Scope statements
Commerce
Subject
Objective of the rule. The proposed rules would implement the provisions of
2005 Wisconsin Act 483 that relate to accreditation of film productions, for the purposes of obtaining tax credits as created by that Act.
Policy Analysis
The Department currently has no involvement in accrediting film productions. The proposed rules are expected to address (1) applications for accreditation, (2) determining the viability of plans for commercially distributing finished productions, and (3) determining the amount of expenditures that are directly used to produce an accredited production. The proposed rules may also address Departmental certification for any investment credit claimed by a film production company for expenses relating to establishing the company in Wisconsin. The alternative of not promulgating rules for accrediting film productions would conflict with a directive in section
21m of
2005 Act 483, which requires this promulgation in consultation with the Department of Revenue.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
The staff time needed to develop the rules is expected to range from 200 to 500 hours, depending upon the associated complexity. This includes research, rule drafting, and processing the rules through public hearings, legislative review, and adoption. There are no other resources necessary to promulgate the rules.
Entities affected by the rule
The proposed rules may affect entities that incur expenses relating to film production services or to establishing a film production company.
Comparison with federal regulations
An Internet-based search for “film production tax credit" in the Code of Federal Regulations and in the 2005 and 2006 volumes of the Federal Register did not identify any existing or proposed federal regulation that addresses this subject.
Natural Resources
Subject
Objective of the rule. The Department proposes revision of the private forestry policy to require referral of all timber sale requests from private landowners to cooperating foresters. DNR foresters would not provide timber harvest set up assistance to private landowners, regardless of the size of the forest tract, unless help is not reasonably available from private enterprise cooperators. By limiting DNR forester assistance on private lands, they may direct further efforts to DNR's lands and addressing the allowable cut as provided for in
2005 Act 166.
Policy Analysis
Under the rule adopted in 1989, department foresters were allowed to set up private timber sales that did not exceed 20 acres of sawtimber or 40 acres of pulpwood within certain timing or frequency limitations for an individual landowner. Sales larger than those limitations could be set up by department foresters only if service was not reasonably available from cooperators.
Growing demand for private forestry assistance from existing department staff has required the department to focus on the highest priority forestry services in our niche. Workload issues prompted the department to institute an interim policy in 2001 to refer all private timber sale requests. Since the private sector has the capacity and financial incentive to service timber sale set up requests, it is more efficient for the department to make referrals. The trial policy has opened up new opportunities for small businesses and improved relations between DNR and Cooperating Foresters. Data indicate that more landowners are using the services of professional foresters for timber sale establishment than before the interim policy was adopted. Stakeholders appear to be ready for a rule change that adopts the interim policy. DNR foresters will continue to be involved in timber sale guidance (as opposed to set up and marketing), providing advice about whether a harvest is needed and how to implement it.
Statutory authority
Statutes Interpreted: §
26.35 and
28.07, Wis. Stats.
Staff time required
Department staff will need approximately 26 hours for this rule development, not including time and travel for public hearings.
Comparison with federal regulations
None.
Entities affected by the rule
Groups likely to be affected or interested include private woodland owners, cooperating foresters and forest industry.
Natural Resources
Subject
Objective of the rule. The Department proposes creation of section
NR 1.25, Wis. Administrative Code, to authorize contracting with private cooperating foresters for services to establish state land timber harvests, with payment coming from the timber sale proceeds. The rule would identify timber sale related tasks that could be contracted and other activities that would remain the responsibility of the department to assure consistency and to protect land for the purposes for which it was acquired. The rule would define a method for calculating the portion of timber sale revenue that would be paid for the timber harvest services. Section
NR 1.21 (2) (e) would also be revised to make the educational requirements for cooperating foresters consistent with those for department foresters under s.
28.045 (1), Wis. Stats.
Policy Analysis
Section
28.025, Wis. Stats., created by of
2005 Act 166, directs the department to establish an annual allowable timber harvest for state forest lands and to prepare a biennial report on conformance with the established harvest goals. Timber harvesting can be a critical tool for maintaining the health of forests or for achieving the purposes for which the state acquired the land. The primary purpose for the law is to assure that adequate resources are available for the state to be a good land steward.
