The Department has made a preliminary determination that this action does not involve significant adverse environmental effects and does not need an environmental analysis under ch.
NR 150, Wis. Adm. Code.
Fiscal Estimate
State fiscal effect
Increase costs — may be possible to absorb within agency's budget.
This rule package has no impact on state revenues; however, the Department would incur costs associated with WPDES permits to implement the provisions of the rule package. An ongoing workload equivalent to about 2.0 FTE statewide is projected for at least five to ten years. Wastewater engineer positions will develop effluent limitations, including consideration of TMDL wasteload allocations, review of variance requests, development of compliance schedules, etc. The workload estimate is based on 100 permits per year at about 40 hours per permit with five years to complete an initial cycle of permit reissuances. Salary and fringe costs are estimated at $220,000 per year (4,000 hours x $35hour salary + 48.59% fringe+ travel and supplies).
Fund sources affected
GPR.
Affected Ch.
20 appropriations
Local government fiscal impact
Increase costs.
The proposed rule package will result in compliance costs for a number of municipal and other publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities. These costs may be in the form of capital expenditures, increased operation and maintenance costs, or both, and will vary considerably by municipality or sanitary district. For some facilities, no additional costs will be needed since they discharge to streams and rivers and already meet the phosphorus criteria. For up to an estimated 163 facilities, the addition of filtrations processes may be needed and a substantial cost could be incurred. The Department estimates that municipalities and sanitary districts will incur costs of between $300 million and $1.13 billion to comply with the provisions in the rule package. Costs per unit of phosphorus removed are much lower for larger facilities than for smaller facilities. Furthermore, it should be noted that the estimated cost range does not take into account the possibility that some municipalities and sanitary districts may need to acquire land for locating additional wastewater treatment facilities, and thus incur the corresponding land acquisition costs.
There are a number of factors that could push the costs toward the low end of the range, or even lower. These mitigating factors include nonpoint source control that lessen the need for point source control of phosphorus either in general or through implementation of TMDLs. Other factors include economic variances that limit the degree of control to affordable levels, emerging technology that may lower costs, and pollutant trading. The low end of the range may also be overstated to the extent that facilities have already upgraded their treatment plants and/or treatment processes and have thus already incurred some of the costs.
Types of local governmental units affected
Towns, Villages, Cities, Sanitary districts.
Private sector fiscal impact
The proposed rule package will result in compliance costs for a number of industrial wastewater facilities. These costs may be in the form of capital expenditures, increased operation and maintenance costs, or both. The paper industry and the food processing industry would be most affected. The Department estimates that up to 35 facilities could have stringent effluent limitations. Those discharging wastes to municipal wastewater treatment plants may also face increased service fees. Similar to local governmental entities, there is a great degree of variability in the costs that would be incurred. The Department estimates the cost range to be between $80 million and $440 million. The same mitigating factors described above for local governmental entities will push costs toward the lower end of the range for private sector facilities.
Long-range fiscal implications
The fiscal impact on local governments and industries will likely be spread over a 10 to 20 year period with less costly interim limitations being imposed in the initial five to ten years and the more stringent limits being phased in primarily in the 10 to 20 year period.
Agency Contact Person
Jim Baumann
Department of Natural Resources
P. O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707-7921
Phone: (608) 266-9277
Notice of Hearing
Natural Resources
Environmental Protection — Water Regulation, Chs. NR 300—
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT pursuant to ss.
227.16 and
227.17, Stats, the Department of Natural Resources, hereinafter the Department, will hold a public hearing on emergency rules and proposed permanent rules revising Chapters
NR 335 and
336, relating to implementation of the Municipal Dam Grant Program and the Dam Removal Grant Program.
The proposed revisions relate to providing grants for dam safety projects for municipally owned dams, grants for any dam owner to removal a dam they no longer want to maintain and any person to removal an abandoned dam as provided under s.
31.385, Stats.
Hearing Information
Date and Time Location
April 15, 2010 WI DNR Building (GEF 2)
Thursday Room 413
at 1:30 PM 101 S. Webster Street
Madison, WI
Reasonable accommodations, including the provision of informational material in an alternative format, will be provided for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. Contact Eileen Trainor in writing at the Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance (CF/2), 101 S Webster, Madison, WI 53707; by E-mail to
eileen.trainor@wisconsin.gov ; or by calling (608) 267-0848. A request must include specific information and be received at least 10 days before the date of the scheduled hearing.
