Text of Rule
ERC 10.08 Fee schedule. (1)
Complaints. For a complaint alleging that a prohibited practice has been committed under s.
111.70 (3), Stats., the complaining party or parties shall pay the commission a filing fee of
$80. $100.
(2)
Grievance arbitration. For a request that the commission or its staff act as a grievance arbitrator under s.
111.70 (4) (c) 2., or
(cm) 4., Stats., the parties to the dispute shall each pay the commission a filing fee of
$250. $400.
(3)
Mediation. For a request that the commission or its staff act as a mediator under s.
111.70 (4) (c) 1. or
(cm) 3., Stats., the parties to the dispute shall each pay the commission a filing fee of
$250. $400.
(4)
Fact-finding. For a request that the commission initiate fact-finding under s.
111.70 (4) (c) 3., Stats., the parties to the dispute shall each pay the commission a filing fee of
$250, $400, except that if the parties have previously paid a mediation filing fee for the same dispute under sub. (3), no fee shall be paid for the fact-finding.
(5)
Interest arbitration. For a request that the commission initiate interest arbitration under s.
111.70 (4) (cm) 6.,
(4) (jm) or
111.77 (3), Stats., the parties to the dispute shall each pay the commission a filing fee of
$250,
$400, except that if the parties have previously paid a mediation filing fee for the same dispute under sub. (3), no fee shall be paid for the arbitration
.
Analysis Prepared by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission
The emergency rules and the proposed permanent rules provide the increased filing fee program revenue needed to support 5.0 Program Revenue attorney positions.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Small businesses rarely use those Commission services (grievance arbitration, mediation, and unfair labor practice complaints) impacted by the increase in filing fees. The occasional impact on small business of the fee increase will be limited to payment of the employer share of the increased fees for grievance arbitration and mediation (increase of $150 for total of $400) or the payment of the increased fee for filing an unfair labor practice complaint (increase of $20 for total of $100). Compliance with the emergency rules and the proposed permanent rules does not require any reporting, bookkeeping or professional skills.
Fiscal Estimate
During the last four fiscal years, WERC has averaged $381,400 in filing fee revenue.
WERC estimates that increasing the existing filing fee levels will produce some reduction in the requests for WERC fee-related services but produce an additional $167,800 in fee revenues annually.
Because the vast majority of filing fee revenue is derived from services for which the union and employer each pay 50% of the fee and because the vast majority of the WERC's fee-related services are provided to public sector employers and the unions representing their employees, WERC anticipates that doubling the existing fees will increase the aggregate costs of public sector employers by $84,000 annually and will have a negligible cost impact on private sector employers.
Contact Persons
Judith Neumann, Chair
WERC
P.O. Box 7870
Madison, WI 53707-7870
(608) 266-0166
Peter G. Davis, General Counsel
WERC
P.O. Box 7870
Madison, WI 53707-7870
(608) 266-2993
Notice of Hearings
Health and Family Services
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
227.11,
252.02 (4) and
(7),
254.51 (3), and
900.01 (5g), Stats., and interpreting Ch.
252 and ss.
254.04 and
254.51, Stats., the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services proposes to revise ch.
HFS 145, relating to communicable disease list revisions and reporting communicable diseases, and affecting small businesses.
Hearing Information
Date and Time
|
Location
|
November 12, 2007
3:00 to 5:00 PM
|
Dept. of Health and Family Services
1 W. Wilson St., Rm B155
Madison, WI
|
November 13, 2007
2:00 to 4:00 PM
|
Lakeview Professional Plaza
1200 Lake View Drive
First Floor Dining Room
Wausau, WI
|
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. If you are hearing impaired, do not speak English or have circumstances that might make communication at a hearing difficult; you require an interpreter or a non-English large print or taped version of the proposed rules, contact the person at the address or telephone number given below at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Submission of Written Comments
Written comments may be submitted at the public hearing or submitted to the contact person listed below. Comments may also be made using the Wisconsin Administrative Rule Website at
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. The deadline for submitting comments to the Department is 4:30 p.m. on
November 20, 2007.
Copies of Rules and Fiscal Estimate
A copy of the full text of the rules and the fiscal estimate can be obtained at no charge from the Wisconsin Administrative Rules Website at http://adminrules. wisconsin.gov or by contacting the person listed below.
Contact Person
Marjorie Hurie
Department of Health and Family Services
Division of Public Health
Bureau of Communicable Diseases and Preparedness
1 W. Wilson St., RM 318
PO Box 2659
Madison, WI 53701-2659
608-264-9892
1-888-701-1253 (TTY)
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
The Department is authorized by s.
990.01 (5g), Stats., to define communicable diseases by rule and by s.
252.02 (1), Stats., to establish surveillance systems for communicable diseases. The Department's surveillance system requires medical providers, health care facilities and laboratories to report the communicable diseases listed in ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A to the local health officer or the state epidemiologist. At the national level, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) recommends reportable diseases by adding them to the list of Nationally Notifiable Infectious Diseases (NNID). The diseases CSTE places under surveillance are typically novel pathogens or those with severe manifestations whose transmission is amenable to control by public health measures. States are encouraged to establish parallel reporting requirements. Accordingly, the Department proposes to add the following six NNID listed diseases to ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A:
1. Influenza-associated pediatric deaths
2. Influenza A virus infection, novel subtypes
3. Poliovirus infection, nonparalytic
4. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-associated Coronavirus (SARS-CoV)
5. Vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) infections and Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) infections
6. Vibriosis
Additionally, the Department proposes to add the following three diseases which are not on the NNID list to ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A:
1.
