13.
Also, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), R673-1996-97, (Guidelines for Construction and Equipment of Hospital and Medical Facilities) as is used by DHFS is adopted in this chapter.
Chapter Comm 66
The Department has the responsibility to supervise every public building and place of employment, including the fire safety aspects, in order to protect the life, health, safety and welfare of every employee, frequenter, tenant and firefighter. The changes contained in this proposal, including adoption of the International Fire Code® (IFC), are intended to update code requirements and adopted national standards relating to building construction, building equipment, commodity storage and isolation, fire prevention, fire detection, and fire suppression as one part of that responsibility.
The IFC is divided into the following 45 chapters that cover fire safety hazards in the areas of general fire safety requirements, hazardous structures, hazardous operations and hazardous materials:
1. Administration
2. Definitions
3. General Precautions Against Fire
4. Emergency Planning & Preparedness
5. Fire Service Features
6. Building Services & Systems
7. Fire-Resistance-Rated Construction
8. Interior Finish, Decorative Mat'l & Furnishings
9. Fire Protection Systems
10. Means of Egress
11. Aviation Facilities
12. Dry Cleaning
13. Combustible Dust-Producing Operations
14. Fire Safety During Construction & Demolition
15. Flammable Finishes
16. Fruit & Crop Ripening
17. Fumigation & Thermal Insecticidal Fogging
18. Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities
19. Lumber Yards & Woodworking Facilities
20. Manufacture of Organic Coatings
21. Industrial Ovens
22. Service Stations & Repair Garages
23. High-Piled Combustible Storage
24. Tents & Other Membrane Structures
25. Tire Rebuilding & Tire Storage
26. Welding & Other Hot Work
27. Hazardous Mat'ls-General provisions
28. Aerosols
29. Combustible Fibers
30. Compressed Gases
31. Corrosive Materials
32. Cryogenic Fluids
33. Explosives & Fireworks
34. Flammable & Combustible Liquids
35. Flammable Gases
36. Flammable Solids
37. Highly Toxic & Toxic Materials
38. Liquefied Petroleum Gases
39. Organic Peroxides
40. Oxidizers
41. Pyrophoric Materials
42. Pyroxylin (Cellulose Nitrate) Plastics
43. Unstable (Reactive) Materials
44. Water-Reactive Solids & Liquids
45. Referenced Standards
The IFC includes topics that are currently covered under several other Wisconsin administrative code chapters. Adoption of the IFC will facilitate the process of updating these requirements in unison on a regular basis. The IFC is designed to work together with the International Building Code, the International Mechanical Code, the International Energy Efficiency Code, and the International Fuel Gas Code.
In this proposal, 8 chapters of the IFC are omitted. These 8 IFC chapters are: IFC 11 - Aviation Facilities, IFC 12 - Dry Cleaning, IFC 22 - Service Stations and Repair Garages, IFC 30 - Compressed Gases, IFC 33 - Explosives and Fireworks, IFC 34 - Flammable and Combustible Liquids, IFC 35 - Flammable Gases, and IFC 38 - Liquid Petroleum Gases. These 8 chapters cover topics that are currently covered by other rules administered by Commerce. The department is planning to update the topics covered by these 8 IFC chapters, with the effective date coordinated with the rest of this proposal.
Chapter 45 of the IFC incorporates many national standards by reference into the code. These include 88 standards produced by the National Fire Protection Association, many of which are already familiar to users of Wisconsin's codes.
In general, the IFC requirements are at least equivalent and in most cases, more detailed than the fire safety requirements contained in the current editions of the corresponding Wisconsin Administrative Code chapters.
Adoption of the IFC will expand the scope and application of fire safety regulations in Wisconsin. There are many fire hazards addressed in the IFC that have not been covered in Comm 14, the Fire Prevention Code, in the past. The IFC provides guidance for the building owner and the fire code official to ensure that fire hazards are identified and appropriate fire prevention procedures, and fire protection features, are provided based upon the specific hazard. The IFC is structured to manage the risks associated with fire and explosions within buildings, structures and upon the premises. The application of the IFC as proposed in the rules will provide for safe operations and processes in both new and existing properties.
Notice of Hearings
Health and Family Services
(Health, Chs. HFS 110-199)
Notice is hereby given that the pursuant to
s. 252.04 (1), (2) and (10), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold public hearings to consider the amendments of ch HFS 144, Wis Adm. Code, relating to immunization of students. The public hearing will be held:
Date & Time Location
January 16, 2001 First floor breakroom
Tuesday Marathon County Health Dept.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1200 Lake View Dr.