Copies of the Emergency Rule, Proposed Permanent Rule and Fiscal Estimate
The emergency rule, proposed permanent rule and supporting documents, including the fiscal estimate, may be viewed and downloaded from the
Administrative Rules System Web site which can be accessed through the link provided on the Municipal Dam Grant Website at
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/cfa/Grants/dammaint. html. If you do not have Internet access, a printed copy of the emergency rule, proposed permanent rule and supporting documents, including the fiscal estimate, may be obtained free of charge by contacting Eileen Trainor, Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance (CF/2), 101 S. Webster St, Madison, WI, 53703, or by calling 608.267.0848.
Submission of Written Comments
Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before Friday, April 16, 2010. Written comments may be submitted by U.S. mail, fax, or E-mail and will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearing. Written comments and any questions on the proposed rules should be submitted to:
Meg Galloway
Department of Natural Resources
Bureau of Air Management (AM/7)
101 S Webster St, Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 266-7014
Fax: 608.267.2800
Analysis Prepared by Department of Natural Resources
Statute interpreted
Statutory authority
Explanation of agency authority
Section
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., gives state agencies general rule-making authority. Section
31.385 (1m), Stats., directs the department to promulgate rules to administer a financial assistance program for dam safety projects and s.
31.385 (4), Stats., directs the department to promulgate rules to establish a dam grant inventory and notice and hearing procedure to place dams on the inventory. The rules must provide grants to municipalities and Lake Districts for maintenance, repair, reconstruction, and removal of dams, to private dam owners for the removal of their dams and any person for the removal of abandoned dams.
Related statute or rule
These rules assist the department in achieving the statutory goals of Chapter
31, Stats., which vests the Department with the responsibility to regulate dams and promote safety and protect life and property from unsafe dams. The grant programs provide funding to dam owners to address safety deficiencies at dams. There are no other similar rules that address these issues.
Plain language analysis
The objectives of the revisions to ch.
NR 335 and ch.
NR 336 are to implement changes to enabling legislation. The rule changes can be divided into two broad categories:
•
Incorporate statutory changes into the existing grant codes:
⍽ increases the maximum level of state contribution allowed under the grant programs from $200,000 to $400,000
⍽ varies the state contribution percentage for dam repair and reconstruction projects, depending on the size of the projects
⍽ increases the percentage of state contribution to 100% up to the maximum grant award for dam removal projects
⍽ eliminates statutory definition of “small dam" for dam removal grants
⍽ provides for an inventory of dam safety projects with a notification for dam owners
⍽ changes the definition of large dam to match change in s.
31.19, Stats.
⍽ allows for cost effective, non construction activities that increase the safety of a dam
•
Facilitate investing the $4 million allocation of bonding for the program
⍽ grants greater flexibility for implementation of a grant application cycle
⍽ adjusts code timelines and better defines application requirements to address past implementation difficulties and assure more applications can be deemed complete
⍽ sets additional criteria for ranking applications and allows for adjustment to the ranking procedures outside of Administrative Code process
⍽ allows for the addition of a variance clause which would facilitate the implementation and administration of NR 335
⍽ makes it easier applicants to the Municipal Dam Grant program to pair the grant with other, outside funding sources
⍽ corrects incorrect definitions and statute citations
⍽ clarifies that state agencies may use the grants to remove abandoned dams
⍽ clarifies that an owner can only submit one application at a time per dam for funding under NR 335 and cannot get a grant for the same dam under NR 335 and NR 336 in the same year
Comparison with federal regulations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has a cost sharing program for the rehabilitation of dams built under Public Law 566. Funding for this federal program is limited but if a dam owner is successful in obtaining funding from both programs the state grant would help the county pay their 35% local cost share requirement under the federal program. There are also a number of federal programs which fund dam removal and stream restoration, including programs from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NRCS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These programs have been used in conjunction with grants awarded under NR 336 in the past. The programs are complimentary and pairing of the finding sources allows grant funds to go toward more projects.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states
No similar programs in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies
None.
Analysis and supporting documents used to determine the effect on small business
No formal analysis was completed as the existing rule does not significantly impact small business, therefore the propose revisions to the rules will have not impact to small business.
Preparation of an economic impact report was not requested.
Small Business Impact
The proposed rule revisions are not expected to have a significant economic impact on small business because no new regulations are imposed on them. If a small business did own a dam the rules provide an opportunity for financial assistance for removing the dam if the business chose to do so.
Environmental Analysis
The Department has made a preliminary determination that adoption of the proposed rules would not involve significant adverse environmental effects and would not need an environmental analysis under ch.
NR 150, Wis. Adm. Code. However, based on comments received, an environmental analysis may be prepared before proceeding. This analysis would summarize the Department's consideration of the impacts of the proposal and any reasonable alternatives.
