Phone: (608) 266-3361
Notice of Hearing
Regulation and Licensing
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to authority vested in the Department of Regulation and Licensing in ss.
15.08 (5) (b),
51.30,
146.82,
227.11 (2) and
440.04, Stats., the Department of Regulation and Licensing will hold a public hearing at the time and place indicated below to consider an order to revise Chapter
RL 7, relating to the Impaired Professionals Procedure.
Hearing Information
Date: August 6, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: 1400 East Washington Avenue
Room 121A
Madison, WI
Appearances at the Hearing and Submittal of Written Comments
Interested persons are invited to present information at the hearing. Persons appearing may make an oral presentation but are urged to submit facts, opinions and argument in writing as well. Facts, opinions and argument may also be submitted in writing without a personal appearance by mail addressed to Pamela Haack, Department of Regulation and Licensing, P.O. Box 8935, Madison, WI 53708-8935. Written comments must be received by August 9, 2010, to be included in the record of rule-making proceedings.
Copies of Proposed Rule
Copies of this proposed rule are available upon request to Pamela Haack, Paralegal, Department of Regulation and Licensing, Division of Board Services, 1400 East Washington Avenue, P.O. Box 8935, Madison, Wisconsin 53708, or by email at
pamela.haack@wisconsin.gov.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Regulation and Licensing
Statutes interpreted
Statutory authority
Explanation of agency authority
The Department of Regulation and Licensing is authorized under s.
440.03 (1), Stats., to promulgate rules defining uniform procedures to be used by the department and the attached boards, examining boards and affiliated credentialing boards.
Related statute or rule
Plain language analysis
These proposed rules modernize and clarify the language of ch.
RL 7. Under the current rules, the Impaired Professionals Procedure is an alternative to the disciplinary process. Under the proposed rules, the renamed Professional Assistance Procedure may also be used in conjunction with the disciplinary process.
Comparison with federal regulations
None.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states
Illinois:
Each profession is managed independently of other professions. See also section 1285.235 of the Illinois Rules, Mandatory Reporting of Impaired Professionals by Health Care Institutions.
Iowa:
Iowa administrative code s.
653.14.
http://php.iowa.gov/ about_iphp.html. Section 653-14.5 (272C) defines who is deemed ineligible to participate in the program.
Michigan:
Section 333, Public Health Code. The Health Professional Recovery Program (HPRP) is administered by a private contractor under the direction of the HPRP and Bureau of Health Professions in the Michigan Department of Community Health. It is funded by participants and insurers. Several professions are included.
Minnesota:
MN Statutes s.
214.31-214-37. Includes the following professions: chiropractors, dentists, marriage and family therapists, nurses, pharmacists, podiatrists, social workers, veterinarians.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies
The Department of Regulation and Licensing created a Task Force consisting of various stakeholder organizations, including the Boards of Pharmacy, Nursing and Medicine, trade associations representing hospitals, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, the Wisconsin Association of Justice Representatives and experts in the treatment of alcohol and drug dependency. The Task Force met six times in 2009 to discuss improvements to the existing procedure. A committee of the Task Force then convened in 2009-2010 to draft the rule changes with the department. All aspects of the procedure were explored in the Task Force meeting, including its effectiveness, requirements for entry, confidentiality, length of participation, terminology, practice restrictions, therapist involvement, disciplinary action and oversight of treatment providers and facilities by department staff and board members. Reports on procedures in other states were presented to the Task Force, in addition to information relating to laboratory facilities and treatment resources.
Analysis and supporting documents used to determine effect on small business
The department does not anticipate a significant fiscal impact on small businesses. The changes are revisions to a program that is in operation and is funded by participants and license holders.
Section
227.137, Stats., requires an “agency" to prepare an economic impact report before submitting the proposed rule-making order to the Wisconsin Legislative Council. The Department of Regulation and Licensing is not included as an “agency" in this section.
Small Business Impact
After review by the department's Small Business Review Advisory Committee, it was determined that these proposed rules will have no significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses, as defined in s.