Wausau, WI
January 17, 2001 Room 102
Wednesday CESA #1
From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. 2930 S. Root River Parkway
West Allis, WI
January 18, 2001 Room B145
Thursday 1 West Wilson St.
From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Madison, WI
The hearing sites are fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Analysis prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
These are amendments to the Department's rules for immunization of students before they enter elementary school, middle school, junior high school, senior high school or a day care center, and while in school. The rules implement s. 252.04 (2) to (7) and (10), Stats.
The rulemaking order adds varicella (chicken pox) to the list of diseases against which students are to be immunized. The current list consists of measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae b and hepatitis B. That list is statutory and is reproduced in the current rules. The Department is authorized under s. 252.04 (2), Stats., to add diseases to that list by rule. The requirement for immunization against varicella will be phased-in beginning in the 2001-02 school year. For that school year, the requirement will apply to students entering a day care center or kindergarten. For the 2005-06 school year, the requirement will apply to students in all grades.
The Department has decided to add varicella to its list of diseases against which students are to be immunized based on recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that students entering child care facilities and elementary and middle schools either receive varicella vaccine or have other evidence of immunity to varicella. Varicella causes more illness than any other childhood vaccine-preventable disease. Complications from varicella can lead to hospitalizations and even death. Before the availability of varicella vaccine, varicella caused an estimated 11,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths per year in the United States. Since children affected by the rule may have already had varicella, parents will be able to comply with the requirement by indicating that their child had the disease. Now that varicella vaccine is being given, the amount of disease in the population is decreasing, making exposure to chicken pox during childhood less likely. Without vaccine or exposure to the virus, many children will remain unprotected into adolescence and adulthood when varicella can cause more severe symptoms and complications. This is why varicella vaccine or history of disease will eventually be required for students in all grades.
This rulemaking order also increases the age at which measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is required from 12 months of age to 16 months of age to conform to the age range given in the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule; clarifies that the requirement for a dose of DTP/DTaP/DT/Td vaccine to be received after the 4th birthday applies to children in kindergarten only; and reduces the requirement for hepatitis B vaccine from 3 doses to 2 doses for students who received a licensed two-dose formulation of hepatitis B vaccine.
Contact Person
To find out more about the hearing or to request a copy of the proposed rules, write or phone:
Daniel Hopfensperger
Immunization Program
1 W. Wilson St., Rm 318
PO Box 2659
Madison, WI 53701-2659
608-266-1339 or 608-266-8621
If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have circumstances which might make communication at a hearing difficult and if you, therefore, require and interpreter or a non-English, large print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or telephone shown above. Persons requesting a non-English or sign language interpreter should contact the person at the address and telephone number give above at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address no later than January 26, 2001 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
The varicella vaccine the Department provides upon request and without charge to local health departments and school districts is purchased by the Department with a line of credit provided by the federal government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or with GPR funds under s. 20.43 (1) (cm), Stats. S. 20.43 (1) (cm), Stats. Authorizes DHFS to expend an amount that is equal to the difference between the statutory limit of a $9,000,000 sum sufficient appropriation and the amount of funding DHFS receives from the federal Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) and section 317 of the Public Health Service Act. The total estimated annual cost for vaccine to implement the varicella requirement is $1.2 million; the possible annual cost to the state may be $130,000. The following assumptions were used to estimate costs: The vaccine costs $37.14/dose; the total annual cohort that will need vaccine is 33,000 students (6% of the students have already had disease and will not need vaccine; 40% of the students have already been vaccinated and will not need vaccine). Private providers will pay 62% of the vaccine cost ($840,000); the federal VFC Program will pay 72% of the public sector vaccine cost ($337,000); federal 317 funds or GPR funds will pay 28% of the of the public sector vaccine cost ($130,000).
The rule changes will not affect the expenditures or revenues of local county and city health departments. Local health departments are responsible under s. HSS 144.08 for making available the required immunizations but only insofar as free vaccines are available from the Department. Local health departments are to administer the vaccines without charging for the vaccines but they may charge, and some do charge, for the costs of administration.
The rule changes may increase costs for schools and for district attorney or corporation council offices. Schools, including day care centers, will experience some increase in workload in tracking compliance with the new requirements, in referring students to the district attorney or corporation counsel for enforcement action, and district attorneys/corporation counsels may have more cases to handle. It is not known how much workload will increase or its impact, if any, on costs. However, since many students will be able to comply with the requirement by reporting a history of disease, the impact of adding this requirement will be less than that of adding previous vaccine requirements, e.g., hepatitis B, to which all students were assumed susceptible.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
These rule changes will affect students, parents, schools, local public health agencies, county attorney offices and the Department. They will not affect small businesses as “small business" is defined in s. 227.114 (1) (a), Stats.
