Notice is hereby given that pursuant to ss. 101.19 and 145.08 Stats., the Department of Commerce announces that it will hold a public hearing on proposed rules relating to program revenue fees.
Hearing Information
February 11, 2000 Room 3B, WHEDA Bldg.
Friday 201 W. Washington Ave.
10:30 a.m. Madison
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 February 25, 2000, 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.
This hearing is held in an accessible facility. 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.
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 hearings.
Analysis of Proposed Rules
Statutory Authority: ss. 101.19 and 145.08
Statutes Interpreted: ss. 101.19 and 145.08
The Division of Safety and Buildings within the Department of Commerce is responsible for administering and enforcing safety and health rules relating to the construction and inspection of dwellings, public buildings and places of employment. In the administration and enforcement of those rules, the Department provides numerous services such as plan examination, inspection and certification. The Department, by rule promulgated under chapter 227 of the Wisconsin Statutes, is required to fix and collect fees which should, as closely as possible, equal the cost of providing those services.
Most of the fees charged by the Division of Safety and Buildings are contained in chapter Comm 2. Additional fees for licenses, certifications and registrations are contained in chapter Comm 5. The proposed rules consist of increases in most of the fees in chapters Comm 2 and 5.
The majority of the Division's fees have not been increased since 1992. The proposed changes are necessary in order to bring revenues more in line with the costs of providing the services in each program area. It is estimated that the fee increases will increase total program revenues by 23 percent and provide sufficient revenues for a 4 year period. Under the proposal, each program area will be self-sufficient except for the Public Sector Safety Program which is subsidized 100 percent by the Commercial Building Plan Review and Inspection Program.
The proposed rules contain fee increases ranging from 2 percent to 200 percent. In some program areas the current fee amounts will remain unchanged. Those program area fees that are not being changed include: Manufactured Dwellings, One- and 2-Family Dwellings, Rental Unit Energy Efficiency, Plumbing Licensing, Fire Sprinkler Installer Licensing, HVAC Certification, Refrigerant Handling Certification, Soil Tester Certification, and all Inspector Certifications.
Under the proposed rules, the fees for lighting plan review are combined with the fees for building plan review. Submittal requirements for lighting plans, however, are not being changed.
The proposed rules also contain minor revisions to the requirements for plumbing plan review and plumbing product review. The threshold for submitting plumbing plans is being raised from 11 to 16 plumbing fixtures. Plumbing product review is being discontinued for cross connection control devices and for water treatment devices listed as complying with NSF standard 44.
The following is a brief summary by program area of the major fee changes in the proposed rules. The summary is arranged in the same order as chapter Comm 2.
1. Boilers, Pressure Vessels, Anhydrous Ammonia and Mechanical Refrigeration
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Current fee amounts for plan reviews and inspections would generally be increased 35 percent, rounded to $5 increments.
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Current fee amounts for Permits to Operate would be increased 40 percent.
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Current fee amounts for anhydrous ammonia plan review and initial inspection would be increased 200 percent.
2. Elevators and Lifting Devices
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Current fee amounts for plan review and initial inspection in Table 2.15-1 would be increased 100 percent.
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Current fee amounts for periodic inspections in Table 2.15-2 would be increased as follows based on the expected average inspection times shown below and a “billing" rate of $60 per hour:
0-4 landings - 63 percent increase (1.5 hours)
5-10 landings - 41 percent increase (2.0 hours)
11 or more landings - 30 percent increase (2.5 hours)
Escalators - 30 percent increase (2.5 hours)
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The current fee amount for a Permit to Operate would be increased 75 percent.
3. Mines, Pits, Quarries, Blasters and Explosives
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Current annual safety fee amounts for mine, pit or quarry production in Table 2.17, which range from $1.85 per thousand tons of production to $3.70 per thousand tons of production, would be changed to a flat $3.00 per thousand tons of production.
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The remaining current fee amounts in sections Comm 2.17, 2.18 and 2.19 would be increased 45 percent, rounded to $5 increments.
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Current fee amounts for blaster licenses in Table 5.02 would be increased 50 percent.
4. Amusement Rides
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Current fee amounts for plan examination and inspection would generally be increased 60 percent, rounded to $5 increments.
5. Tramways, Lifts and Towing Devices
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Current fee amounts for plan review and inspection would be increased 160 percent.
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The current fee amount for a Permit to Operate would be increased 120 percent
6. Buildings, Structures, Heating and Ventilation
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Current fee amounts for separate review of building plans and HVAC plans would be increased 35 percent, generally rounded to $10 increments. The current “discount" for simultaneous submittal of building plans and HVAC plans would be replaced with a method involving a $100 plan entry fee to accompany each plan submittal.
