NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
101.02 (15) (h) to
(j) and
101.16, Stats., the Department of Commerce will hold a public hearing on proposed rules under chapter Comm 40, relating to gas systems.
The public hearing will be held as follows:
Date and Time:
Monday, June 28, 2004
10:00 a.m.
Location:
Room 3C, Thompson Commerce Center
201 West Washington Avenue
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
July 12, 2004, 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, at the Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, WI 53701-2689, or Email at
racker@commerce.state.wi.us.
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 a request from a person with a disability.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Commerce
General Summary
Under section
101.02 (15) (h) to
(j), Stats., the Department of Commerce has the authority 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. Under section
101.16, Stats., the Department has the responsibility for developing rules specifically for the storage, handling and use of liquefied petroleum gas. Chapter
Comm 40 currently contains minimum safety standards for the design, construction, installation, operation, inspection, repair and maintenance of liquefied petroleum gas systems, liquefied natural gas systems, and compressed natural gas systems. The proposed rules consist of an update of chapter Comm 40.
Detailed Summary
The following listing is a summary of the major changes in the proposed rules.
1. Adding gaseous hydrogen systems and liquefied hydrogen systems to the definition of gas systems. [SECTION 2]
2. Revising the requirements relating to the submittal information for plan examination. [SECTION 4]
3. Clarifying that 2 site inspections are included with the plan examination and inspection fees submitted in accordance with the fee schedule. [SECTION 7]
4. Adding a new rule for the reporting of accidents. [SECTION 8]
5. Updating the national standards currently incorporated by reference and deleting the standard for recreational vehicles. [SECTION 9]
6. Adding new National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards for gaseous hydrogen systems and liquefied hydrogen systems. [SECTION 10]
7. Applying the secondhand pressure vessel rules to all gas systems instead of only liquefied petroleum gas systems. [SECTION 15]
8. Requiring plan approval for liquefied natural gas installations where the aggregate water capacity will be 4000 gallons or larger. [SECTION 16]
9. Adding new subchapters for gaseous hydrogen facilities and liquefied hydrogen facilities. [SECTION 19]
Federal Comparison
An Internet-based search of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) found the following existing federal regulations relating to liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, gaseous hydrogen, and liquefied hydrogen as covered in the proposed update of chapter Comm 40.
• 29 CFR 1910.110 -- Storage and Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases. This regulation in the federal Department of Labor applies to the design, construction, location, installation and operation of liquefied petroleum gas systems.
• 33 CFR 127 Subpart B -- Waterfront Facilities Handling Liquefied Natural Gas. This regulation in the federal Department of Homeland Security applies to the marine transfer area of waterfront facilities handling liquefied natural gas.
• 29 CFR 1910.103 -- Hydrogen. This regulation in the federal Department of Labor applies to the installation of gaseous hydrogen systems and liquefied hydrogen systems on consumer premises.
These federal regulations appear to be very similar to the proposed rules. In addition to containing specific requirements for the various gas systems, the federal regulations incorporate by reference several national standards published by the NFPA, the American National Standards Institute, the Compressed Gas Association, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
An Internet-based search of the 2003 and 2004 issues of the Federal Register did not find any proposed regulations relating to gas systems as covered in the proposed update of chapter Comm 40.
State Comparison
An Internet-based search of adjacent states' rules found the following regulations that include requirements relating to liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, gaseous hydrogen, and liquefied hydrogen.
•
Minnesota incorporates by reference the 2000 edition of the International Fire Code (IFC) into the Minnesota State Fire Code. The IFC references NFPA standard numbers 50A, 50B, 52, 58 and 59A. These are the same NFPA standards that are included in the proposed rules.
•
Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality administers rules relating to liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas. These rules adopt NFPA 58 and NFPA 59A. Michigan's Department of Consumer and Industry Services administers rules for compressed natural gas and hydrogen. These rules adopt NFPA 52 and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations
29 CFR 1910.103 for gaseous and liquefied hydrogen. These regulations cover the same gas systems as the proposed rules.
•
Iowa's Division of the State Fire Marshal is responsible for the regulation of liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas in Iowa Administrative Code Chapter
51. That chapter adopts by reference NFPA standard numbers 54, 58 and 59A. The state of Iowa does not have rules for compressed natural gas or hydrogen.
•
Illinois' Office of the State Fire Marshal has adopted rules relating to liquefied petroleum gas under Title 41, Chapter I Part 200. That part incorporates by reference NFPA standard numbers 54, 58, 59 and 501C, and API standard 2510. The state of Illinois does not have rules for liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas or hydrogen.
Advisory Council
The proposed rules have been developed with the assistance of the Gas Systems Code Advisory Council. The members of that citizen advisory council are as follows:
Name Representing
Ed Aldridge Growmark, Inc.
Bruce Barganz Wisconsin Fertilizer & Chemical Assn.
Tim Clay Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives
David A. Duey ANGI International
Kingsley H. Forbes National Propane Gas Association
Art Herschberger Wisconsin Propane Gas Association
Gary Puljas Wisconsin Fire Inspectors Association
Gene Reece Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association
Timothy Temperly City of Milwaukee
John Wehmeier Wisconsin Utilities Association
Bob Willder Wisconsin Agri-Service Association
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.wi.gov/SB/. Paper copies may be obtained without cost from Roberta Ward, at the Department of Commerce, Program Development Bureau, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, WI 53701-2689, or Email at
rward@commerce.state.wi.us, or at telephone (608) 266-8741 or (608) 264-8777 (TTY). Copies will also be available at the public hearing.