The department owns more land than it can effectively manage with existing staff. Since it is not practical to add enough state employees to address all the timber harvest needs, the Legislature directed creation of a program to utilize private enterprise foresters and to pay for the foresters' services from a “portion of the proceeds received from each timber sale". The rules timetable established in
2005 Act 166 requires adoption of an emergency rule in the short term, followed by the permanent rule making process.
The statute instructs the department to develop a timber sale contracting program with private “cooperating foresters". Chapter
NR 1.213, Wis. Adm. Code, defines the cooperating forester program as consulting and industrial foresters who agree to provide services consistent with DNR forestry standards. Cooperating foresters must also meet professional education requirements established in the rule. Revision of s.
NR 1.21 (2) (e) would make the educational requirements for department and cooperating foresters uniform.
Parties likely to be interested in the policy include the department bureaus managing forest land, users of the land, forest industry, and private cooperating foresters. The rule should reassure stakeholders that timber harvests will be consistent with master plans and all other department policies for sustainability. Better implementation of allowable cuts will improve the supply of timber from state land, to the satisfaction of forest industry. Although cooperators will benefit from new business opportunities created by contracting state forest timber sale assistance, it will take time for cooperators to add personnel to meet public land demands in addition to an expanded role writing Managed Forest Law plans on private land. The program will impact the workload of department finance specialists who will need to develop appropriate accounting procedures to pay for forestry services from timber sale revenue across many land management bureaus. The rule will likely increase revenue to the conservation fund since it will enable implementation of more timber harvests within constraints of property master plans, although the potential revenue will be partially offset by the costs to pay for services from cooperating foresters.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
Department staff will need approximately 70 hours for this rule development, not including time and travel for public hearings.
Comparison with federal regulations
There are no specific federal rules affecting state contracting for timber sale services. The US Forest Service does, however, have a similar program. The department will consider Forest Service policies for ideas that might be useful for our program.
Entities affected by the rule
Parties likely to be interested in the policy include all the department bureaus managing forest land, users of the land, forest industry, and private cooperating foresters. Groups that will want to participate in this process include Wisconsin Council on Forestry, Wisconsin Consulting Foresters, Wisconsin Cooperating Foresters, Wisconsin Paper Council and environmental NGOs.
Natural Resources
Subject
Amendments to ch.
NR46 to address the annual adjustments of timber stumpage values used in the administration of the Managed Forest Law (MFL) and Forest Crop Law (FCL), include provisions of
2005 Wisconsin Act 299 and other administrative changes relating to the MFL.
Policy Analysis
The issues will be addressed.
Annual Stumpage Value Adjustments – no change in current policy.
The department is required to assess the value of cut wood products from FCL and MFL lands based on the current stumpage value schedules. Stumpage values are determined each year by surveying industry, private forestry consultants and DNR field staff on the prices obtained the previous year for wood products by species, product type, and zone. These values are recalculated annually using a weighted three-year average and published in NR 46.30. The stumpage value tables are used to determine severance and yield tax for participants in the Forest Tax Law programs. It is important to adjust these values annually so that landowners are not paying too much or too little in yield/severance tax. The monies collected are distributed to the municipalities within which the land is located to help offset reduced property taxes collected from these lands.
Modification of Catastrophic Loss provisions in NR 46 – change in current policy.
When timber is harvested from MFL and FCL lands as a result of a catastrophic event (e.g., fire, tornado, hale storm, etc) the value assessed for the wood and used to calculate the yield/severance tax assessed may be reduced by 30%. To be eligible for the reduction the catastrophic loss must involve 30% of the merchantable timber on 10 or more contiguous acres and must resulting a reduction of 30% or more in stumpage value. The actual loss in value can be more than 30% but the reduction of values assessed for calculating the yield/severance tax is limited to 30%. Landowners who have suffered a greater loss have raised the issue and asked the department to review this policy.
2005 Wis. Act 299 changed one of the eligibility requirements for land enrolled in the MFL program. Past eligibility was based on a minimum of 10 contiguous acres
per municipality (city, town or village).