227.114 (1), Stats. The Department's Regulatory Review Coordinator may be contacted by email at
hector.colon@drl.state.wi.us, or by calling (608) 266-8608.
Fiscal Estimate
This rule change will have no fiscal impact on the state of Wisconsin or on local units of government.
Anticipated costs incurred by the private sector
The department finds that this rule has no significant fiscal effect on the private sector.
Agency Contact Person
Pamela Haack, Paralegal
Department of Regulation and Licensing
1400 East Washington Avenue, Room 116
P.O. Box 8935, Madison, Wisconsin 53708
Phone: 608-266-0495
Notice of Hearing
Transportation
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to s.
84.01 (35) (c), Stats., the Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing to consider the creation of Chapter
Trans 75, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to bikeways and sidewalks in highway projects.
Hearing Information
Date: August 4, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Hill Farms State Transportation Bldg.
Room 144B
4802 Sheboygan Avenue
Madison, WI
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 Thomas Huber at (608) 267-7757 with specific information on your request at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing. Accommodations such as interpreters, English translators, or materials in alternative format will, to the fullest extent possible, be made available upon a request from a person with a disability to accommodate your needs.
Copies of Proposed Rule
A copy of the rule may be obtained upon request from Thomas Huber, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Economic Development, Room 901, P. O. Box 7913, Madison, WI 53707-7913. You may also contact Mr. Huber by phone at (608) 267-7757 or via e-mail: thomas.huber @wisconsin.gov to obtain copies of the proposed rule. Copies will also be available at the hearing.
Submittal of Written Comments
The public record on this proposed rule making will be held open until close of business the day of the hearing to permit the submission of comments in lieu of public hearing testimony or comments supplementing testimony offered at the hearing. Any such comments should be submitted to Thomas Huber, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Economic Development, Room 901, P. O. Box 7913, Madison, WI 53707-7913. You may also contact Mr. Huber by phone at (608) 267-7757.
Analysis Prepared by Department of Transportation
Statutes interpreted
Statutory authority
Explanation of agency authority
2009 Wisconsin Act 28 created s.
84.01(35), Stats., which requires the Department of Transportation to ensure that bicycle and pedestrian facilities are included in all new highway construction and reconstruction projects funded in whole or in part from certain state funds or federal funds.
Related statute or rule
Plain language analysis
2009 Wisconsin Act 28 created s.
84.01(35), Stats., which requires the Department of Transportation to ensure that bicycle and pedestrian facilities are included in all new highway construction and reconstruction projects funded in whole or in part from certain state funds or federal funds, and sets forth five circumstances under which such facilities are not required. With minor exceptions, this law mirrors the “Complete Streets" policy recommended by the National Complete Streets Coalition, and supported by the Federal Highway Administration as a `livability Initiative.' The Act requires the Department to promulgate rules detailing those circumstances. This proposed rule details those circumstances. Bicycle and Pedestrian facilities may be omitted from qualifying projects only if:
1. Bicyclists or pedestrians are prohibited by law from using the highway that is the subject of the project. Highway authorities have specific statutory authority to limit highway access by bicycles and pedestrians, and this proposed rule enumerates those authorities.