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New fees would be created for review of fire alarm system plans and fire suppression system plans. The additional revenue from this new service is projected to be $100,000 per year, based on an annual workload of 550 plans and average fee of $182.
7. Mobile Homes
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Current fee amounts for formaldehyde testing and investigation would be increased 20 percent.
8. Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Liquefied Natural Gas and Compressed Natural Gas
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Current fee amounts for plan review and inspection would generally be increased 30 percent.
9. Material Approvals and Petitions for Variance
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Current fee amounts for material reviews would be increased 25 percent.
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Current fee amounts for petitions for variance for public buildings under chapters Comm 50 to 64 and 66 would be increased 2 percent.
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Current fee amounts for petitions for variance for public sector employment under section 101.055, Stats., would be increased 50 percent.
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Current fee amounts for petitions for variance of all other rules not specifically mentioned in section Comm 2.52 would be increased 25 percent.
10. Plat Review and Investigations
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A new fee would be created for lot restriction waivers.
11. Plumbing Systems Plan Review
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Current fee amounts would generally be increased 15 percent, rounded to $5 increments. Some fee amounts, such as for building storm and clear water drain systems, would be increased 25 percent.
12. Private Sewage Systems Plan Review
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Current fee amounts would generally remain unchanged. The method of fee calculation would be changed so as to be based on the “design wastewater flow of the proposed system" instead of septic tank or holding tank volume. The change in calculation methods is not expected to change the overall revenue rate; instead, it is expected to result in more equitable fees for the various system designs recognized in chapter Comm 83.
13. Plumbing Product Review
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Current fee amounts for holding or treatment components for private onsite wastewater treatment systems would be increased 100 percent.
14. Sanitary Permits
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Current fee amounts for sanitary permits issued by governmental units (counties) would remain unchanged. A new fee would be created for permits issued by the Department.
15. Swimming Pool Plan Review
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Current fee amounts would be increased 100 percent and the current “discount" for simultaneous submittal of pool plans would be discontinued.
16. Electrician Certification
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Current fee amounts would be increased as follows:
- Master Electrician Certification - 25 percent increase
- Journeyman Electrician Certification - 50 percent increase
- Beginning Electrician Certification - 20 percent increase
Fiscal Estimate Assumptions
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Current Program Revenue reserves will be depleted in October, 2000.
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The proposed fee adjustments will provide sufficient revenues for a four-year period (Sept. 1, 2000 to Sept. 1, 2004).
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Each program or bundle of programs will be self-sufficient. (Program bundles correspond to Revenue Accounts.) Note: Time and Effort Survey results have been used to identify the distribution of Full Time Equivalents (FTE's) among the programs of the Division.
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The average annual FTE cost for Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 will be $85,000.
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Costs will increase at a rate of four percent per year for the four-year period between Sept. 2000 and Sept. 2004.
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Annual workloads will generally remain at FY 2000 levels except in programs where services are expanding or decreasing, such as fire safety system plan review and plumbing plan review, respectively.
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The 6.5 FTE increase in staff levels authorized by the FY 00-01 Budget Bill is included in Division expenditure projections.
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Potential staff increases, such as for the Commercial Building Soil Erosion Control program or Uniform Dwelling Code program have not been included in Division expenditure projections used for this fee increase proposal.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
1. Types of small businesses that will be affected by the rules.
The rules will affect any businesses that pay fees to the Safety and Buildings Division for the Division's costs of providing certain plan examination, inspection and certification services. Plan examination services include review of plans for buildings, elevators, gas systems, plumbing and swimming pools. Inspection services include inspection of buildings, elevators, boilers, mechanical refrigeration, amusement rides and ski lifts. Certification services include licensing of blasters and certification of electricians.
2. Reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rules.
There are no new reporting, bookkeeping or other procedures required for compliance with the rules.
3. Types of professional skills necessary for compliance with the rules.
There are no types of professional skills necessary for compliance with the rules.
Environmental Analysis
Notice is hereby given that the Department has considered the environmental impact of the proposed rules. In accordance with chapter Comm 1, the proposed rules are a Type III action. A Type III action normally does not have the potential to cause significant environmental effects and normally does not involve unresolved conflicts in the use of available resources. The Department has reviewed these rules and finds no reason to believe that any unusual conditions exist. At this time, the Department has issued this notice to serve as a finding of no significant impact.
