NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
227.11 (2),
281.15,
283.001,
281.13,
283.15,
283.31,
283.37 and
283.55, Stats., interpreting ss.
281.15,
283.13 and
283.15, Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold public hearings on revisions to ch.
NR 104,
105,
106 and
210, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to the regulation of discharges of ammonia to surface waters of the state and other minor corrections to chs.
NR 105 and
106.
Ammonia nitrogen, which is present in domestic and some industrial wastewater, has been shown to be toxic to aquatic life. The Department is currently using 1976 U.S. EPA criteria and a general provision in s.
NR 105.04 to regulate the discharge of ammonia to surface waters. This proposed rule incorporates the EPA 1999 update of ambient water quality criteria for ammonia and calculation and implementation procedures to existing chs.
NR 105 and
106. The EPA criteria were adapted to reflect Wisconsin aquatic life special and water body classifications. The Department is proposing criteria that are specific to each of the four major aquatic life classifications (cold water fish, warm water sport fish, limited forage fish and limited aquatic life) to assure attainment of the designated waterbody use.
Based on additional toxicological data, the 1999 EPA criteria generally provide less restrictive criteria than those previously used to calculate effluent limitations. It appears that most existing bio-mechanical wastewater treatment plants in the state will be capable of achieving ammonia discharge limits developed under the proposed rule. A significant number of lagoon and stabilization pond systems (approximately 160) will be subject to ammonia limits for the first time and many likely will not be able to meet the limits. The proposed revision to ch.
NR 106 contains a variance procedure that provides additional time to address the treatment needs of facilities which use lagoons and ponds to treat domestic wastewater.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to s.
227.114, Stats., it is not anticipated that the proposed rule will have an economic impact on small businesses.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that the Department has made a preliminary determination that this action does not involve significant adverse environmental effects and does not need an environmental analysis under ch.
NR 150, Wis. Adm. Code. However, based on the comments received, the Department may prepare an environmental analysis before proceeding with the proposal. This environmental review document would summarize the Department's consideration of the impacts of the proposal and reasonable alternatives.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that the hearings will be held on:
July 15, 2003 Room 611A, GEF #2
Tuesday 101 South Webster St.
at 9:00 a.m. Madison
July 15, 2003 Room O102
Tuesday Moraine Park Tech School
at 2:30 p.m. 235 N. National Ave.
Fond du Lac
July 16, 2003 Conference Room #2
Wednesday Portage Co. Courthouse Annex at 11:00 a.m. 1462 Strongs Avenue
Stevens Point
July 22, 2003 Room 110A
Tuesday Barron Co. Courthouse
at 1:00 p.m. 330 E. LaSalle Avenue
Barron
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodations, including the provision of informational material in an alternative format, will be provided for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. Please call Rick Reichardt at (608) 267-7894 with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.
Written comments on the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be submitted to Mr. Rick Reichardt, Bureau of Watershed Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 no later than July 31, 2003. Written comments will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the hearings. A copy of the proposed rule [WT 27-03] and fiscal estimate may be obtained from Mr. Reichardt.
Fiscal Estimate
It is estimated that approximately 160 facilities using lagoons and stabilization ponds for wastewater treatment will be affected by the proposal, as they may receive ammonia limits for the first time. Using a worst case assumption of replacing all lagoons and ponds with an alternative treatment system, it is estimated that total annual treatment costs for the affected users would increase in the range of $7.5-9 million.
Notice of Hearing
Natural Resources
(Environmental Protection-Air Pollution Control,
Chs.
NR 400—)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
227.11 (2) and
285.11 (1) and
(6), Stats., interpreting s.
285.11 (6), Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold a public hearing on revisions to ss.
NR 428.02,
428.04 and
428.06, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to the control of emissions of nitrogen oxides. The proposed rule establishes a new categorical limit for nitrogen oxides (NO
X) emissions from a unit which is fired by biologically derived gaseous fuel. This rule revision is necessary to clarify that this category of emission units is subject to a specific emission limit and not to the emission limit for natural gas fired units. The proposed rule also clarifies the applicability of s.
NR 428.06 (2) (a) to only utility boilers.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to s.
227.114, Stats., it is not anticipated that the proposed rule will have an economic impact on small businesses. Small businesses may be able to utilize more efficient and less costly options for providing energy at lower emission levels than was previously available.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that the Department has made a preliminary determination that this action does not involve significant adverse environmental effects and does not need an environmental analysis under ch.
NR 150, Wis. Adm. Code. However, based on the comments received, the Department may prepare an environmental analysis before proceeding with the proposal. This environmental review document would summarize the Department's consideration of the impacts of the proposal and reasonable alternatives.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that the hearing will be held on:
August 6, 2003 Room 141
Wednesday DNR Southeast Region Hdqrs.
at 1:00 p.m. 2300 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
Milwaukee
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodations, including the provision of informational material in an alternative format, will be provided for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. Please call Tom Karman at (608) 264-8856 with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.
Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted to Mr. Tom Karman, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707, no later than August 15, 2003. Written comments will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the hearing. A copy of AM-25-03 and its fiscal estimate may be obtained from Proposed Rules, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707, phone: (608) 266-7718 or fax: (608) 267-0560.
