281.65 Financial assistance; nonpoint source water pollution abatement.
281.67 Watershed projects.
281.68 Lake management planning grants.
281.69 Lake management grants.
SUBCHAPTER VI
COMPENSATION
281.75 Compensation for well contamination.
281.77 Damage to water supplies.
SUBCHAPTER VII
GREAT LAKES REMEDIAL ACTION
281.83 Remedial action in the Great Lakes and their tributaries.
281.85 Great Lakes protection fund share.
SUBCHAPTER VIII
GENERAL PROVISIONS; ENFORCEMENT
281.91 State agency personnel to report water pollution.
281.94 Investigation of alleged water withdrawal violations.
281.95 Remedies; water withdrawal violations.
281.96 Visitorial powers of department.
281.97 Records; inspection.
Ch. 281 Note
NOTE: 1995 Wis. Act 227 renumbered the provisions of chs. 144, 147, 159 and 162, Stats. 1993-94, to be chs. 280-299, Stats. 1995-96. For a table tracing former section numbers see the Addenda & Errata at the end of Volume 5.
DEFINITIONS
281.01
281.01
Definitions. In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
281.01(3)
(3) "Department" means the department of natural resources.
281.01(4)
(4) "Garbage" means discarded materials resulting from the handling, processing, storage and consumption of food.
281.01(5)
(5) "Industrial wastes" includes liquid or other wastes resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade or business or the development of any natural resource.
281.01(6)
(6) "Municipality" means any city, town, village, county, county utility district, town sanitary district, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district or metropolitan sewage district.
281.01(7)
(7) "Other wastes" includes all other substances, except industrial wastes and sewage, which pollute any of the surface waters of the state. The term also includes unnecessary siltation resulting from operations such as the washing of vegetables or raw food products, gravel washing, stripping of lands for development of subdivisions, highways, quarries and gravel pits, mine drainage, cleaning of vehicles or barges or gross neglect of land erosion.
281.01(8)
(8) "Owner" means the state, county, town, town sanitary district, city, village, metropolitan sewerage district, corporation, firm, company, institution or individual owning or operating any water supply, sewerage or water system or sewage and refuse disposal plant.
281.01(9)
(9) "Person" means an individual, owner, operator, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, municipality, interstate agency, state agency or federal agency.
281.01(10)
(10) "Pollution" includes contaminating or rendering unclean or impure the waters of the state, or making the same injurious to public health, harmful for commercial or recreational use, or deleterious to fish, bird, animal or plant life.
281.01(11)
(11) "Refuse" means all matters produced from industrial or community life, subject to decomposition, not defined as sewage.
281.01(12)
(12) "Secretary" means the secretary of natural resources.
281.01(13)
(13) "Sewage" means the water-carried wastes created in and to be conducted away from residences, industrial establishments, and public buildings as defined in
s. 101.01 (12), with such surface water or groundwater as may be present.
281.01(14)
(14) "Sewerage system" means all structures, conduits and pipe lines by which sewage is collected and disposed of, except plumbing inside and in connection with buildings served, and service pipes from building to street main.
281.01(15)
(15) "Solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded or salvageable materials, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under
ch. 283, or source material, as defined in
s. 254.31 (10), special nuclear material, as defined in
s. 254.31 (11), or by-product material, as defined in
s. 254.31 (3).
281.01(16)
(16) "System or plant" includes water and sewerage systems and sewage and refuse disposal plants.
281.01(18)
(18) "Waters of the state" includes those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within the boundaries of this state, and all lakes, bays, rivers, streams, springs, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, drainage systems and other surface water or groundwater, natural or artificial, public or private, within this state or its jurisdiction.
281.01(19)
(19) "Water supply" means the sources and their surroundings from which water is supplied for drinking or domestic purposes.
281.01(20)
(20) "Waterworks" or "water system" means all structures, conduits and appurtenances by means of which water is delivered to consumers except piping and fixtures inside buildings served, and service pipes from building to street main.
281.01 History
History: 1995 a. 227.
281.01 Annotation
A dealer's refusal to sell the manufacturer's products after filing a complaint under sub. (2) (bd) 2. is a violation of that provision, and consequently of sub. (3) (a) 4., entitling the manufacturer to treble damages under sub. (9) (am). American Suzuki Motor Corp. v. Bill Kummer, Inc. 65 F (3d) 1381 (1995).
