The Division of Safety and Buildings within the Department of Commerce is responsible for protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public by establishing reasonable and effective safety standards for the construction, repair and maintenance of public buildings and places of employment. Chapter
Comm 34 contains minimum safety standards for the design, construction, installation, operation and inspection of amusement rides and attractions.
The proposed rules consist of a revision of ch.
Comm 34 in order to bring the chapter up-to-date with current administrative procedures and nationally recognized designs and practices. The application of ch.
Comm 34 is being revised by deleting the reference to employees and by clarifying that the chapter covers amusement rides that are open to the public. The proposed rules also delete all references to amusement attractions and amusement structures. The Department does not inspect amusement attractions, and the new Commercial Building Code covers all types of structures.
The proposed rules revise the registration requirements by clarifying that class 3 rides are not registered, only class 1 and 2 rides are registered. The load-testing requirements for class 3 rides and modified rides are being deleted, retaining the requirement for an engineering analysis or non-destructive tests. The requirement for prevention of automatic restart after power failure is being revised by applying the rule to all rides with passenger-carrying devices, regardless of the date of construction.
The proposed rules include new requirements for the design and construction of fences, with a 3-year compliance time. These new requirements follow nationally recognized standards for amusement ride fences. The current rules for go-karts and similar rider-controlled vehicles are being revised by adding a requirement that vehicles cannot be operated with more than one person per seat. The bungee jumping rules are being amended by clarifying that catapulting is allowed where there is no overhead obstruction which a person may impact.
The proposed rules have been developed with the assistance of the Amusement Ride Code Advisory Council. The members of that citizen advisory council are as follows:
Name Representing
Robert Dillenburg WI Association of Fairs
Steve Elliott Amusement Industry Manufacturers & Suppliers
Bill Fischer Green Bay Parks and Recreation
Darrell Klompmaker Little A-Merrick-A
David Larkee Outdoor Amusement Business Assn.
Gilbert Toslek, Jr. Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
Charles Waterman Outdoor Amusement Business Assn.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
1. Types of small businesses that will be affected by the rules.
The rules will affect any business involved with the ownership or operation of an amusement ride.
2. Reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rules.
There are no 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 Assessment
Notice is hereby given that the Department has considered the environmental impact of the proposed rules. In accordance with ch.
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.
Fiscal Impact
The Safety and Buildings Division is responsible for administering and enforcing ch.
Comm 34. The proposed rules do not contain any changes in the Division's fees charged for administering and enforcing ch.
Comm 34. Also, the proposed rules will not create any additional workload costs. Therefore, the proposed rules will not have any fiscal effect on the Division.
Copies of Rule and Contact Person
The proposed rules and an analysis of the proposed rules are available on the Internet at the Safety and Buildings Division web site at:
www.commerce.state.wi.us/SB/SB-HomePage.html. Paper copies may be obtained without cost from Roberta Ward, Department of Commerce, Program Development Bureau, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, WI 53701-2689, Email
rward@commerce.state.wi.us, telephone (608) 266-8741 or (608) 264-8777 (TTY). Copies will also be available at the public hearing.
Notice of Hearing
The public hearing will be held as follows:
Hearing Date, Time and Location
Wednesday, December 4, 2002 at 1:00 p.m.
Room 3B, Thompson Commerce Center
201 West Washington Avenue
Madison, WI
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 December 18, 2002, to permit submittal of written comments from persons who are unable to attend the hearing or who wish to supplement testimony offered at the hearing. Written comments should be submitted to Ronald Acker, Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, WI 53701-2689.
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 (608) 264-8777 (TTY) 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.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Commerce
Under s.
145.02, Stats., the Department of Commerce has the responsibility of safeguarding public health and the waters of the state relative to the construction, installation and maintenance of plumbing. One mechanism of the Department to fulfill this responsibility has been the promulgation of rules under ch.
Comm 83 establishing standards for the design, installation, inspection and maintenance of private onsite wastewater treatment systems, POWTS.
The current ch.
Comm 83 was implemented on July 1, 2000. Since implementation, a number of issues have been brought to the attention of the department regarding inconsistencies in the current code language, requests for clarification of current code language, and requests for additional code language to address issues not covered.
The following summarizes by chapter the more significant revisions proposed in this rule package.
Chapter Comm 2 Fee Schedule; The revision clarifies how fees are calculated for larger systems and sets registration fees for privies that serve state-owned facilities.
Chapter Comm 81 Definitions and Standards; The revision adds two definitions to clarify ch.
Comm 83 code language.
Chapter Comm 82 Design, Construction, Installation, Supervision and Inspection of Plumbing; The change revises the manhole opening for a grease interceptor to be consistent with POWTS treatment and holding tanks.
Chapter Comm 83 Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems; The most significant revisions include:
-Clarification that the code is a uniform code statewide.
-Clarification that municipalities generally cannot enact plumbing ordinances that are more or less restrictive than this chapter.
-Allows governmental units to review POWTS designs that are intended to serve not more than two one- or 2-family dwellings and their accessory buildings.
-Modification of language that addresses large system plan review to clarify that DNR concurrence is required and how the designation of a large system is determined.
-Clarification that the department must respond with one or more actions delineated under Table 83.29.
-Addition of Public Water Main horizontal setbacks to Table 83.43-1.
-Clarification that existing, non-pressurized components can be rehabilitated using higher quality effluent without using pressure distribution piping.
-Table 83.44-2 is revised to provide more soil related information and adjustments to soil application rates for effluent.
-Table 83.44-3 is revised to reflect additional treatment information and requirements for coarse sandy soils.
-Horizontal and vertical distance information for the purpose of servicing of tanks has been added for inclusion in management plans.
-Clarification that inspection, maintenance and servicing events must be reported to governmental units.
-Modification of the time period for filing of reports from 10 business days to 30 calendar days.
-Clarification that the governmental units must maintain records related to inspection, maintenance and servicing events.
Chapter Comm 84 Plumbing Products; The revisions involve:
-Clarification relative to minimum size access openings and their locations.
-Clarification regarding labeling requirements for tanks.
Chapter Comm 85 Soil and Site Evaluations; The revisions involve:
-Clarification of how abrupt soil texture changes are to be evaluated and reported.
-Clarification on reporting seasonal soil saturation that occurs at shallow depths.
-Modification of report filing deadlines from 60 days to 180 days.
-Clarifications relative to the hydrograph procedure.
Chapter Comm 91 Sanitation; The revisions involve:
-Addition of language that addresses the registration of vault and pit privies that are designed to serve state-owned facilities.
The proposed rules have been developed with the assistance of the POWTS Advisory Code Council. The members of that citizen advisory council are as follows:
Name Representing
James C. Converse UW Madison Biological Systems Engineering
Steven Crosby Wisconsin Builders Association
Thomas A. Gilbert WI Department of Natural Resources
Duane Greuel WI County Code Administrators
Dave Jones WI Assn. of Plumbing, Heating,Cooling Contractors
Wayne Mink WI Precast Concrete Association
Don Murphy WI Liquid Waste Carriers Association
Sue Schambureck WI Onsite Waste Disposal Association
Todd Stair WI Onsite Waste Disposal Association
CeCe Tesky WI County Code Administrators
E. Jerry Tyler UW Madison Biological Systems Engineering
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
1. Types of small businesses that will be affected by the rules.
The rules will affect any business that owns, designs or installs a private onsite wastewater treatment system. The rules will also affect any business that performs soil and site evaluations related to the installation of a private onsite wastewater treatment system.
2. Reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rules.