2005 Wisconsin Act 299 eliminated the municipality requirement so that the contiguous land may be in more than one municipality. Current policy requires a separate petition for each municipality. This must be addressed in light of the changes made through
2005 Wis. Act 299.
Comparison with federal regulations
There are no known federal rules which apply to stumpage values or the Managed Forest Law Program.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
Approximately 100 hours will be needed by the department.
Natural Resources
Subject
Objective of the rule. Amending chs.
NR 151,
152,
153,
154 and
155 to establish additional performance standard(s), clarify language, modify grant criteria to reflect program priorities, and update certain provisions based on improved data. The NRB directed the Department to revise the runoff management administrative rule to incorporate an agricultural buffer performance standard based on Wisconsin research.
The Department proposes the following: to develop an agricultural buffer or equivalent performance standard and a performance standard to address manure runoff from smaller, non-permitted farms; modify post-construction non-agricultural performance standards, regarding infiltration and protective areas, to be consistent with information and research findings made since NR 151became effective; revise existing agricultural performance standards and prohibitions to clarify provisions related to manure storage facility closures and direct runoff of manure; and to modify grant rules pertaining to eligibility, awards, allocation for TMDLs and project size. Other revisions are needed to clarify language in existing codes and to update certain provisions to align with other rule revisions.
In addition, the Department proposes to create a performance standard to provide adequate control of sediment, manure and other runoff from small or medium-sized, non-permitted farms that may cause water pollution and fish kills. Modifications are needed to some post-construction non-agricultural performance standards, particularly regarding infiltration and protective areas, to be consistent with information and research findings made since NR 151became effective. Provisions to existing agricultural performance standards and prohibitions related to manure storage facility closures and direct runoff of manure also need clarification.
In addition, revisions are proposed for related administrative rules (NR 153, NR 155) pertaining to grant eligibility, awards, allocations for TMDLs and project size. Other revisions are necessary to clarify language in existing codes and to update certain provisions to align with other rule revisions.
Policy Analysis
As directed by the Natural Resources Board resolution of May 22, 2002, the Department of Natural Resources is proposing to revise administrative rules pertaining to the state's nonpoint source pollution control program by promulgation of a performance standard for agricultural buffers. The resolution was the outcome of a request by the Senate Committee on Environmental Resources to the Department to consider an agricultural buffer performance standard in the nonpoint source redesign administrative rules. Research conducted by the University of Wisconsin on agricultural riparian buffers was presented to the Natural Resources Board in Feb. 2006 and will serve as an informational guide to the development of a performance standard.
NR 151 and companion administrative rules became effective in 2002. Since then there has been scientific research findings on the functioning of riparian buffers under Wisconsin conditions in controlling nutrient inputs to surface water and improved methods of calculating phosphorus and sediment delivery to receiving waters. There has also been increased concern in recent years by the Department and the public about contaminated drinking water wells and surface water from runoff events. Information from the Wisconsin Buffer Initiative Report of 2005 and other scientific and technological sources can provide the basis for additional performance standards or enhancements to existing ones to provide a higher degree of resource protection. Several non-agricultural performance standards need to be modified to reflect updated resource information, ensure continued water quality protection, and provide equitable alternatives to achieve compliance in certain circumstances. Increased competition for grant funding and Department emphasis on addressing impaired waters necessitate modifications to the nonpoint source grant rules. Additionally, NR 151 definitions may need to be changed to be consistent with revisions to related rules.
Groups likely to be impacted or interested in this issue include agricultural producers, municipalities, parties responsible for construction erosion control and post-construction stormwater management from construction sites of 1 acre or more, environmental organizations, conservation groups and county land conservation departments and committees.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
1140 hours.
Comparison with federal regulations
The proposed code revisions are consistent with federal regulations that apply to control of nonpoint sources of pollution, animal feeding operations, nutrient management and stormwater management. Certain modifications would also better align state grant funding priorities with those of the federal government in regards to Total Maximum Daily Loads.
Workforce Development
Subject
DWD 55, Child Care Certification.
Policy Analysis
Section
48.651, Stats., provides that counties shall certify each child care provider who meets standards established by the Department and is reimbursed for child care services to families determined eligible for a child care subsidy under s.
