Scope statements
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Subject
Retail Food Establishments.
Policy Analysis
Preliminary Objectives:
• Work with the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) to update the state's retail food code. DATCP and DHFS have adopted a common retail food code under chs.
ATCP 75 and
HFS 196, Wis. Adm. Code. ATCP 75 covers retail food establishments such as grocery stores, supermarkets and convenience stores. HFS 196 regulates food service establishments (restaurants). Both rules are based on the federal Model Food Code published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
• Incorporate updates from the 2001 federal Model Food Code into the state retail food code.
• Clarify licensing requirements for retail food businesses.
• Make technical changes and practical improvements, as necessary.
• Maintain consistency between DATCP and DHFS rules, and improve consistency where possible.
Preliminary Policy Analysis:
DATCP and DHFS adopted uniform retail food rules, based on the federal Model Food Code, effective February 2001. This has helped to eliminate conflicting regulatory requirements, especially for businesses that combine grocery and restaurant operations. It has reduced confusion for business owners, and has eliminated duplicative licensing and inspection.
Minor rule revisions are needed to incorporate changes in the federal Model Food Code, and to make the rules as clear and practical as possible. DATCP and DHFS plan to collaborate on the proposed changes, with input from affected businesses.
Policy Alternatives:
• Do nothing. If DATCP does nothing, Wisconsin's retail food code will be out of step with the current federal Model Food Code. The code will not be as clear, or as practical, as it could be. Wisconsin's retail food industry may be put at a competitive disadvantage, and may incur unnecessary costs. Food code provisions may no longer be based on the latest science, and there may be less effective and efficient protection for food consumers.
DATCP estimates that it will use approximately 0.5 FTE staff time to develop this rule change. This includes research, drafting, preparing related documents, holding public hearings, and communicating with affected persons and groups. DATCP will assign existing staff to develop this rule.
Athletic Trainers Affiliated Credentialing Board
Subject
To modify s.
AT 3.02 to clarify that the requirement for meeting continuing education requirements as a precondition for renewal does not apply to an application for renewal of a license that expires on the first renewal date after the date on which the board initially granted the license.
Objective of the rule. Currently, s.
AT 3.02 does not explicitly provide that meeting continuing education requirements as a precondition for renewal does not apply to an application for renewal of a license that expires on the first renewal date after the date on which the board initially granted the license. Because of the license renewal cycle (July 1 of each even-numbered year ) and the fact that licensees may be granted a license at any time prior to a renewal date certain licensees do not have a full two-years prior to the first renewal date to satisfy continuing education requirements. Modification of the rule will place all renewals by licensees subject to a full two year opportunity to meet required continuing education requirements.
Policy Analysis
Modifying s.
AT 3.02 will assist first time renewal licensees by not requiring them to meet continuing education requirements on a potentially truncated schedule as a precondition for renewal.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
100 hours.
Health and Family Services
Subject
The Department proposes to amend ch.
HFS 115, rules relating to the screening of newborn infants for congenital disorders. The objective of the proposed rulemaking is to add five metabolic disorders to the list of eight disorders in s.
HFS 115.04 for which newborns are currently tested.
Policy Analysis
The early identification of particular congenital and metabolic disorders that are harmful or fatal to persons with the disorders is critical to mitigating the negative effects of such disorders. Therefore, Wisconsin Statute 253.13 requires that every infant born be subjected to blood tests for congenital and metabolic disorders, as specified in administrative rules promulgated by the Department. Parents, however, may refuse to have their infants screened for religious reasons. The Department has issued ch.
HFS 115, Screening of Newborns for Congenital and Metabolic Disorders, to administer this statutory requirement. Currently, s.
HFS 115.04 lists eight congenital and metabolic disorders for which the state hygiene laboratory must test newborn blood samples.
In determining whether to add or delete disorders from the list under s.
HFS 115.04, s.
HFS 115.06 directs the Department to seek the advice of persons who have expertise and experience with congenital and metabolic disorders. For this purpose, the Department established the Wisconsin Newborn Screening Umbrella Advisory Group. Section
HFS 115.06 also lists six criteria on which the Department must base its decision to add to or delete disorders from s.
HFS 115.04. These criteria are:
1. Characteristics of the specific disorder, including disease incidence, morbidity and mortality.
2. The availability of effective therapy and potential for successful treatment.
3. Characteristics of the test, including sensitivity, specificity, feasibility for mass screening and cost.
4. The availability of mechanisms for determining the effectiveness of test procedures.
5. Characteristics of the screening program, including the ability to collect and analyze specimens reliably and promptly, the ability to report test results quickly and accurately and the existence of adequate follow-up and management programs.
6. The expected benefits to children and society in relation to the risks and costs associated with testing for the specific condition.
In consideration of these criteria, the Wisconsin Newborn Screening Umbrella Advisory Group recently recommended that the Department add five aminoacidopathies, i.e., amino acid-related disorders, to the eight disorders currently screened for and listed in s.
HFS 115.04. These disorders are:
• Maple Syrup Urine Disease;
• Homocystinuria;
• Tyrosinemia;
• Citrullinemia; and
• Argininosuccinic Acidemia.
Collectively, these disorders occur, on average, once in every 30,000 births. Persons with these disorders can experience serious medical consequences such as failure-to-thrive, developmental delays, seizures, mental retardation and death.
The additional costs associated with these five additional screening tests is less than a dollar per baby screened because the amino acids in the blood sample are measured simultaneously with the acylcarnitines for Fatty Acid Oxidation and Organic Acidemias. In the absence of this screening, the Department estimates the annual Wisconsin costs for these disorders to be $144,909. The Department also estimates the annual Wisconsin costs of this screening to be $29,134. Therefore, the cost benefit from these five screening tests is $115,775.
The Advisory Group also recommended that the Department immediately begin screening newborns for these additional disorders. Before this testing can begin, the Department must change its rules to add the five new disorders to the existing list under s.
HFS 115.04. Therefore, on October 11, 2002, the Department issued emergency rules adding these five disorders to the list, effective October 12, 2002. The proposed permanent rules would replace the emergency rules, which will expire in 2003.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
The Department estimates less than five hours of development time will be needed.
Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling & Social Worker Examining Board
Subject
Objective of the Rule. To permit the Social Worker Section to accept from applicants for social worker certification a foreign degree determined by a national accrediting organization to be equivalent to a degree from an accredited school.
Policy Analysis
