Scope statements
Insurance
Subject
Objective of the rule. The proposed rule would allow life insurers to use the 2001 CSO Preferred Class Structure Mortality Table, which reflects differences in mortality between preferred and standard lives in determining minimum reserve liabilities, in accordance with s.
623.06 (2) (am) 3., Stats., and s.
Ins 2.80 (4) (a) and
(b), Wis. Adm. Code.
Policy Analysis
The existing requirements are contained primarily in s.
623.06 (2) (am) 3., Stats., s.
Ins 2.80 (4) (a) and
(b), Wis. Adm. Code, and Subch.
V of Ch. 50, Wis. Adm. Code. These provisions establish mortality tables to be used by insurers to calculate minimum reserves and requirements related to testing and reporting of actuarial information. The proposed rule will allow insurers, meeting prescribed conditions, to use the 2001 CSO Preferred Class Structure Mortality Table as adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) at the September, 2006, national meeting and published in the NAIC Proceedings (Third Quarter 2006), in determining minimum reserves on policies written after January 1, 2007. The table will allow insurers to reflect differences in mortality between preferred and standard lives in establishing reserve liabilities to more precisely fit the characteristics of outstanding policies. The proposed rule is under consideration as it has been recommended by the NAIC, will increase the ability of management and regulators to monitor financial status, and has been adopted or is in the process of being adopted by a significant number of other states.
Statutory Authority
Staff Time Required To Develop The Proposed Rule
100 hours and no other resources are necessary.
Entities That May Be Affected By The Proposed Rules
The proposed rule will affect insurers which offer life insurance products.
Comparison With Federal Regulations
The office is unaware of any proposed or existing federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by this proposed rule.
Medical Examining Board
Subject
Prescribing limitations on physician assistants.
Policy Analysis
Objective of the rule. To modernize rules relating to physician assistants' prescribing limitations.
Currently, physician assistants may issue prescription orders in patient situations described in written guidelines that are reviewed annually by the physician assistant and supervising physician. Prescription orders must be countersigned by the supervising physician or the patient record must be countersigned within 72 hours or one week, depending on the practice site. Based on physician assistants' advances in licensure and a record of safe prescribing, co-signature of every prescription is no longer needed. Further, re-conceptualizing the required written guidelines for prescribing to reflect delegation of services would allow for more flexibility in the assignment of tasks between the physician and the physician assistant.
Comparison With Federal Regulations
There is no existing or proposed federal regulation.
Entities That May Be Affected By The Proposed Rules
Physicians, physician assistants, and all health care institutions that employ physician assistants.
Statutory Authority
Staff Time Required To Develop The Proposed Rule
100 hours.
Natural Resources
Subject
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus was diagnosed as the cause of huge fish kills in Lake Huron, Lake St Clair, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River in 2005 and 2006. VHS is an invasive species. It can reasonably be assumed that it is already present in Lake Michigan, although it has not yet been confirmed there or in Lake Superior. The purpose of this rule is to slow or block the spread of the virus from the Great Lakes to hatcheries, inland lakes, and the Mississippi River drainage. VHS is not a human health concern. Because other pathogens and invasive species travel by the same pathways as VHS, this rule will have broader significance.
Policy Analysis
The Department is committed to limiting the spread of invasive species and pathogens in the environment. This rule will aid the Department in controlling the spread of VHS virus in the following ways:
1) It prohibits the possession on the water and use of live bait (crayfish, frogs, and minnows) from outside Wisconsin, except minnows imported in compliance with USDA APHIS and DATCP import and health requirements. Live bait enters Wisconsin from other parts of the country (including probably Lake Ontario) where VHS may be present. Because those requirements preclude the importation of live fish that that have not tested negative for VHS, this will help assure that the VHS virus is not introduced to inland waters via live bait.
2) It prohibits the possession on the water and use of dead bait, except used on the water the bait originated from, or on Lake Michigan, Green Bay and their tributaries, or when preserved in a way that would kill VHS virus. VHS virus can survive in dead bait that has been refrigerated or frozen. Great Lakes smelt, lake herring, and chubs and Pacific Ocean herring are used for cut bait in Wisconsin. This provision will help assure that VHS virus is not imported in dead bait.
3) It prohibits the transportation of live fish or fish eggs from waters of the Great Lakes or the Mississippi River drainage, except a) fish being exported in compliance with USDA APHIS regulations and orders, b) fish or fish eggs tested and found to be free of VHS virus, and c) fish or fish eggs transported with the prior written approval of the Department. We want to minimize the possibility that any live fish or fish eggs from VHS-affected waters are transported to VHS-free waters. It is likely that VHS virus is present in Lake Michigan and quite possible that it is present in Lake Superior and the Mississippi River drainage.
4) It requires all boaters to drain water from bilges, ballast, buckets, and live wells immediately after leaving waters of the Great Lakes or of the Mississippi River drainage, unless exempted in writing by the Department. This provision addresses the risk that boaters will inadvertently transport the VHS virus in boats and compartments of boats.
5) It allows the Department to deny permits for the use of non-standard minnow gear by licensed bait dealers, to prevent the spread of invasive species or diseases. Currently the presence of pathogens or invasive species is not sufficient to deny applications for non-standard minnow gear. With this provision, the Department will be able to assure that minnow harvest is not authorized from waters where the VHS virus is known to occur.
Statutory Authority
Staff Time Required To Develop The Proposed Rule
Three weeks.
Entities That May Be Affected By The Proposed Rules
This rule will affect commercial fishers, wholesale fish dealers, sport anglers, boaters, and individuals involved in the importation, harvest, rearing, sale, or use of bait.
Comparison With Federal Regulations
In late 2006 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued an emergency order limiting the movement of live fish from Ontario or Quebec into the United States and limiting the interstate movement of live fish. That order does not apply to fish moved within the boundaries of individual states. This rule addresses within-state spread of VHS virus, while the federal order addresses between-state and between country spread of VHS virus. The proposed rule is similar in intent to the federal order, but addresses some additional vectors of spread of this pathogen.
Contact
Michael Staggs, Director
Bureau of Fisheries Management
101 S. Webster St.
Madison, WI 53707
608-267-0796
Natural Resources
Subject
Amendments are being proposed to Ch.
NR 140, Wis. Adm. Code, revising existing state groundwater quality standards in cases where established federal numbers or health based reference doses for substances have changed, or where significant technical information, not considered when federal numbers or reference doses were established, justifies revision.
Amendments are also proposed to establish new state groundwater quality standards for substances detected in, or with a reasonable probability of entering, the groundwater resources of the state, provided sufficient scientifically valid technical information exists to allow the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) to develop recommendations for standards.
