AB449: Bill Text

LRB-2120/1

RCT:cs:jf

2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE

2005 Assembly BILL 449

June 1, 2005 - Introduced by Joint Legislative Council. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources.

AB449,2,2 An Act to repeal 281.48 (3) (d) 1. to 4., 281.48 (4m) (b) 2. and 281.48 (4s) (a) 4. and (b); to renumber 200.59 (5); to renumber and amend 145.245 (3), 281.48 (3) (d) (intro.) and 281.49 (1) (a); to amend 20.143 (3) (de), 20.370 (3) (ma), 20.370 (4) (bL), 20.370 (4) (mq), 29.601 (3) (b), 30.202 (3), 30.2022 (1), 70.375 (4) (o), 94.73 (2) (bg) 2. and (d), 145.10 (1) (c), 145.245 (9) (a), 160.27 (5), 281.17 (3), 281.48 (title), 281.48 (2) (b) to (g), 281.48 (2m), 281.48 (3) (e), 281.48 (4g), 281.48 (4m) (title) and (a), 281.48 (4m) (b) (intro.), 281.48 (4m) (b) 1., 281.48 (4m) (c), 281.48 (4s) (a) (intro.), 281.48 (5) (a) 4., 281.48 (5m) (c), 281.49 (5) (c) 4., 281.58 (7) (b) 1., 281.58 (8) (b) 1., 281.77 (1) (b), 283.87 (1), 299.95, 348.15 (3) (bv) and 895.48 (2) (c) 2.; and to create 66.0821 (5) (c), (d) and (e), 145.20 (2) (i), 145.20 (6), 145.245 (11) (f), 196.85 (1m) (c), 200.59 (5) (b), (c) and (d), 281.41 (3), 281.48 (2) (bm), 281.48 (4m) (d), 281.48 (4s) (c), 281.48 (5p), 281.49 (10), (11) and (12), 281.58 (1) (cv), 281.58 (12) (a) 5. and 283.82 of the statutes; relating to: the management and disposal of septage and municipal sewage sludge, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill is explained in the Notes provided by the Joint Legislative Council in the bill.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

Joint Legislative Council prefatory note: This bill was prepared for the joint legislative council's special committee on septage disposal. The bill has the following key provisions.

Septage disposal fees

The current statutes regulate the disposal fees that a municipal sewage system may charge a licensed disposer (septage hauler) to dispose of septage at the system's facilities. This bill makes the following changes to this statute:

Establishes that the septage disposal fees charged by a municipal sewage system must be reasonable and specifies that a municipal sewage system must base these fees on the specified actual costs related to the disposal of the septage.

Establishes a 3-stage process for a licensed disposer to obtain a review of a disputed septage disposal fee by the municipal sewage system, staff at the public service commission (PSC), and then the PSC and specifies the allocation of the PSC's expenses in the 3rd stage.

Requires each municipal sewage system to notify each licensed disposer disposing of septage in the system of any increase in a disposal fee applicable to the licensed disposer at least 60 days prior to imposing the increased disposal fee.

Local assistance program

This bill creates 2 local assistance programs, to be administered by the department of commerce. The programs will provide cost-sharing grants to counties for up to 70% of the local cost of conducting an inventory of existing private sewage systems, and for developing a record-keeping system for information about private sewage systems in each county.

Maintenance of private sewage systems

Under current law, the department of commerce has promulgated rules that establish a maintenance program for new private sewage systems in counties that participate in the Wisconsin fund grant program for private sewage system replacement. One of the conditions for a county to participate in the Wisconsin fund grant program is that the county must adopt and enforce the maintenance program. Under its general authority to regulate private sewage systems, the department of commerce has promulgated rules that set forth maintenance requirements for all private sewage systems. This bill moves the county maintenance program out of the Wisconsin fund grant program and into the general department of commerce duties, and makes all counties responsible for adoption and enforcement of the maintenance program.

Clean Water Fund loans

The current statutes create the clean water fund program, which provides financial assistance to municipalities for the cost of planning, design, and construction of wastewater treatment facilities, and other surface water and groundwater pollution abatement facilities. The program includes various forms of financial assistance, including market interest rate or below market interest rate loans. This bill modifies the clean water fund program to provide zero percent interest rate loans for any portion of a treatment work project that relates to facilities for receiving and capacity for treating septage. This will reduce some of the potential risk incurred by the municipality in providing facilities and capacity for septage disposal, in case the anticipated amount of septage is not received, and will provide an incentive for the municipality to provide these facilities and capacity.

Sewage treatment plant planning

Facilities plans are prepared for each sewage disposal plant. There is not currently a specific requirement to address the issues related to septage disposal, although these issues could be included in the plans under current law. This bill creates a specific requirement to address septage disposal needs in these plans.

Septage and sewage sludge disposal regulations

The disposal of septage on land is regulated under the current statutes. The department of natural resources (DNR) has adopted administrative rules to implement the statutes. This bill makes a number of technical changes to these statutes, and makes several minor substantive changes, such as changing the disposal site license to a site approval, restricting the current exemption from the requirement for a disposal site approval, and clarifying the legal effect of an application for site approval. In addition, this bill provides that local units of government may not prohibit the land disposal of septage or sewage sludge, and places limits on the authority of local units of government to regulate the land disposal of sewage sludge.