WATER RESOURCES
281.11
281.11
Statement of policy and purpose. The department shall serve as the central unit of state government to protect, maintain and improve the quality and management of the waters of the state, ground and surface, public and private. Continued pollution of the waters of the state has aroused widespread public concern. It endangers public health and threatens the general welfare. A comprehensive action program directed at all present and potential sources of water pollution whether home, farm, recreational, municipal, industrial or commercial is needed to protect human life and health, fish and aquatic life, scenic and ecological values and domestic, municipal, recreational, industrial, agricultural and other uses of water. The purpose of this subchapter is to grant necessary powers and to organize a comprehensive program under a single state agency for the enhancement of the quality management and protection of all waters of the state, ground and surface, public and private. To the end that these vital purposes may be accomplished, this subchapter and all rules and orders promulgated under this subchapter shall be liberally construed in favor of the policy objectives set forth in this subchapter. In order to achieve the policy objectives of this subchapter, it is the express policy of the state to mobilize governmental effort and resources at all levels, state, federal and local, allocating such effort and resources to accomplish the greatest result for the people of the state as a whole. Because of the importance of Lakes Superior and Michigan and Green Bay as vast water resource reservoirs, water quality standards for those rivers emptying into Lakes Superior and Michigan and Green Bay shall be as high as is practicable.
281.11 History
History: 1995 a. 227 s.
374.
281.11 Annotation
The supreme court adopts the so-called American rule for liability on use of underground waters. State v. Michels Pipeline Construction, Inc. 63 W (2d) 278, 217 NW (2d) 339, 219 NW (2d) 308.
281.11 Annotation
Supplying of water to its inhabitants by a municipality is not a proprietary function immune from the provisions of ch. 144, because the protection of public health is a matter of state-wide concern over which the legislature may exercise its police powers to insure a healthful water supply. Village of Sussex v. Dept. of Natural Resources, 68 W (2d) 187, 228 NW (2d) 173.
281.11 Annotation
Department regulatory power over wetlands discussed. 68 Atty. Gen. 264.
281.11 Annotation
The public trust doctrine. 59 MLR 787.
281.11 Annotation
Theories of water pollution litigation. Davis, 1971 WLR 738.
281.11 Annotation
Carrying capacity controls for recreation water uses. Kusler, 1973 WLR 1.
281.12
281.12
General department powers and duties. 281.12(1)(1) The department shall have general supervision and control over the waters of the state. It shall carry out the planning, management and regulatory programs necessary for implementing the policy and purpose of this chapter. The department also shall formulate plans and programs for the prevention and abatement of water pollution and for the maintenance and improvement of water quality.
281.12(3)
(3) The department, upon request, shall consult with and advise owners who have installed or are about to install systems or plants, as to the most appropriate water source and the best method of providing for its purity, or as to the best method of disposing of wastewater, including operations and maintenance, taking into consideration the future needs of the community for protection of its water supply. The department is not required to prepare plans.
281.12(5)
(5) The department may enter into agreements with the responsible authorities of other states, subject to approval by the governor, relative to methods, means and measures to be employed to control pollution of any interstate streams and other waters and to carry out such agreement by appropriate general and special orders. This power shall not be deemed to extend to the modification of any agreement with any other state concluded by direct legislative act, but, unless otherwise expressly provided, the department shall be the agency for the enforcement of any such legislative agreement.
281.12 History
History: 1995 a. 227 ss.
376,
383,
385,
987;
1995 a. 378 s.
42.
281.13
281.13
Surveys and research. 281.13(1)(a)(a) [The department is authorized to act] Act with the U.S. geological survey in determining the sanitary and other conditions and nature of the natural water sources in this state, for the following purposes:
281.13(1)(a)1.
1. To determine the nature and condition of the unpolluted natural water sources.
281.13(1)(a)2.
2. To determine to what extent the natural water sources are being contaminated by sewage from cities, villages and towns.
281.13(1)(a)3.
3. To determine to what extent the natural water sources are being polluted by other wastes.
281.13 Note
NOTE: 1995 Wis. Act 378 replaced the bracketed language with "Act". This change was part of an earlier draft which was not enacted. In order for this provision to be complete and workable, the bracketed language must be restored. Corrective legislation is pending.
281.13(1)(b)
(b) The department is hereby empowered and instructed to make the necessary rules and regulations, in conjunction with the U.S. geological department, to carry this subsection into effect.
281.13(3)
(3) The department may conduct scientific experiments, investigations, waste treatment demonstrations and research on any matter under its jurisdiction. It may establish pilot plants, prototypes and facilities in connection therewith and lease or purchase land or equipment.
281.13 History
History: 1995 a. 227 ss.
372,
382;
1995 a. 378 s.
40.
