33.02(1)(e)
(e)
Priorities when inadequate funds. If the department does not have adequate appropriations to provide financial assistance under
s. 33.16 for eligible projects, it shall establish priorities based on the type of project and methods to be utilized in implementing the projects and these priorities shall rank dredging, other than dredging to provide public access, as a low priority.
33.02(1)(f)
(f)
Dredging; sedimentation control. These rules shall require that an application for financial assistance for the implementation of any project involving dredging include the identification of long-term controls which are being or will be undertaken to prevent sedimentation.
33.02(1)(g)
(g)
Algae abatement; nutrient control. These rules shall require that an application for financial assistance for the implementation of any project involving algae or aquatic plant abatement programs include the identification of long-term controls which are being or will be undertaken to reduce or prevent nutrient pollution.
33.02(1)(h)
(h)
Guidelines for feasibility and implementation grants. These rules shall establish guidelines for providing financial assistance for feasibility studies and implementation costs.
33.02(2)
(2) Studies, inventories. The department shall undertake studies and inventories to assist the council in carrying out its duties.
33.02(3)
(3) Aids. The department shall administer a program of financial assistance to districts, using such funds as are appropriated by the legislature or made available from other sources.
33.02(4)
(4) Assistance. The department shall assist districts seeking technical aid in any phase of lake protection or rehabilitation activity.
33.02(5)
(5) Clearinghouse. The department shall serve as a clearinghouse for scientific data on lakes and information on accepted and experimental lake protection or rehabilitation techniques.
33.03
33.03
Cooperation by state agencies. All departments and agencies of state government shall make available to the department such information and assistance as may be necessary to enable it to carry out its functions under this chapter.
33.03 History
History: 1973 c. 301;
1977 c. 26; Stats. 1977 s. 33.03.
INLAND LAKES PROTECTION AND REHABILITATION COUNCIL
33.05
33.05
Council duties. The inland lakes protection and rehabilitation council shall advise the department on all matters pertaining to lake rehabilitation and preservation and the abatement of pollution of lakes. The council's duties include, but are not limited to:
33.05(1)
(1) Recommending a classification system for the selection of eligible lakes for study or treatment and for determining priority of treatment among eligible lakes; taking into consideration such factors as amount of public use and private development, potential for adequate pollution and erosion controls within the drainage basin, special environmental values, potential for future successful management, and other factors.
33.05(2)
(2) Recommending standards and guidelines for lake rehabilitation plans, to ensure that rehabilitation efforts and expenditures yield maximum returns, that environmental values are protected, and that rehabilitated lakes are protected from degradation to the maximum extent possible in the future.
33.05(3)
(3) Making recommendations on the utilization of any federal or state funds available for lake rehabilitation and supporting research activities.
33.05(4)
(4) Making recommendations on the qualifications of the personnel to staff the interdisciplinary subunit of the department created for the purpose of dealing with lake rehabilitation.
33.05(5)
(5) Recommending to the department lakes to be used as benchmarks in measuring human-induced effects on lake environments.
33.05(6)
(6) Recommending research programs and projects on lake degradation, protection or rehabilitation.
33.05(7)
(7) Recommending procedures that the department may utilize to ensure that projects receiving financial assistance under
s. 33.16 comply with the requirements of this chapter.
LAKE PROTECTION AND REHABILITATION PROJECTS
33.11
33.11
Goals. The primary goal of activity under this chapter shall be to improve or protect the quality of public inland lakes. In addition, compilation of basic scientific data on lakes of this state and assessment of experimental and innovative techniques of lake rehabilitation and protection shall be goals of the program. Districts may undertake protection and rehabilitation projects to achieve the purposes of such districts specified in
s. 33.21. Projects may be undertaken in cooperation with the department, the university of Wisconsin system, and other government agencies, and public and private organizations. Projects shall be divided into study, planning and implementation phases.
33.11 History
History: 1973 c. 301;
1975 c. 197.
33.12
33.12
Scope. Any proposed activity by a district which does not involve an application for state aids or an application for a
ch. 30 permit is exempt from
subch. III. If a proposed activity by a district involves an application for state aids,
subch. III applies. If a proposed activity by a district involves an application for a
ch. 30 permit,
subch. III shall apply only if the department determines that the activity requiring the permit is an integral part of a lake rehabilitation project.
33.12 History
History: 1973 c. 301.