Septage servicing and septage land disposal license fees

The bill authorizes the DNR to establish fees for licenses to service private sewage systems in lieu of the current statutorily specified fees. The bill also repeals the current fees for licenses for septage land disposal sites.

Enforcement

The bill draft removes a conflict between 2 current statutes and clarifies that the attorney general enforces violations of septage servicing and disposal violations referred by the DNR. The bill does not affect the authority of DNR to enforce lesser violations of these regulations via issuance of citations.

Deletion of statutory cross-references

The current statutes include many provisions that cross-reference all of the environmental statutes. Fourteen of these provisions include an exception for the septage disposal statute. The exceptions for the septage disposal statute resulted from the renumbering of environmental statutes in the 1995 session of the legislature. The septage disposal statute was not included among the environmental statutes prior to the renumbering, but was moved so as to be grouped with those statutes as part of the renumbering. The exceptions were created as part of the renumbering to avoid making substantive changes in the process of renumbering. This bill deletes these exceptions. A detailed explanation of the consequence of each amendment is included in the bill.

AB449, s. 1 Section 1. 20.143 (3) (de) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB449,4,2 20.143 (3) (de) As a continuing appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for financial assistance under the private sewage system replacement and rehabilitation program and for local assistance for inventories and record keeping under s. 145.245.

Note: The appropriation for the Wisconsin fund grant program for private sewage system replacement and rehabilitation is modified to allow the department of commerce to fund a local assistance program for inventorying existing private sewage systems and establishing maintenance record keeping. The local assistance programs are established in s. 145.20 (6) (a) and (b), as created by this bill.

AB449, s. 2 Section 2. 20.370 (3) (ma) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB449,4,11 20.370 (3) (ma) General program operations — state funds. From the general fund, the amounts in the schedule for regulatory and enforcement operations under chs. 30, 31 and 280 to 299, except s. 281.48, and ss. 44.47, 59.692, 59.693, 61.351, 61.354, 62.231, 62.234 and 87.30, for reimbursement of the conservation fund for expenses incurred for actions taken under s. 166.04; for review of environmental impact requirements under ss. 1.11 and 23.40; and for enforcement of the treaty-based, off-reservation rights to fish, hunt and gather held by members of federally recognized American Indian tribes or bands.

Note: This appropriation is the general fund appropriation to DNR for the regulatory and enforcement responsibilities of the agency under all of the environmental statutes within its jurisdiction. There is no apparent reason for maintaining the exception for septage regulation in the cross-reference to s. 281.48.

The exemption for septage disposal in this statute was created as the result of the renumbering of environmental statutes in the 1995 session of the legislature. Prior to that time, most of the environmental statutes under DNR jurisdiction were contained in 2 chapters of the statutes, chs. 144 and 147, 1993 stats. It was a simple matter then to refer to all environmental statutes by reference to these 2 chapters.

The septage disposal statute, although under DNR jurisdiction, was contained in s. 146.20, stats. The reason for this location of the septage disposal statute was that it was originally within department of health jurisdiction, as were all statutes in ch. 146. The responsibility for septage disposal regulation was transferred to the DNR in 1967 as part of the Kellett reorganization of the executive branch of state government.

The septage statute should have been moved to one of the chapters of statutes under DNR jurisdiction in 1967. When the environmental statutes were reorganized in the 1995 legislative session, the legislative council study committee that recommended the reorganization requested a bill that made no substantive changes in the statutes, and merely reorganized them. As a result, although the septage disposal statute was renumbered to place it within the other environmental statutes under DNR jurisdiction, the references to all environmental statutes excluded septage disposal, because the septage disposal statute was not included within those statutes prior to the reorganization.

This bill makes the same amendment in all of the other statutes that contain an exemption for the septage disposal statute.

AB449, s. 3 Section 3. 20.370 (4) (bL) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB449,5,5 20.370 (4) (bL) Wastewater management — fees. From the general fund, all moneys received under s. 281.17 (3) for the certification of operators of water systems, wastewater treatment plants and septage servicing vehicles and under s. 281.48 (4s) (a) and (b) (c) for wastewater management activities.

Note: The appropriation for the DNR's wastewater management activities funded by license and certification fees is modified to reflect the authority granted under this bill in s. 281.48 (4s) (c) to the DNR to establish septage servicing license fees by rule in lieu of the current statutorily specified fees, and the repeal of the fees for licenses for septage land disposal sites by this bill in its treatment of s. 281.48 (4s) (a) 4. and (b).

AB449, s. 4 Section 4. 20.370 (4) (mq) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB449,5,9 20.370 (4) (mq) General program operations — environmental fund. From the environmental fund, the amounts in the schedule for administration of environmental activities under chs. 160, 281 and 283, except s. 281.48.

Note: This appropriation is the segregated fund appropriation to DNR, from the environmental fund, for the administration of environmental activities under the groundwater statutes and the statutes related to water and sewage. The septage regulatory program is also an environmental statute related to water and sewage. This amendment brings this appropriation into conformance with legislative intent. [For a full explanation of the source of the current exemption in this statute for septage disposal, see the Note to the Section in this bill that amends s. 20.370 (3) (ma).]

AB449, s. 5 Section 5. 29.601 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read: