SB523: Bill Text

SB523,91,12 (b) Statewide program. In cooperation with the department of commerce and the public service commission, the department shall develop and implement a statewide water conservation and efficiency program that includes all of the following:

SB523,91,14 1. Promotion of environmentally sound and economically feasible water conservation measures.

SB523,91,16 2. Water conservation and efficiency measures that the public service commission requires or authorizes a water utility to implement under ch. 196.

SB523,91,18 3. Water conservation and efficiency measures that the department of commerce requires or authorizes to be implemented under chs. 101 and 145.

SB523,91,24 (d) Water conservation and efficiency measures. The department shall promulgate rules specifying water conservation and efficiency measures for the purposes of this section. In the rules, the department may not require retrofitting of existing fixtures, appliances, or equipment. In specifying the measures, the department shall consider the results of any pilot water conservation program conducted by the department in cooperation with the regional body.

SB523,92,4 (9) Public participation. (b) Public Notice. 1. The department shall, by rule, create procedures for circulating to interested and potentially interested members of the public notices of each complete application that the department receives under sub. (4). The department shall include, in the rule, at least the following procedures:

SB523,92,5 a. Publication of the notice as a class 1 notice under ch. 985.

SB523,92,7 b. Mailing of the notice to any person, group, local governmental unit, or state agency upon request.

SB523,92,10 2. The department shall establish the form and content of a public notice by rule. The department shall include in every public notice concerning an application under sub. (4) at least the following information:

SB523,92,11 a. The name and address of each applicant.

SB523,92,13 b. A brief description of the proposal for which the application is made under sub. (4), including the amount of the proposed interbasin transfer.

SB523,92,16 c. A brief description of the procedures for the formulation of final determinations on applications, including the 30-day comment period required under par. (c).

SB523,92,21 (c) Public comment. The department shall receive public comments on a proposal for which it receives an application under sub. (4) for a 30-day period beginning when the department gives notice under par. (b) 1. The department shall retain all written comments submitted during the comment period and shall consider the comments in making its decisions on the application.

SB523,93,6 (d) Public hearing. 1. The department shall provide an opportunity for any interested person or group of persons, any affected local governmental unit, or any state agency to request a public hearing with respect to a proposal for which the department receives an application under sub. (4). A request for a public hearing shall be filed with the department within 30 days after the department gives notice under par. (b). The party filing a request for a public hearing shall indicate the interest of the party and the reasons why a hearing is warranted. The department shall hold a public hearing on a proposal for which the department receives an application under sub. (4) if the department determines that there is a significant public interest in holding a hearing.

SB523,93,9 2. The department shall promulgate, by rule, procedures for the conduct of public hearings held under this paragraph. A hearing held under this paragraph is not a contested case hearing under ch. 227.

SB523,93,11 3. The department shall circulate public notice of any hearing held under this paragraph in the manner provided under par. (b) 1.

SB523,94,2 (e) Public access to information. Any record or other information provided to or obtained by the department regarding a proposal for which an application under sub. (4) is received is a public record as provided in subch. II of ch. 19. The department shall make available to and provide facilities for the public to inspect and copy any records or other information provided to or obtained by the department regarding a proposal for which an application for a new or increased interbasin transfer under sub. (4) is received, except that any record or other information provided to the department may be treated as confidential upon a showing to the secretary that the record or information is entitled to protection as a trade secret, as defined in s. 134.90 (1) (c), or upon a determination by the department that domestic security concerns warrant confidential treatment. Nothing in this subsection prevents the use of any confidential records or information obtained by the department in the administration of this section in compiling or publishing general analyses or summaries, if the analyses or summaries do not identify a specific owner or operator.

SB523,94,6 (14) Penalties. (a) Any person who violates this section or any rule promulgated or approval issued under this section shall forfeit not less than $10 nor more than $10,000 for each violation. Each day of continued violation is a separate offense.

SB523,94,10 (c) In addition to the penalties under par. (a), the court may order the defendant to abate any nuisance, restore a natural resource, or take, or refrain from taking, any other action as necessary to eliminate or minimize any environmental damage caused by the defendant.

SB523,94,11 (15) Sunset. This section does not apply after the compact's effective date.

SB523, s. 11 Section 11. 281.346 of the statutes is created to read:

SB523,94,14 281.346 Water conservation, reporting, and supply regulation; after the compact takes effect. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB523,94,17 (d) "Community within a straddling county" means any city, village, or town that is not a straddling community and that is located outside the Great Lakes basin but wholly within a county that lies partly within the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,94,19 (dm) "Compact" means the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact under s. 281.343.

SB523,94,21 (dr) "Compact's effective date" means the effective date of the compact under s. 281.343 (9) (d).

SB523,94,24 (e) "Consumptive use" means a use of water that results in the loss of or failure to return some or all of the water to the basin from which the water is withdrawn due to evaporation, incorporation into products, or other processes.

SB523,95,7 (g) "Cumulative impacts" means the impacts on the Great Lakes basin ecosystem that result from incremental effects of all aspects of a withdrawal, diversion, or consumptive use in addition to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future withdrawals, diversions, and consumptive uses regardless of who undertakes the other withdrawals, diversions, and consumptive uses, including individually minor but collectively significant withdrawals, diversions, and consumptive uses taking place over a period of time.

