reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rules:
No new reporting or bookkeeping procedures are identified to comply with these revisions.
3. Types of professional skills necessary for compliance with the rules:
No new professional skills are identified to comply with these revisions.
Fiscal Estimate
No substantial changes in revenues or expenses are expected.
The rule revisions provide a clarification when the Department will waive plan submittal and fees for alteration or reconstruction, which should result in a minimal decrease in revenue, but at the same time, a reduction in staffing costs associated with the handling of submittals not requiring Department-level review and approval.
Notice of Hearing
Health and Family Services
(Health, Chs. HFS 110--)
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to ss. 150.03 and 227.24 (1) (a), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the creation of s. HSS 122.10, emergency rules published on August 3, 1999, relating to special provisions for the one-time distribution of 3 closed nursing home beds to one or more nursing homes serving only veterans.
Hearing Information
September 15, 1999 Room B-155
Wednesday State Office Bldg.
10:30 a.m. to One West Wilson St.
12:30 p.m. MADISON, WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Parking for people with disabilities is available in the parking lot behind the building, in the Monona Terrace Convention Center Parking Ramp or in the Doty Street Parking Ramp. People with disabilities may enter the building directly from the parking lot at the west end of the building or from Wilson Street through the side entrance at the east end of the building.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
These rules are for the one-time distribution of 3 closed nursing home beds to a nursing home or nursing homes that serve only veterans. Following distribution of the 3 beds, the rules will be allowed to lapse.
Section 150.31, Stats., establishes a statewide bed limit for nursing homes as one means of controlling nursing home costs and Medical Assistance program expenditures. Within that bed limit a facility may close or its bed capacity may be reduced, in which case beds are freed up and may be redistributed by the Department under s. HSS 122.05 (1) (c).
The Wisconsin Veterans Home at King has 4 separately licensed nursing home buildings on its grounds, and a total licensed capacity of 718 beds. It is operating at 99.9 percent of capacity with a long waiting list for admission. Managers of the Wisconsin Veterans Home have decided to close their underutilized 3 bed hospital operation at King. The 3 hospital beds are currently located in Stordock Hall. The 3 nursing home beds will replace the hospital beds. Because of the burgeoning population of older veterans, whose active service was during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, and the immediate pressure on admissions to the facility, and the desirability of having flexibility when moving residents, Wisconsin Veterans Home managers have asked that the space previously used for hospital beds be converted to nursing home space and that 3 closed nursing home beds be transferred to the Veterans Home. These beds could be put on line immediately and provide some relief to those awaiting admission.
This rule-making order establishes a process for considering applications for 3 closed nursing home beds to be made available to a nursing home or nursing homes that serve only veterans, that ask for no more than 3 beds and that do not require space to be added to the building in which the beds will be located to accommodate those beds.
Contact Information
To find out more about the hearing or to obtain a copy of the rules, write or phone:
Connie Miller
Resource Allocation Program
Division of Health Care Financing
P.O. Box 309
Madison, WI 53701-0309
Telephone (608) 266-0999 or,
if you are hearing impaired, (608) 266-1511 (TTY)
If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have other personal circumstances which might make communication at the hearing difficult and if you, therefore, require an interpreter or a non-English, large-print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or phone number above. A person requesting a non-English or sign language interpreter should make that request at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Written Comments
Written comments on the proposed rules received by U.S. mail at the above address no later than September 17, 1999 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
This rulemaking order adds a new section to the Department's rules for operation of the Resource Allocation Program (RAP) under subch. II of ch. 150, Stats., to permit the one-time distribution, upon application, of 3 closed nursing home beds to a nursing home or nursing homes that serve only veterans.
The new s. HSS 122.10 will not affect the expenditures or revenues of local governments because local governments do not administer RAP and no local government nursing home is directly affected by the new rules.
The Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, a state-operated facility, has 4 nursing homes on its grounds that are at almost 100% capacity and has a long waiting list of elderly veterans wanting to be admitted. Veterans Home managers have decided to close a 3 bed hospital unit at the Home, and would like to add 3 nursing home beds in that space. However, there is a statewide limit on nursing home beds and no process for converting hospital beds to nursing home beds. Within the statewide bed limit the Department under ch. HSS 122 rules may distribute closed nursing home beds. The criteria for distribution are set out in the rules. A special process and some different criteria are needed and are set out in this rulemaking order that will permit the distribution of 3 closed nursing home beds to a home or homes serving only veterans that already have the space for the beds.
The new rules will increase costs to the Medical Assistance (MA) program. If the 3 beds are distributed to the Wisconsin Veterans Home at which the MA part of the composite per diem cost for a bed is $59.42, the increase in state MA costs would be about $65,065 a year ($59.42 x 365 x 3). This cost would be funded $26,800 GPR and $38,300 FED. On the other hand, revenues would increase for the Veterans Home by that amount plus the difference after that amount is deducted from the composite per diem cost x 365 x 3.
Notice of Hearings
Natural Resources
(Environmental Protection--WPDES,
Chs. NR 200--)
(Environmental Protection--
Water Regulation, Chs. NR 300--)
(Environmental Protection--Air
Pollution Control, Chs. NR 400--)
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to ss. 30.28, 227.11(2), 227.116, 281.22, 283.33(8), 285.11(1), 285.61 and 299.05, Stats., interpreting ss. 30.10 to 30.205, 30.21 to 30.27, 227.16, 281.22, 283.33(9), 285.61 and 299.05, Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold public hearings on revisions to chs. NR 216, 300, 405, 406, 408 and 411, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to the fee refund or “permit guarantee" program required by s. 299.05, Stats.