281.15
281.15
Water quality standards. 281.15(1)
(1) The department shall promulgate rules setting standards of water quality to be applicable to the waters of the state, recognizing that different standards may be required for different waters or portions thereof. Water quality standards shall consist of the designated uses of the waters or portions thereof and the water quality criteria for those waters based upon the designated use. Water quality standards shall protect the public interest, which include the protection of the public health and welfare and the present and prospective future use of such waters for public and private water systems, propagation of fish and aquatic life and wildlife, domestic and recreational purposes and agricultural, commercial, industrial and other legitimate uses. In all cases where the potential uses of water are in conflict, water quality standards shall be interpreted to protect the general public interest.
281.15(2)
(2) In adopting or revising any water quality criteria for the waters of the state or any designated portion thereof, the department shall do all of the following:
281.15(2)(a)
(a) At least annually publish and provide public notice of water quality criteria to be adopted, revised or reviewed in the following year.
281.15(2)(b)
(b) Consider information reasonably available to the department on the likely social, economic, energy usage and environmental costs associated with attaining the criteria and provide a description of the economic and social considerations used in the establishment of the criteria.
281.15(2)(c)
(c) Establish criteria which are no more stringent than reasonably necessary to assure attainment of the designated use for the water bodies in question.
281.15(2)(d)
(d) Employ reasonable statistical techniques, where appropriate, in interpreting the relevant water quality data.
281.15(2)(e)
(e) Develop a technical support document which identifies the scientific data utilized, the margin of safety applied and any facts and interpretations of those data applied in deriving the water quality criteria, including the persistence, degradability and nature and effects of each substance on the designated uses, and which provides a summary of the information considered under this section.
281.15(3)
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to rules promulgated under this section by the department for any substance before November 10, 1987.
281.15(4)
(4) By April 1, 1989, the department shall review, in accordance with
sub. (2), and as necessary revise all water quality criteria, except those for dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and ammonia, adopted under this section before November 10, 1987.
281.15(5)
(5) The department shall comply with this section with respect to all water quality criteria adopted or revised after November 10, 1987.
281.15 History
History: 1995 a. 227 s.
377;
1995 a. 378 s.
41.
281.17
281.17
Water quality and quantity; specific regulations. 281.17(1)(1) No wells shall be constructed, installed or operated to withdraw water from underground sources for any purpose where the capacity and rate of withdrawal of all wells on one property is in excess of 100,000 gallons a day without first obtaining the approval of the department. If
s. 281.35 applies to the proposed construction, the application shall comply with
s. 281.35 (5) (a). If the department finds that the proposed withdrawal will adversely affect or reduce the availability of water to any public utility in furnishing water to or for the public or does not meet the grounds for approval specified under
s. 281.35 (5) (d), if applicable, it shall either withhold its approval or grant a limited approval under which it imposes such conditions as to location, depth, pumping capacity, rate of flow and ultimate use so that the water supply of any public utility engaged in furnishing water to or for the public will not be impaired and the withdrawal will conform to the requirements of
s. 281.35, if applicable. The department shall require each person issued an approval under this subsection to report that person's volume and rate of withdrawal, as defined under
s. 281.35 (1) (m), and that person's volume and rate of water loss, as defined under
s. 281.35 (1) (L), if any, in the form and at the times specified by the department. The department may issue general or special orders it considers necessary to ensure prompt and effective administration of this subsection.
281.17(2)
(2) The department shall supervise chemical treatment of waters for the suppression of algae, aquatic weeds, swimmers' itch and other nuisance-producing plants and organisms. It may purchase equipment and may make a charge for the use of the same and for materials furnished, together with a per diem charge for any services performed in such work. The charge shall be sufficient to reimburse the department for the use of the equipment, the actual cost of materials furnished, and the actual cost of the services rendered.
281.17(3)
(3) The department shall promulgate rules establishing an examining program for the certification of operators of water systems, wastewater treatment plants and septage servicing vehicles operated under a license issued under
s. 281.48 (3), setting such standards as the department finds necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter and
chs. 285 and
289 to
299, including requirements for continuing education. The department may charge applicants a fee for certification. All moneys collected under this subsection for the certification of operators of water systems, wastewater treatment plants and septage servicing vehicles shall be credited to the appropriation under
s. 20.370 (2) (bL). No person may operate a water systems, wastewater treatment plant or septage servicing vehicle without a valid certificate issued under this subsection. The department may suspend or revoke a certificate issued under this subsection for a violation of any statute or rule relating to the operation of a water system or wastewater treatment plant or to septage servicing, for failure to fulfill the continuing education requirements or as provided under
s. 145.245 (3). The owner of any wastewater treatment plant shall be, or shall employ, an operator certified under this subsection who shall be responsible for plant operations, unless the department by rule provides otherwise. In this subsection, "wastewater treatment plant" means a system or plant used to treat industrial wastewater, domestic wastewater or any combination of industrial wastewater and domestic wastewater.