SB523,95,13 (h) "Diversion" means a transfer of water from the Great Lakes basin into a watershed outside the Great Lakes basin, or from the watershed of one of the Great Lakes into that of another, by any means of transfer, including a pipeline, canal, tunnel, aqueduct, channel, modification of the direction of a water course, tanker ship, tanker truck, or rail tanker except that "diversion" does not include any of the following:

SB523,95,16 1. The transfer of a product produced in the Great Lakes basin or in the watershed of one of the Great Lakes, using waters of the Great Lakes basin, out of the Great Lakes basin or out of that watershed.

SB523,95,19 2. The transmission of water within a line that extends outside the Great Lakes basin as it conveys water from one point to another within the Great Lakes basin if no water is used outside the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,95,21 3. The transfer of bottled water from the Great Lakes basin in containers of 5.7 gallons or less.

SB523,96,2 (hm) "Divert" means to transfer water from the Great Lakes basin into a watershed outside the Great Lakes basin, or from the watershed of one of the Great Lakes into that of another, by any means of transfer, including a pipeline, canal, tunnel, aqueduct, channel, modification of the direction of a water course, tanker ship, tanker truck, or rail tanker except that "divert" does not include any of the following:

SB523,96,5 1. To transfer a product produced in the Great Lakes basin or in the watershed of one of the Great Lakes, using waters of the Great Lakes basin, out of the Great Lakes basin or out of that watershed.

SB523,96,8 2. To transmit water within a line that extends outside the Great Lakes basin as it conveys water from one point to another within the Great Lakes basin if no water is used outside the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,96,10 3. To transfer bottled water from the Great Lakes basin in containers of 5.7 gallons or less.

SB523,96,16 (i) "Environmentally sound and economically feasible water conservation measures" means those measures, methods, or technologies for efficient water use and for reducing water loss and waste or for reducing the amount of a withdrawal, consumptive use, or diversion that are, taking into account environmental impact, the age and nature of equipment and facilities involved, the processes employed, the energy impacts, and other appropriate factors, all of the following:

SB523,96,17 1. Environmentally sound.

SB523,96,18 2. Reflective of best practices applicable to the water use sector.

SB523,96,19 3. Technically feasible and available.

SB523,96,21 4. Economically feasible and cost-effective based on an analysis that considers direct and avoided economic and environmental costs.

SB523,96,24 (je) "Great Lakes basin" means the watershed of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River upstream from Trois—Rivieres, Quebec, within the jurisdiction of the parties.

SB523,97,2 (ji) "Great Lakes basin ecosystem" means the interacting components of air, land, water, and living organisms, including humans, within the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,97,4 (jj) "Great Lakes council" means the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council, created under s. 281.343 (2) (a).

SB523,97,6 (jm) "Intrabasin transfer" means the transfer of water from the watershed of one of the Great Lakes into the watershed of another of the Great Lakes.

SB523,97,7 (n) "Party" means a state that is a party to the compact.

SB523,97,11 (nm) Notwithstanding s. 281.01 (9), "person" means an individual or other entity, including a government or a nongovernmental organization, including any scientific, professional, business, nonprofit, or public interest organization or association that is neither affiliated with nor under the direction of a government.

SB523,97,15 (o) "Product" means something produced by human or mechanical effort or through agricultural processes and used in manufacturing, commercial, or other processes or intended for intermediate or ultimate consumers, subject to all of the following:

SB523,97,16 1. Water used as part of the packaging of a product is part of the product.

SB523,97,19 2. Other than water used as part of the packaging of a product, water that is used primarily to transport materials in or out of the Great Lakes basin is not a product or part of a product.

SB523,97,21 3. Except as provided in subd. 1., water that is transferred as part of a public or private supply is not a product or part of a product.

SB523,97,23 4. Water in its natural state, such as in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, aquifers, or water basins, is not a product.

SB523,98,2 (pm) "Public water supply" means water distributed to the public through a physically connected system of treatment, storage, and distribution facilities that serve a group of largely residential customers and that may also serve industrial, commercial, and other institutional customers.

SB523,98,6 (q) "Regional body" means the body consisting of the governors of the parties and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec, Canada, or their designees as established by the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.

SB523,98,8 (qd) "Regional declaration of finding" means a declaration of finding issued by the regional body under s. 281.343 (4h) (e).

SB523,98,10 (qm) "Regional review" means review by the regional body as described in s. 281.343 (4h).

SB523,98,17 (r) "Source watershed" means the watershed from which a withdrawal originates. If water is withdrawn directly from a Great Lake or from the St. Lawrence River, then the source watershed is the watershed of that Great Lake or the watershed of the St. Lawrence River, respectively. If water is withdrawn from the watershed of a stream that is a direct tributary to a Great Lake or a direct tributary to the St. Lawrence River, then the source watershed is the watershed of that Great Lake or the watershed of the St. Lawrence River, respectively.