Any illness caused by an agent that is foreign, exotic or unusual to Wisconsin, and that has public health implications. Section
250.02, Stats., authorizes the Department to take action to ascertain the presence of any communicable disease. This generic reporting requirement is in lieu of a long listing of individual exotic diseases that are rare but have major public ramifications. It also takes into account the possible emergence of important diseases that are as yet unknown. Each state adjacent to Wisconsin requires that unusual illnesses be reported.
2. Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV) infections. In 2003, LCMV was transmitted in organs from an infected Wisconsin donor to four organ recipients. Implementation of public health measures upon identification of a case could potentially limit further exposures.
3. Transmissible spongiform encephalitis (TSE, human). Approximately 50% of states currently mandate reporting of human TSEs and the Division of Public Health already maintains surveillance for human TSEs. Mandatory reporting will simplify the process of obtaining clinical information, especially from out-of-state providers, and will permit the Department to describe more accurately the burden of endemic TSEs of humans.
Additionally, the Department proposes to delete eight diseases, none of which are on the NNID list, from ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A. The Department does not anticipate that there will be any adverse impact on the public from deletion of the eight diseases from mandatory reporting:
1. Amebiasis
2. Cat scratch disease (infection caused by Bartonella species)
3. Encephalitis, viral (other than arboviral)
4. Genital herpes infection (first episode identified by health care provider)
5. Hepatitis non-A, non-B, (acute)
6. Meningitis, viral (other than arboviral)
7. Reye syndrome
8. Typhus fever
Additionally, the Department proposes to change the way the following five diseases are listed in ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A:
1. Change Arboviral infection (encephalitis/meningitis) to Arboviral Disease. The proposed change in terminology makes reporting requirements consistent with current Wisconsin public health practice. This group of diseases is currently on the NNID list.
2. Change E. coli 0157:H7, and other enterohemorrhagic E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli, enteroinvasive E. coli, enterotoxigenic E. coli to E. coli 0157:H7 and other Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), enteropathogenic
E. coli, enteroinvasive E. coli, and enterotoxigenic E. coli. In 2005, CSTE recommended that the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) condition name be revised to Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) to more accurately describe the condition under surveillance.
3. Change Hepatitis E from a category I disease to a category II disease because this disease does not occur often in the United States and person-to-person transmission is uncommon.
4. Change Suspected Outbreaks of Other Acute or Occupational-related diseases from category II to category I because a possible outbreak requires immediate attention.
5. Change Varicella (chickenpox) – report by number of cases only to Varicella (chickenpox). In 2003, CDC encouraged all states to establish individual case reporting systems to monitor the impact of the varicella vaccination program on varicella morbidity. This level of surveillance is now operationally feasible because the number of cases is far fewer than in the pre-vaccination era. Varicella is on the NNID list.
Lastly, the Department proposes to:
1) Alphabetize the diseases in ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A to make the list easier for persons reporting communicable diseases to use.
2) Allow reports of communicable diseases to be submitted electronically. Electronic transmission of reports currently occurs and is expected to increase.
3) Cite the most recent editions of the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines and the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual to make the references current.
4) Require laboratories to forward specimens to the State Laboratory of Hygiene for confirmatory or investigation purposes if requested by the State Epidemiologist.
5) Require laboratories and health care facilities to report a negative test result on a case or a suspected case to justify release from isolation or quarantine if requested by the State Epidemiologist or Local Health Officer.
6) Remove language requiring a person, laboratory or health care facility to report the total number of cases of other communicable diseases listed in ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A to the local health officer on a weekly basis because varicella, the only disease reported in this manner, will now be reported as individual cases.
The intended goals of the proposed rulemaking are to make communicable disease reporting requirements in Wisconsin current, consistent with CSTE recommendations and supportive of Wisconsin public health practice. Instead of regulatory action, medical providers, health care facilities and laboratories could be asked to submit reports voluntarily. However, such reporting would be incomplete and more staff time would be required to solicit the reports. Without this proposed rulemaking, disease reporters would continue to complete and submit reports of some communicable diseases unnecessarily, national communicable disease data would not reflect diseases occurring in Wisconsin, and the rule language would be outdated.
Members of the public who may be affected by the proposed rulemaking are those who acquire one of the communicable diseases the proposed rulemaking adds. Other members of the public who may be affected are the individual's family members or other contacts who were spared infection because public health measures were applied.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Chapter
HFS 145 requires medical providers, health care facilities and laboratories to report communicable diseases listed in Appendix A to the Local Health Officer or the State Epidemiologist. This rulemaking proposes adding 9 diseases to, and subtracting 8 diseases from, ch.
HFS 145 Appendix A. The rulemaking includes no fees and failure to comply with the rulemaking carries no penalties. Costs to the private sector include completing and mailing communicable disease case report forms, or keying-in and transmitting data electronically, to local health departments or the Department. Communicable disease reporting is frequently performed by the infection control practitioner or clerical staff.
This rulemaking is unlikely to have a significant economic impact on the private sector generally, and any health care facilities or laboratories that may meet the definition of small business in 227.114 (1), Stats., in particular. It includes no fees, failure to comply with the rulemaking carries no penalties and communicable disease reporting mechanisms are already in place. Usual costs to the private sector include completing and mailing communicable disease case reports forms, or keying-in and transmitting data electronically, to local health departments or the Department. These tasks are frequently performed by the infection control practitioner or clerical staff. Since the largest laboratories will be reporting automatically through electronic laboratory reporting, there will be minimal impact on these laboratories. Requests from the State Epidemiologist or the Local Health Officer for negative test results to justify release from isolation or quarantine are anticipated to be infrequent, as are requests from the State Epidemiologist that specimens to be forwarded to a public health laboratory for confirmatory or investigation purposes.
Small business regulatory coordinator
Rosie Greer