49.155, Stats., unless the provider is licensed by the Department of Health and Family Services or under contract with the Department of Public Instruction. The standards established by the Department are set forth in Chapter
DWD 55. The proposed rules will amend DWD 55 to conform to new statutory requirements that affect certified child care providers and will also clarify and update the current rules.
2005 Wisconsin Act 165 directs the department to include in the certification rules a requirement that all providers and all employees, and volunteers of a provider who provide care to children under 5 years old receive training on shaken baby syndrome before the individual is issued a certification or before employment or volunteer work begins.
2005 Wisconsin Act 184 criminalizes leaving a child unattended who is being transported in a vehicle that is owned or leased by a child care provider or used to transport a children to and from a child care provider. This prohibition is already in DWD 55 but the rules will be amended to track the language of
2005 Wisconsin Act 184.
2005 Wisconsin Act 106 prescribes new requirements on using booster seats and other restraints for children under 8 years old in motor vehicles used to transport children.
Among other things, the clarifications and updates to Chapter
DWD 55 will reduce the hours of care allowed by an individual provider, implement a statewide continuing education requirement, limit certification to one provider for each family residence, allow certifying agencies to require a physical or mental health examination of any person associated with care of the children, set requirements for regular substitutes, and require the temperature of the home to be at least 67 degrees.
Statutory authority
Entities affected by the rule
Certified child care providers and their employees and volunteers, applicants for certification, parents and children who receive care from certified providers, and county child care certifiers.
Comparison with federal regulations
There are no comparable federal requirements.
Staff time required
80 hours.
Workforce Development
Subject
DWD 123, Employer Reports Regarding Unemployment Insurance Benefit Claims.
Policy Analysis
Chapter
DWD 123 specifies employer reports that the Department uses to gather information to determine benefit claims and prescribes filing procedures for the reports. The current ch.
DWD 123 is confusing and contains obsolete and inaccurate information. The proposed rules will describe the employer reports that comply with current statutory requirements and will update and clarify department filing procedures.
Statutory authority
Entities affected by the rule
Employers covered by the unemployment insurance program.
Comparison with federal regulations
There are no comparable federal requirements.
Staff time required
60 hours.
Workforce Development
Subject
DWD 130, Wages for Benefit Purposes.
Policy Analysis
Section
108.08 (26), Stats., lists sources of income that are considered wages for the unemployment insurance program, unless the department otherwise specifies by rule. Chapter
DWD 130 describes the department's treatment of tips, the value of room or meals, and payments under supplemental unemployment benefit plans, in determining wages for benefit purposes. The current rule contains obsolete cross-references and other inaccurate or redundant references. The proposed rule will clarify language, omit unnecessary provisions, and make technical corrections.
Statutory authority
Entities affected by the rule
Employers and employees covered by the unemployment insurance program.
Comparison with federal regulations
There are no comparable federal requirements.
Staff time required
40 hours.
Workforce Development
Subject
DWD 276, Notice to Home Care Consumers and Workers.
Policy Analysis
2005 Wisconsin Act 197 requires that whenever a home care placement agency places a home care worker in the residence of a home care consumer, the home care placement agency must provide notice to the home care consumer specifying the duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of the agency, the consumer, and the worker. The notice shall specify whether the worker is an employee of the agency, an employee of the consumer, or an independent contractor. Notwithstanding this notice, there must also be a statement that the consumer may be found to be responsible under state and federal labor and tax laws. The notice will also contain other information, including phone numbers to report elder abuse.
The home care placement agency must also provide a similar notice to the home care worker stating the employment status of the worker and the duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of the agency, consumer, and worker as a result of that status. In addition, there must be a statement that the worker may be found to be an independent contractor under state and federal labor laws and tax laws notwithstanding the notice.
A home care consumer or worker who is not provided with the required notice may file a complaint with the department or may commence an action in circuit court to recover from the home care placement agency any fine or penalty required for noncompliance with any state or federal labor law or liability for payment of social security taxes, unemployment contributions, and provision of worker's compensation or liability insurance.
The department will promulgate rules to implement these new requirements.
Statutory authority
Entities affected by the rule
Home care consumers, home care workers, and home care placement agencies.
Comparison with federal regulations
There are no comparable federal requirements.
Staff time required
120 hours.