2. The cost of establishing bikeways or pedestrian ways would be excessively disproportionate to the need or probable use of the bikeways or pedestrian ways. Under statutes, costs are excessively disproportionate if the cost of the bicycle or pedestrian facility exceeds 20 percent of the total project cost. This proposed rule uses the cost estimates for the construction of the entire project, including bicycle and pedestrian facilities, but excludes design costs and real estate costs, which are difficult to determine at the point that bicycle facilities or sidewalks are being considered. It compares the cost of the bicycle and pedestrian facilities and allows a highway authority to omit either or both if the costs are 20% or more. In some cases, the cost of providing either a bicycle or pedestrian facility might be completed for less than 20% of total project costs, so this proposed rule considers these facilities separately, to require spending up to 20% of total project costs on bicycle or pedestrian facilities, or both. The proposed rule prioritizes sidewalks, but allows the highway authority to choose whichever facility it determines provides the best value. The rule also considers the bicycle or pedestrian facility cost to be only the marginal cost (the costs not otherwise required for the roadway project) of adding or expanding any bicycle or pedestrian facility. Whenever additional real estate must be purchased, the rule considers which facility (travel lane, bikeway or sidewalk) is the primary demand for more real estate and apportions those real estate costs accordingly. Bikeways and sidewalks typically lie at the outermost edge of a highway and are most likely to lie on any newly-acquired real estate, but real estate costs are not properly attributable to those facilities if existing highway right-of-way is sufficient for them and where, for example, the demand for an additional travel lane is `crowding out' the sidewalk or bikeway.
3. Establishing bikeways or pedestrian ways would have excessive negative impacts in a constrained environment. The proposed rule defines a constrained environment to be any location in which the addition of standard-width bicycle and pedestrian facilities would require the destruction of any building or other structure, improvement or landscaping adjacent to the highway, where such destruction would dramatically reduce the aesthetic value or functionality of the remaining area, or where the environmental documentation process shows would result in an unreasonable loss of natural resources, or sites of historical or archeological significance. The proposed rule specifies minimum widths of the bicycle or pedestrian facilities, and allows them to be narrowed, within limits, to fit within the area available for them.
Where real estate is acquired for a new or widened travel lane in a constrained environment, the `constraint' might be eliminated. In such cases, the highway authority shall consider whether the area remains a constrained environment after real estate is acquired.
4. There is an absence of need for the bikeways or pedestrian ways, as indicated by sparsity of population, traffic volume, or other factors. The proposed rule distinguishes between development densities and land uses and allows the omission of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in areas that typically have little bicycle or pedestrian use and where future growth is not expected. The proposed rule does not allow omission of these facilities in any `urban area' or `semi-urban district' under this exception, regardless of existing demand for those facilities.
5. The community where pedestrian ways are to be located refuses to accept an agreement to maintain them. This exception applies only where the local government lacks snow and ice removal equipment required to maintain the facilities and where these types of facilities do not exist and are not required. The proposed rule specifies that pedestrian facilities cannot be omitted from any national highway system project due to the absence of any maintenance agreement.
Finally, the proposed rule requires documented justification for omitting these facilities due to excessive costs, and requires the Department to approve that justification and omission, as a condition of receiving state and federal funds for the underlying highway project. For bikeways or sidewalks omitted for reasons other than excessive costs, the rule allows the department to request written justification for the omission and, if requested, prohibits the department from funding the highway project unless the department approves the omission and justification. The proposed rule also requires local highway authorities to agree, in writing, to maintain any sidewalks included in all new highway construction and reconstruction projects subject to this proposed rule, as a condition of eligibility for federal funds for that project.
Comparison with federal regulations
Federal regulations require the Department to give full consideration to the safe accommodation of pedestrians and bicyclists during the development of Federal-aid highway projects, and during the construction of such projects. The same regulations make qualifying bicycle and pedestrian facilities eligible for federal highway funds.
23 USC 217(g).
On February 28, 2000, the Federal Highway Administration issued “A U.S. DOT Design Policy: Integrating Bicycling and Walking Into Transportation Infrastructure" which sets forth a policy for the inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in federally-funded transportation projects, as required by TEA-21 and codified at
23 USC 217. On March 15, 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a new policy “to incorporate safe and convenient walking and bicycling facilities into transportation projects" and encouraging states, local governments, and others to go beyond minimum design standards and requirements to create safe, attractive, sustainable, accessible, and convenient bicycling and walking networks. The policy finds its authority in numerous congressional laws and federal regulations, including federal highway planning requirements and provisions for non-motorized highway users, prohibitions against `route severance' in which highway projects leave unconnected remnant facilities, and pedestrian accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Federal Highway Administration has issued various policy guidance memoranda to implement these policies.
