Rule-Making Notices (Hearing Notices)

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 Roberta Lund at [phone] with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.

Submittal of comments and copy of proposed rules:

The Department's proposed rule and the stakeholder proposed rule may be reviewed and comments electronically submitted at the following Internet site: http://adminrules. wisconsin.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. Mail to Ms. Liesa Lehmann, Bureau of Fisheries Management and Habitat Protection, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Comments may be submitted until December 1, 2004. Written comments whether submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings. A personal copy of the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be obtained from Ms. Roberta Lund, Bureau of Fisheries Management and Habitat Protection, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707.

Fiscal Estimate

Most of the permitting activities covered by this administrative rule remain unchanged in terms of the workload required by Department staff and revenues generated by required permits. The exception is for permanent boat shelter permits, which were issued on an individual permit basis prior to Act 118, and will be issued as general permits under this proposed administrative rule. The net fiscal impact is estimated to be a workload decrease of about 95 hours/year, which equates to about $2,000 in salary and fringe benefits, and a revenue decrease of about $4,800/year.

Overall, the full implementation of Act 118 and its multiple related rules is not expected to have a major impact on DNR water permit revenues or workload.

The Department's proposed rule and the stakeholder proposed rule may be reviewed and comments electronically submitted at the following Internet site: http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. Mail to Ms. Liesa Lehmann, Bureau of Fisheries Management and Habitat Protection, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Comments may be submitted until December 1, 2004. Written comments whether submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings. A personal copy of the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be obtained from Ms. Roberta Lund, Bureau of Fisheries Management and Habitat Protection, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707.

Notice of Hearings

Natural Resources

Environmental Protection—Air Pollution Control, Chs. NR 400—

[CR 04-106]
(Reprinted from 9-30-04 Register)

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss. 227.11 (2) (a), 285.11 (1), (6) and (17), 285.60 (6) and 285.69 (1), Stats., interpreting ss. 285.11 (6) and (17), 285.60 and 285.61, Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold public hearings on revisions to chs. NR 400, 406, 407 and 410, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to providing the interface of the state air permitting programs with federal changes to the air permitting program. The State Implementation Plan developed under s. 285.11 (6), Stats., will also be revised. On December 31, 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published regulations that significantly changed the way new and modified sources of air pollution are permitted. Changes necessary to implement the federal program cannot be fully utilized unless additional changes are made to the state construction and operation permitting regulations. The proposed rule revisions have been designed to take full advantage of the flexibility made available under the proposed changes that adopt the federal air permitting revisions without compromising on Department or public opportunity for review. The proposed rule revisions are intended to provide flexibility to stationary sources utilizing the permit applicability exclusions provided within the federal rule changes.

Currently, all emission limitations and specific conditions that are contained within a construction permit are considered federally enforceable because there is no mechanism within the construction permit program to identify “state-only" requirements whose underlying authority does not rest within Wisconsin's State Implementation Plan. These rule revisions will enable Wisconsin to identify requirements as “state-only" conditions in construction permits where the underlying rule has not been submitted to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for inclusion in the State Implementation Plan and thus not intended to be federally enforceable, or is not required by federal law.

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. The Department's Small Business Regulatory Coordinator may be contacted at:
[e-mail] or by calling [phone].

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:

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 at 1:00 p.m.
Room 124A & B, State Office Building
1681 Second Ave. South
Wisconsin Rapids

Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 1:00 p.m.
Room 511, GEF #2
101 South Webster Street
Madison

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 Bob Eckdale at [phone] with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.

Fiscal Estimate

Proposed revisions to chs. NR 405 and 408, Wis. Adm. Code, titled “Prevention of Significant Deterioration" (PSD) and “Construction Permits for direct major sources in nonattainment areas" (NSR) respectively, provides revisions to the permitting requirements for major sources and major modifications to major sources. The revised changes, contained in Board Order AM-06-04, have been initiated due to changes in the federal versions of this permitting program. These revisions have been made with the intention of reducing applicability of the program and the administrative burden associated with permitting without sacrificing environmental quality.

Because these rule revisions will reduce the number of PSD/NSR permits that the department will process annually, revenues from the completion of these permits will be lost. Based upon 2002 permitting efforts, the department estimates this lost revenue to be $480,000 annually. Increasing minor source permitting efforts and exemption reviews, may result due to less regulatory burden, the department estimates that this increasing level would equal $140,000 based upon proposed review fees included in the proposed rule revisions.