Fiscal Estimate
The rule revisions are administrative changes that have no additional fiscal impact.
Notice of Hearing
Workforce Development
(Labor Standards, Chs.
DWD 270-
279)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
103.02 and
227.11, Stats., the Department of Workforce Development proposes to hold a public hearing to consider changes to ch.
DWD 274, relating to hours of work and overtime.
Hearing Information
July 17, 2003 GEF 1 Building, Room B103
Thursday 201 E. Washington Avenue
at 1:30 p.m. Madison, WI
Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearing and will be afforded the opportunity to make an oral presentation of their positions. Persons making oral presentations are requested to submit their facts, views, and suggested rewording in writing.
Visitors to the GEF 1 building are requested to enter through the left East Washington Avenue door and register with the customer service desk. The entrance is accessible via a ramp from the corner of Webster Street and East Washington Avenue. If you have special needs or circumstances that may make communication or accessibility difficult at the hearings, please call (608) 267-9403 at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Accommodations such as ASL interpreters, English translators, or materials in audiotape format will be made available on request to the fullest extent possible.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Workforce Development
Chapter
DWD 274 requires each private employer to pay each employee time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week, unless the employer is not subject to the chapter or is exempt from the overtime section. Chapter
DWD 274 also requires each private employer to keep permanent records showing the name, address, hours of employment, and wages of each employee and to pay employees for on-duty meal periods.
Currently, employees employed in farming, as defined in s.
102.04 (3), Stats., are not subject to ch.
DWD 274. Employees of independent contractors who erect silos and other farm buildings or equipment, build terraces, dig wells or build dams for ponds; employees engaged in inspecting and culling flocks of poultry; and pilots and flagpersons engaged in the aerial dusting and spraying of crops are subject to the chapter but are exempt from the overtime pay requirement.
The proposed rule broadens the exemption from the overtime pay requirement for agricultural employees by adopting the federal definition of agriculture as found in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The federal definition of agriculture is more comprehensive and logical than the current chapter DWD 274, and there are extensive federal regulations and case law to assist in interpreting the federal definition.
The federal definition of agriculture has two distinct branches. The primary meaning of agriculture includes cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities, and the raising of livestock, bees, furbearing animals, or poultry. The secondary meaning of agriculture includes any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with the farming operations of that farm, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market.
The current chapter DWD 274 includes items in the federal primary meaning of agriculture and some, but not all, of the items in the secondary meaning. Some activities considered secondary agriculture under the federal meaning are in the current s.
DWD 274.04 (9) as piecemeal exemptions to the overtime requirement. The department believes that it is fairer and more logical to adopt a broader general definition of agriculture rather than exempt certain activities on a piecemeal basis and not others.
Under the current rule, some agricultural activities are not subject to the chapter and some are just exempt from the overtime pay requirement. Under the proposed rule, the new broader definition of agriculture will be an exemption to the overtime pay requirement. Agricultural employers will be required to keep permanent records showing the name, address, hours of employment, and wages of each employee and to pay employees for on-duty meal periods.
The farming definition used in the current rule at s.
102.06(3), Stats., includes the exchange of labor, services, or the exchange of use of equipment with other farmers in pursuing listed activities and the operation for not to exceed 30 days during any calendar year of farm machinery in performing farming services for other farmers for a consideration other than exchange of labor. Under the proposed rule, activities within the primary meaning of agriculture are farming regardless of where they are performed and without any time limits. Activities within the secondary meaning of agriculture must relate to the farming operations of that particular farm to be exempt so exchange of labor or services of these activities would not qualify.
The rule also clarifies the applicability of the chapter to nonprofit mercantile organizations, such as a nonprofit organization with employees performing home health care. The department has historically interpreted its authority under s.
103.02, Stats., as applying to “places of employment" as defined in s.
103.01 (3), Stats. Under this interpretation, nonprofit mercantile organizations are not subject to ch.
DWD 274. The department currently believes that its authority under s.
103.02, Stats., applies to both “places of employment" and “any employment" as defined in s.
103.01 (2) and
(3), Stats.
The proposed rule adds nonprofit mercantile organizations as an explicit exemption to the overtime pay requirement rather than a subtle interpretation of the applicability of the chapter provision. The only effect of the change will be that nonprofit mercantile organizations will be required to keep permanent records showing the name, address, hours of employment, and wages of each employee and to pay employees for on-duty meal periods.
The proposed rule also deletes an obsolete reference in the definition of regular and overtime.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The proposed rule changes affect small businesses engaged in agriculture.
Fiscal Estimate
The proposed rule changes do not have a fiscal effect on state or local government.
Contact Information
A paper copy may be obtained at no charge by contacting:
Elaine Pridgen
Office of Legal Counsel
Dept. of Workforce Development
201 E. Washington Avenue
P.O. Box 7946
Madison, WI 53707-7946
(608) 267-9403
elaine.pridgen@dwd.state.wi.us
Written Comments
Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address no later than July 21, 2003, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