SB523,98,21 (t) "Straddling community" means any city, village, or town that, based on its boundary existing as of the compact's effective date, is partly within the Great Lakes basin or partly within the watersheds of 2 of the Great Lakes and that is wholly within any county that lies partly or completely within the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,98,24 (u) "Technical review" means a thorough analysis and evaluation conducted to determine whether a proposal that is subject to regional review under this section meets the criteria for approval under sub. (4), (5), or (6).

SB523,99,2 (w) "Water dependent natural resources" means the interacting components of land, water, and living organisms affected by the waters of the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,99,5 (wm) "Water loss" means the amount of water that is withheld from or not returned to the basin from which it is withdrawn as a result of a diversion or consumptive use or both.

SB523,99,7 (wr) "Water utility" means a public utility, as defined in s. 196.01 (5), that furnishes water.

SB523,99,10 (x) "Waters of the Great Lakes basin" means the Great Lakes and all streams, rivers, lakes, connecting channels, and other bodies of water, including tributary groundwater, within the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,99,11 (y) "Withdraw" means to take water from surface water or groundwater.

SB523,99,14 (z) "Withdrawal" means the taking of water from surface water or groundwater, including the taking of surface water or groundwater for the purpose of bottling the water.

SB523,99,16 (1m) Applicability. This section does not apply before the compact's effective date.

SB523,99,20 (2) Determinations concerning applicability of requirements. (a) Use of surface water divide. For the purposes of this section, the surface water divide is used to determine whether a withdrawal or transfer of surface water or groundwater is from the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,99,24 (b) Diversions and withdrawals from more than one source. For the purposes of this section, the diversion or withdrawal of water from more than one source within the Great Lakes basin to supply a common distribution system is considered one diversion or withdrawal.

SB523,100,2 (c) Water loss. The department shall promulgate rules for determining the amount of water loss from consumptive uses.

SB523,100,5 (d) County boundaries. For the purposes of sub. (1) (d) and (t), a county's boundaries as of December 13, 2005, shall be used to determine whether a county lies partly within the Great Lakes basin.

SB523,100,12 (e) Baseline. 1. The baseline for a withdrawal that is covered by a general permit issued under s. 281.344 (4s) on the compact's effective date is the withdrawal amount specified for the withdrawal in the database under s. 281.344 (4s) (i) on the compact's effective date. The baseline for a withdrawal for which the department has issued an individual permit under s. 281.344 (5) before the compact's effective date is the withdrawal amount specified in the permit on the compact's effective date. There is no baseline for any other withdrawal.

SB523,100,16 2. The baseline water loss for a consumptive use for which the department has specified an authorized base level of water loss under s. 281.35 (6) (a) 2. is the amount of that authorized base level on the compact's effective date. There is no baseline water loss for any other consumptive use.

SB523,100,20 4. The baseline volume for a diversion for which the department has issued an approval under s. 281.344 (3m) or (4) before the compact's effective date is the interbasin transfer amount specified in the approval on the compact's effective date. There is no baseline for any other diversion.

SB523,100,23 6. The department shall provide a list of the baseline volumes determined under this paragraph to the Great Lakes council and the regional body no later than 12 months after the compact's effective date.

SB523,101,3 (e) Change of ownership. Regional review or Great Lakes council approval is not required when there is a change of ownership of a water supply system that withdraws, diverts, or consumptively uses waters of the Great Lakes basin unless the new owner proposes a change that is otherwise subject to regional review or Great Lakes council approval.

SB523,101,5 (f) Hydrologic units. The Lake Michigan and Lake Huron watershed shall be considered to be a single hydrologic unit and watershed.

SB523,101,12 (3) Statewide registration and reporting. (a) Any person who proposes to begin a withdrawal from the waters of the state using a water supply system that will have the capacity to withdraw an average of 100,000 gallons per day or more in any 30-day period, to increase the capacity of a water supply system so that it will have the capacity to withdraw an average of 100,000 gallons per day or more in any 30-day period, or to begin a diversion shall register the withdrawal or diversion with the department.

SB523,101,14 (b) A person to whom par. (a) applies shall register on a form prescribed by the department and provide all of the following information:

SB523,101,15 1. The name and address of the registrant and the date of registration.

SB523,101,16 2. The locations and sources of the withdrawal or diversion.

SB523,101,18 3. The daily capacity of the withdrawal or diversion and the daily capacity to withdraw or divert from each source.

SB523,101,20 4. An estimate of the volume of the withdrawal or diversion in terms of gallons per day average in any 30-day period.

SB523,101,21 5. The uses made of the water.

SB523,101,22 6. The places at which the water is used.

SB523,101,23 7. The places at which any of the water is discharged.

SB523,101,24 8. Whether the water use is continuous or intermittent.

SB523,101,25 9. Whether the person holds a permit under s. 283.31.

SB523,102,1 10. Other information required by the department by rule.

SB523,102,3 (c) The department shall maintain a registry containing the information provided under par. (b) and s. 281.344 (3) (b).

SB523,102,6 (cm) The department may consider domestic security concerns when determining whether information regarding locations of withdrawals and diversions contained in the registry under par. (c) may be released to the public.