The department estimates that although these revisions will reduce the number of projects that would be subject to permitting under the PSD/NSR program , the department will be required to spend resources conducting complex applicability determinations and preparing exclusions from the PSD/NSR program under the options provided for in the rule revisions. These exclusions will be labor intensive on the front end in order to ultimately provide regulatory relief. It is estimated that any time that would have been available as a result of the reduced number of PSD/NSR permit applications will be spent responding to requests for applicability determinations or in preparing exclusionary documents for sources taking advantage of the exclusionary options. The department estimates that the costs to prepare these exclusionary documents will equal or exceed the costs of preparing PSD/NSR permits, and but may be possible to absorb within the agency's budget. These fiscal impacts were reported in the Fiscal Estimate prepared for Natural Resources Board Order AM-06-04. Fiscal impacts associated with this proposed rule will not go beyond those estimated under Order AM-06-04. Thus no additional fiscal impacts are expected.

Long range fiscal implications: As a result of the revisions, fewer projects will be reviewed each year under federal air permit provisions resulting in lost program revenue, a portion of which may be reacquired by additional applications for state construction permits.

Submittal of comments and copy of proposed rules

The proposed rule may be reviewed and comments electronically submitted at the following Internet site: http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. Mail to Jeff Hanson, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Comments may be submitted until November 1, 2004. Written comments whether submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings. A personal copy of the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be obtained by writing Proposed Rules, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 or by calling [phone].

Notice of Hearings

Natural Resources

Environmental Protection—Air Pollution Control, Chs. NR 400—

[CR 04-107]
(Reprinted from 9-30-04 Register)

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss. 227.11 (2) (a), 285.11 (1) and (6), 285.60 (2g), (3) and (6) and 285.69 (1), Stats., interpreting ss. 285.11 (6), 285.60 (2g) and (3), 285.61 and 285.62, Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold public hearings on revisions to chs. NR 400, 406, 407 and 410, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to implementing general and registration air permit programs required by 2003 Wisconsin Act 118. The State Implementation Plan developed under s. 285.11 (6), Stats., will also be revised. The proposed rule revision establishes criteria and procedures for the issuance of general and registration air permits. These rules are intended to provide industry and the Department with a streamlined approach to permitting low emitting sources or categories of similar sources. Sources that are eligible for and which choose to take advantage of a general or registration permit would complete a simplified permit application form. General and registration permits would already have been completed by the Department for the targeted sources or source categories using permit language that is standard for the sources to be covered by the permit. This process will provide greater certainty, flexibility and timeliness to the permitting process.

The proposed rule establishes the general framework for these permits by setting implementation criteria. Specific permit criteria will be developed during permit preparation of sources that could be regulated by registration or general permits include those that have actual emissions significantly lower than federal major source thresholds, nonmetallic mineral processing plants, asphalt plants, small natural gas fired generators, digestors, small heating units, printing presses and hospital sterilization equipment.

Also included in this proposed rule is a minor change to clarify the permit exemption criteria for grain processing and grain storage facilities. This clarification is necessary to ensure that column dryers and rack dryers are included in the exemption criteria, as was intended in the original rule development. Included in this package as well is a minor technical change to provide correct references to the recently updated ch. NR 445 which was inadvertently omitted in the processing of that rule package.

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. The Department's Small Business Regulatory Coordinator may be contacted at:
[e-mail] or by calling [phone].

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:

Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 3:00 p.m.
Room 511, GEF #2
101 South Webster Street
Madison

Wednesday, November 3, 2004 at 1:00 p.m.
Room 141, DNR SE Region Hdqrs.
2300 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Drive
Milwaukee

Thursday, November 4, 2004 at 1:00 p.m.
Schmeekle Room, UW-Stevens Point
2419 North Point Drive
Stevens Point

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 Bob Eckdale at [phone] with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.

Fiscal Estimate

The use of general and registration permits will result in reduced programmatic costs in the long run. While the Department will spend resources similar to that of a standard permit review to prepare a general permit or a registration permit, the resulting product will be used to regulate several similar sources resulting in lower costs associated with review of permit applications.

It is anticipated that approximately 50 registration permits and 50 general permits will be issued for new construction annually. Under proposed fees for these projects, the department would see $155,000 in additional revenue. If these projects were required to undergo the traditional permit route, the Department would garner approximately $500,000 in permit fees for these projects. Although the registration and general permit programs will result in less administrative burden for regulated facilities, the department will incur the costs of implementing the program and developing permits for use under these programs. Thus, these programs are not expected to change the department's need for permitting resources.