33.13
33.13
Feasibility study. 33.13(1)(1) Feasibility study work done through government agencies and public or private organizations shall include gathering data on the lake, drainage basin, sources of pollution or nutrients or other information necessary to determine the causes of degradation and remedial courses of action to prevent continued degradation or to determine potential causes of degradation and preventive courses of action. The department shall prescribe data to be secured, methods of analysis and evaluation, and duration of data-gathering to be used in feasibility studies.
33.13(2)(a)(a) The district may contract for feasibility study work with the lowest responsible bidder who submits a bid in the manner the district commissioners prescribe.
33.13(2)(b)
(b) In order to receive financial assistance for feasibility study work the district shall obtain the advice and approval of the department before entering a contract for feasibility study work and the department shall be made a party to the contract.
33.13(3)
(3) Data gathered shall be forwarded to the department, which shall analyze it on an interdisciplinary basis.
33.13(4)
(4) The department shall formulate suggested alternative methods, including cost estimates, of protecting or rehabilitating the water quality of the lake or portions thereof. Alternative protection schemes shall include steps necessary to maintain the water quality of the lake. Alternative rehabilitative schemes shall include steps necessary to abate continued degradation of the lake following implementation of a given rehabilitative plan.
33.14
33.14
Plan preparation and adoption. 33.14(1)
(1)
Proposed plan. If specific lake protection and rehabilitation measures developed under
s. 33.13 appear feasible and if financial assistance under
s. 33.16 is sought, then the commissioners of the district shall develop a proposed plan based upon the recommendations of the department and the formulated alternatives or upon other technically valid bases.
33.14(2)
(2) Submission of proposed plan. Prior to adopting a plan by formal resolution under
s. 33.15, the commissioners shall:
33.14(2)(a)
(a) Forward a copy of the proposed plan to the department;
33.14(2)(b)
(b) Refer the proposed plan to the appropriate county land conservation committee and to the appropriate regional planning agency for the area, if any, for review and comment within 60 days of receipt; and
33.14(2)(c)
(c) Make application for any required permits and file an application for financial aid.
33.14(3)
(3) Department review. Within 21 days after receipt of the proposed plan and applications the department shall advise the district if additional information is needed to conduct its technical and environmental review of the proposal. If an environmental impact statement is required, the department shall complete its environmental impact review before taking final action on the proposed plan.
33.14(3m)
(3m) Notice; hearing. The department shall schedule a hearing on the proposed plan or follow the notice procedures under
s. 31.06 (1).
33.14(4)
(4) Considerations at hearing. If a hearing is conducted, the department shall consider the following:
33.14(4)(b)
(b) The issuance of permits which have been applied for;
33.14(4)(c)
(c) Whether the implementation of the plan is likely to cause long-range environmental pollution as defined in
s. 299.01 (4);
33.14(4)(d)
(d) Comments made by the reviewing county land conservation committee and regional planning agency, if any; and
33.14(4)(e)
(e) Such other subjects as the department by rule deems necessary for making the order required by
sub. (5).
33.14(5)
(5) Approval. Within 60 days following the hearing, the department shall by order either approve, approve with modification or disapprove the plan. The department shall concurrently rule on all permit applications.
33.15
33.15
Implementation. 33.15(1)(1) No plan developed under this subchapter which involves financial assistance under
s. 33.16 may be formally adopted for implementation by the district until the department approves the plans or whatever modifications it finds appropriate. If the department modifies an application by order, it shall clearly explain reasons why the modifications are being made.
33.15(2)
(2) Following receipt of the department's order, the district may adopt the approved plan by resolution, in which case it shall forward a copy of the resolution and plan to the department.
33.15(3)
(3) The district may then carry out the adopted plan of implementation.
33.15(4)
(4) Implementation work may consist of any work in the lake or its watershed which will protect or enhance the opportunities for public enjoyment of the lake.
33.16
33.16
Financial assistance program. 33.16(1)
(1) Feasibility work contracted under
s. 33.13 (2) (b) is eligible for financial assistance subject to guidelines established by rule by the department for funding feasibility studies. Receipt of financial assistance for feasibility work does not guarantee financial assistance for implementation costs and the department may not make this type of commitment for future financial assistance.
33.16(3)
(3) A district desiring financial assistance shall apply to the department on forms provided by it and prescribing the information to be submitted.