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 design, construction, installation, operation, inspection, repair or maintenance of liquefied petroleum gas systems, liquefied natural gas systems, compressed natural gas systems, gaseous hydrogen systems or liquefied hydrogen systems.
2. Reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rules.
The rules require some additional plan submittal information to be provided to the Department for those gas system installations that require plan approval.
The rules contain a new requirement for reporting of accidents whenever gas system equipment or system components fail and cause injury to any person.
3. Types of professional skills necessary for compliance with the rules.
There are no types of professional skills necessary for compliance with the rules.
Fiscal Impact
The Safety and Buildings Division is responsible for administering and enforcing the current rules for gas systems. The proposed rules do not contain any changes in the Division's fees charged for administering and enforcing those rules. Any additional workload as the result of adding gaseous hydrogen and liquefied hydrogen will be handled by existing staff. It is estimated that 2 plans for hydrogen systems will be submitted for review on an annual basis. This will result in a revenue increase of $480 per year, assuming 4 hours per plan for review at $60 per hour. Therefore, the proposed rules will not have a significant fiscal effect on the Division.
Local municipalities may voluntarily enforce the rules for gas systems, and they have the authority to offset any costs by charging appropriate fees.
The proposed rules will not have a significant fiscal effect on the private sector. The anticipated costs that will be incurred by the private sector are the plan review and site inspection fees as the result of adding gaseous hydrogen and liquefied hydrogen to chapter Comm 40.
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.
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.wi.gov/SB/. Paper copies may be obtained without cost from Roberta Ward, at the Department of Commerce, Program Development Bureau, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, WI 53701-2689, or Email at
rward@commerce.state.wi.us, or at telephone (608) 266-8741 or (608) 264-8777 (TTY). Copies will also be available at the public hearing.
Notice of Hearing
Financial Institutions - Securities
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to section
551.63 (1) and
(2), Stats., the Division of Securities of the Department of Financial Institutions will hold a public hearing at 345 West Washington Avenue, 4
th Floor Conference Room, at 3:00 PM. on Wednesday,
August 11, 2004 to consider the repeal and recreation and the amendment of certain Wisconsin Securities Law investment adviser licensing rules relating to custody of customer funds and/or securities.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Securities
Explanation of agency authority:
The agency has authority to license and regulate the business conduct of securities investment advisers doing business with Wisconsin customers. That authority includes the ability to establish rules for the conduct of business by investment advisers [551.33(6)], and to cooperate with the securities administrators of other states as well as the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC") to achieve uniformity in regulatory requirements [551.32(1s) and 551.63(2)].
Related statute or rule: DFI-Sec 5.035, Wis. Adm. Code.
Plain language analysis
The rulemaking procedures under Chapter
227 of the Wisconsin Statutes are being implemented for the purpose of replacing Wisconsin's existing Securities Law rule requirements applicable to Wisconsin-licensed investment advisers that have custody of customer funds and/or securities, with amended Model Rules on that subject recently developed and adopted by the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA").
Current rule DFI-Sec 5.035, Wis. Adm. Code, under the Wisconsin Securities Law sets forth the regulatory requirements for state-licensed investment advisers who have custody of customer funds or securities. In 1999, NASAA previously developed Model.
Investment Adviser Custody Rules that could be used by any state jurisdiction in connection with their regulation of state-licensed investment advisers. (Wisconsin's current rule DFI-Sec 5.035, amended most recently in 2000, incorporated some of the elements of the NASAA Model Rules.)
Summary of, and comparison with existing or proposed federal regulations:
Recently, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission adopted for effectiveness on September 25, 2003, amendments to the federal custody rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 applicable to federally-registered investment advisers. However, pursuant to the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, such federal changes are not applicable to investment advisers licensed solely in state jurisdictions.
The amended SEC rules for the first time define “custody" and require federally-registered advisers having “custody" to maintain client funds or securities with a "qualified custodian." Because the prior NASAA Model Rules were drafted based on the predecessor federal rules that did not contain a definition of custody, the September 2003 federal custody rule changes necessitated changes in the NASAA Model rules to provide needed uniformity on that issue between the regulation of federal-registered and non-federal registered investment advisers, as well as to provide equivalent levels of investor protection.
Accordingly, the NASAA Investment Adviser Regulatory Policy and Review Project Group was charged with developing amendments to the NASAA Custody Rules to bring them into alignment with the September 2003 federal custody rule. That Project Group completed its development of needed amendments to the NASAA Custody Rules, and those amendments were adopted by vote of the NASAA state member jurisdictions at the 2004 NASAA Spring Conference in Washington D.C. on April 18, 2004.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states:
Similar to Wisconsin, the adjacent states of Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota have existing regulatory requirements for state licensed investment advisers that have custody over customer funds and/or securities based on the NASAA Model Custody Rules as they existed prior to the recent April 2004 amendments. Michigan does not have any custody rules because their regulations prohibit investment advisers from having custody of customer assets. Among the Midwest states in this region, Wisconsin is the first state to commence adoption of the newly-amended NASAA Custody Rules.