The proposed rule may be reviewed and comments electronically submitted at the following Internet site: http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. Mail to Jeff Hanson, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Comments may be submitted until November 5, 2004. Written comments whether submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings. A personal copy of the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be obtained by writing Proposed Rules, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 or by calling [phone].

Notice of Hearings

Natural Resources

Environmental Protection—Air Pollution Control, Chs. NR 400—

[CR 04-102]
(Revised from 9-30-04 Register)

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to s. 285.69 (3), Stats., interpreting s. 285.69 (3), Stats., the Department of Natural Resources will hold public hearings on revisions to chs. NR 406 and 410, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to asbestos permit exemption fees and inspection fees and a program for recovering the exact costs of laboratory fees for sample analysis for the asbestos program. The State Implementation Plan developed under s. 285.11 (6), Stats., will also be revised. Section NR 410.05 explains the scenarios in which a fee is charged with the Notification of Intent to Demolish and Renovate required in ch. NR 447. The current language establishes three fees based on the amount of friable asbestos containing material that will be involved in the scope of the project. This order modifies ch. NR 410 by increasing the inspection fee amounts that can be collected, as well as adding a new level in which inspection fees can be charged. This order also revises language in chs. NR 406 and 410 that is inconsistent with ch. NR 447. Finally, the proposed rule creates the ability to charge the costs of laboratory analysis for samples taken at nonresidential demolition and renovation projects.

Initial regulatory flexibility analysis

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to s. 227.114, Stats., the proposed rules may have an impact on small businesses. The initial regulatory flexibility analysis is as follows:

a. Types of small businesses affected: Building owners, asbestos abatement contractors, demolition contractors and environmental consultants.

b. Description of reporting and bookkeeping procedures required: No additional compliance or reporting requirements are required.

c. Description of professional skills required: No additional skills are required.

The Department's Small Business Regulatory Coordinator may be contacted at: SmallBusinessReg.Coordinator@dnr. state.wi.us or by calling [phone].

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:

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 at 11:30 a.m.
Room 139, DNR SE Region Hdqrs.
2300 N. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
Milwaukee

Thursday, October 14, 2004 at 11:30 a.m.
Prairie Room, Portage County Library
1001 Main Street
Stevens Point

Friday, October 15, 2004 at 11:30 a.m.
Room 349, GEF #3
125 South Webster Street
Madison

Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 11:30 a.m.
Room 774B, GEF #2
101 South Webster Street
Madison

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 Bob Eckdale at [phone] with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.

Fiscal Estimate

1. The Department 's existing asbestos program oversees ch. NR 447, Control of Asbestos Emissions. 2003 Wisconsin Act 33 provided for an increase and fee cap to the combination of abatement project permit exemption review and inspection fees that are collected through s. NR 410. 05. Act 33 also created a provision for responsible owners or operators to pay for actual costs of lab analysis of samples collected by the Department for non-residential asbestos demolition and renovation projects. The system for billing the responsible owner/operator will not cause any increase in state costs in modifying existing billing systems for either the Department or the Department's Laboratory, the State Lab of Hygiene's Wisconsin Occupational Health Laboratory (WOHL). The WOHL indirect rate for sample analysis costs includes the costs for billing owners/operators.

2. Governmental fire departments may see the increase in the combination of permit exemption and inspection fees for conducting fire training burns on existing structures that are part of a commercial or other development project. Existing fees are already charged to fire departments. In June 1995, the fees required in the asbestos regulations were waived for residential-type dwelling units or structures used for legitimate fire department training burns that are not part of a commercial or other developmental project. As a result, currently less than 5% of the fire training burn projects are required to submit a fee. Schools and sewerage districts having renovation or demolition work will also be charged the fee increase based on the amount of asbestos abated. Fees for both governmental fire departments and schools will depend also on the amount of regulated asbestos abatement projects that occur within a given year.

3. Small business owners fee increases will depend on the amount of regulated asbestos and the amount of abatement projects that they have within a given year. Typically, asbestos abatement companies pay the fees as operators for the owner and pass on these costs in the overall bill to the property owner. Overall, the margin of profit for operators may decrease on small asbestos abatement projects as a result of the fee increase.

Long-range fiscal implications. It is estimated that asbestos fee revenues will remain stable due to the presence of asbestos in buildings and increase in building recycling.

Submittal of comments and copy of proposed rules:

The proposed rule may be reviewed and comments electronically submitted at the following Internet site: http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. Mail to Nathan Luedke, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Comments may be submitted until November 1, 2004. Written comments whether submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings. A personal copy of the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be obtained by writing Proposed Rules, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 or by calling [phone].