33.16(4)
(4) The department shall review all applications for financial assistance under this section. In the course of review of applications for financial assistance for implementation work the department shall consider, without limitation because of enumeration, the following factors where appropriate:
33.16(4)(a)
(a) Whether the citizens of the state will reasonably benefit from any improvements made or information obtained, and the degree of benefit;
33.16(4)(b)
(b) Whether sufficient long- and short-term benefits will be derived from the project, in relation to its cost;
33.16(4)(c)
(c) Whether the project is financially viable, given the resources of the district and the possibility of financial and nonmonetary aid;
33.16(4)(d)
(d) Whether adequate steps have been or will be taken to ensure that the improved conditions resulting from the project will be sustained by adequate controls over potential sources of lake degradation including, where appropriate, control of sediments as suggested by the county land conservation committee;
33.16(4)(e)
(e) Whether experimental techniques involving a high risk of failure are being undertaken;
33.16(4)(f)
(f) Whether contamination from deleterious substances emitted by residential, municipal or industrial sources, sedimentation, siltation and nutrient fertilization from uncontrolled agricultural sources or septic tanks, groundwater, municipal and industrial wastes and other drainage sources, and any other sources responsible for lake degradation, are or will be substantially eliminated as a source of lake degradation, in order that any lake rehabilitated under this chapter may be protected or maintained in its protected or rehabilitated state;
33.16(4)(g)
(g) Whether the project involves dredging and, if it does, the expected useful duration of the proposed dredging, whether other techniques are available to provide relief from the problem to be solved by dredging and whether long-term controls are or will be undertaken to prevent sedimentation; and
33.16(4)(h)
(h) Whether the project involves algae or aquatic plant abatement programs and, if it does, whether long-term controls are or will be undertaken to reduce or prevent nutrient pollution.
33.16(5)
(5) The department may not approve any application for financial assistance for the implementation of any project which involves dredging if the expected useful duration of the dredging is less than 50 years. The department may not approve any application for financial assistance for the implementation of any project which involves dredging if the state funding provided by the department under the financial assistance program would provide more than 50% of the funding necessary for dredging other than dredging to provide public access. The department may not approve any application for financial assistance for the implementation of dredging if the amount of the financial assistance to be provided for dredging for a single project exceeds 10% of the funds available for all projects in the biennium. The department may not approve any application for financial assistance for the implementation of dredging unless no other reasonable alternative is available to provide relief from the problem to be solved by dredging.
33.16(6)
(6) The department shall act upon each application for financial assistance within 60 days following plan approval and issuance of permits unless lack of adequate funding or the need to invoke a priority system dictates a delay in determination. Plan disapproval, delay in funding or other action not approving the application shall be explained by the department to the district in writing.
33.16(7)(a)(a)
District share. The department may not grant financial assistance for implementation work in an amount which reduces a district's share of the project cost to less than 10%, except that up to 100% funding may be allowed on high-risk experimental projects where eventual results are highly uncertain.
33.16(7)(b)
(b)
Grant limit. No grant for financial assistance under this section may exceed 25% of state funds available in the biennium.
33.16(7)(c)
(c)
Dredging limit. No grant for financial assistance under this section may provide for funding for dredging in an amount which exceeds 10% of the funds available in the biennium.
33.16(7)(d)
(d)
Renewal. The department may not renew a grant for financial assistance under this section in future bienniums unless the council finds that a special situation exists and recommends renewal of the grant.
33.16(7)(e)
(e)
North-south split. The department shall grant financial assistance under this section so that not less than 25% of the moneys granted in any fiscal year are granted to districts north of a line running east-west across the state and commencing at the southernmost point on the southern boundary of the city of Stevens Point, except that this subsection does not preclude the full utilization of available funds if all applications north of this line aggregate less than 25% of the annual appropriations.
33.16(7)(f)
(f)
Level of funding; priorities. The department shall grant financial assistance under this section with the appropriate level of state funding based upon rules promulgated under
s. 33.02 (1) (d). The department may deny financial assistance under this section based upon priorities promulgated by rule under
s. 33.02 (1) (e).
33.16(8)
(8) The department may evaluate or contract with the university of Wisconsin system to evaluate projects receiving financial assistance under this section.
33.17
33.17
Unfunded application to continue. 33.17(1)
(1) Aid applications approved but unfunded because of a lack of funds remain eligible for future funding, subject to updating as the department may require. A lack of funding under this subchapter does not preclude a district from implementing all or part of an approved plan with funding from any other source but these projects are not eligible for retroactive financial assistance.
33.17(2)
(2) The department shall return rejected applications to the district with a concise statement of the reasons for rejection.
33.18
33.18
Use of tax incremental financing prohibited. A district may not apply for or utilize tax incremental financing to fund an inland lake protection and rehabilitation program or project.
33.18 History
History: 1981 c. 317.
PUBLIC INLAND LAKE PROTECTION AND REHABILITATION DISTRICTS
