(1) During May and June 2003, at least 12 people in Wisconsin have developed illnesses within one to two weeks after the people have had contact with prairie dogs. Symptoms of the human illness include fever, cough, rash and swollen lymph nodes. Several of these people have needed to be hospitalized.

(2) Preliminary laboratory results indicate that the cause of the human illness is an orthopox virus that could be transmitted by prairie dogs. Some of the pet prairie dogs have exhibited signs of illness. There have been reports of other mammals that have come in contact with prairie dogs also exhibiting signs of illness.

(3) It is necessary to reduce the opportunities for human interaction with prairie dogs or other mammals that have been in contact with prairie dogs in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of Wisconsin residents. Therefore, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is adopting this emergency rule to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.

Rules adopted revising ch. Chir 2, relating to passing and retaking the practical examination.

The Chiropractic Examining Board finds that preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare necessitates putting the rule amendments described into effect prior to the time the amendments would take effect if the agency complied with the notice, hearing and publication requirements established for rule-making in ch. 227, Stats. The facts warranting adoption of these rule amendments under s. 227.24, Stats., are as follows:

On December 19, 2002, the Chiropractic Examining Board adopted the national practical examination conducted by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners as the board's practical examination for determining clinical competence in Wisconsin. The board has determined that the national practical examination is a better measure of competence than was the state examination previously administered by the board and that the public health, safety and welfare warrant that the national practical examination be instituted immediately. The rule changes herein conform the terminology used in the board's rule with the textual description of the national practical examination and resolve doubts about the examination grades issued to applicants who complete the national practical examination.

The national practical examination describes the examination parts in different terms than are used in s. Chir 3.02, although the national practical examination covers the practice areas described in the existing rule. The rule amendments to s. Chir 2.03 (2) (intro.) resolve this difference.

This order deletes the reference in the board's current rule to passing “each part" of the examination. The national practical examination has one part and an applicant receives one grade for the part. In utilizing the national examination, the board approves the grading and grading procedures of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Grade review procedures in s. Chir 2.09 are superfluous and the rule is repealed. The rule requiring reexamination is modified to avoid confusion over examination parts. The board is proceeding with promulgating these rule changes through a proposed permanent rule-making order.

The Department of Commerce finds that an emergency exists and that the adoption of the rule included in this order is necessary for the immediate preservation of public health, safety and welfare.

Statutory Authority: ss. 560.02 (4) and 560.04, Stats.

Statute Interpreted: s. 560.04, Stats.

Pursuant to s. 560.04, Stats., the Department of Commerce (Commerce), as a part of its comprehensive duties involving community development and economic development, administers federal funds in the form of grants to eligible communities related to economic development. Under current rules, the maximum amount of funds that may be awarded to a community is $1 million per calendar year and the maximum amount that a business may borrow from a local government under the economic development program is also $1 million during any 5-year period. The timing and dollar limitations specified in the rules are barriers to providing a comprehensive and rapid response to changing economic conditions in a community.

Given the uncertainty inherent in today's marketplace, Commerce would like to maximize the use of federal community development block grant funds to positively impact local economies. Under the rules, as currently structured, Commerce's ability to respond rapidly to actual or potential plant closings or relocations in a specific geographical region is limited. The following emergency rule will allow Commerce to respond more rapidly to changing economic conditions.

This rule provides Commerce, working collaboratively with local communities, the ability to quickly respond to changing economic conditions due to potential plant closings, business relocations, layoffs, and other economic factors that could negatively affect the economic conditions in the community and state.

The Department of Employee Trust Funds, Employee Trust Fund Board, Teachers Retirement Board and Wisconsin Retirement Board find that an emergency exists and that an administrative rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is:

Without emergency rule-making it will not be possible to avoid short-term harm to individual WRS annuitants who will already bear the effects of the market downturn though a zero percent fixed annuity dividend and a double-digit negative variable change.

The first annuity dividends actually affected by the 2002 rule-making (CR #02-049) are the dividends otherwise payable on March 1, 2003. Projections indicate that the fixed division dividend will likely be 0%, largely because of the effect of three years of market declines. The annual change to variable division annuities, which is more volatile because it reflects only the past year's market performance, will be negative and in the range of -26% to -30%. This means that the portion of an annuitant's annuity payable from the fixed division will not increase during 2003, while, if the annuitant receives a portion of his or her annuity from the variable annuity division, that portion of the annuity will be markedly reduced. Annuitants are concerned about the short-term effect of cuts to their annuities being made effective a month earlier this year than was the case in previous years.

The change from April 1 to March 1 was initiated with the best of intentions, primarily to get the additional money from dividend increases into the hands of annuitants as quickly as possible. In retrospect, the timing is unfortunate. When drafting of the rule began in early 2002, the year-end market earnings were unknown and a third consecutive year of market losses could not be predicted. The continued deterioration of investment returns in the latter part of 2002 has magnified the adverse, short-term effect of this change in the timing of dividends; that is, the size of the negative variable adjustment is larger.

The Division of Securities of the Department of Financial Institutions for the State of Wisconsin finds that an emergency exists and that the attached rules are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency follows:

Congress in its passage of the National Securities Markets Improvement Act (“NSMIA") in 1996 prohibited state securities regulators from establishing or enforcing under their state securities laws or rules, record-keeping requirements for securities broker-dealers that are inconsistent with, or not required by, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC").

Following passage of NSMIA, the SEC commenced a rule-making process that spanned a several-year period (including a 1998 reproposal of the entirety of the proposed rules for a new public comment period), culminating in adoption in late 2001 of an extensive series of broker-dealer books and records rules for effectiveness commencing May 2, 2003. The SEC's revised books and records rules cover a comprehensive series of areas, including: (1) customer account records; (2) order ticket information; (3) customer complaints; (4) mandated reports and audits; (5) compliance manuals; (6) records maintenance, retention, production and access; and (7) records required to be maintained at a firm's home office and at “local" offices.

Because of the preemptive effects of federal law under NSMIA, all of the existing provisions of the Wisconsin administrative rules in Chapter SEC 4 under the Wisconsin Securities Law dealing with broker-dealer books and records covering the information categories (1) to (6) described above are superseded by the federal rules established by the SEC that became effective today, May 2, 2003. Additionally, certain existing Wisconsin Rule of Conduct provisions tied to the existing Wisconsin books and records rules need to be revised appropriately.

Consequently, it is necessary to immediately revise and amend Wisconsin's broker-dealer books and records rules to conform to the federal rules that now have become effective, and to remove inconsistent requirements contained in the existing Wisconsin books and record-keeping rules. A subcommittee of the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA"), an organization comprised of the securities administrators of all 50 states, including Wisconsin, has reviewed the impact of the SEC's books and record-keeping rules on existing state securities law licensing rules, and recommended that states utilize the incorporation-by-reference-of-the–federal-rules treatment as set forth in this Order Adopting Emergency Rules.

Accordingly, the emergency rules do the following:

(1) Under Section 1, the entirety of the existing Wisconsin general books and records requirement for licensed broker-dealers as set forth in rules DFI-Sec 4.03 (1) to (4) (that particularizes the types of required books and records, and prescribes records retention periods), is repealed and recreated to incorporate by reference the new, superseding, federal rules adopted by the SEC contained in sections 17a-3 and 4 under the Securities Exchange Act. New sub. (1) requires a firm to retain the books and records cross-referenced in federal SEC rules 17a-3 and 4, and new sub. (2) incorporates by reference the records preservation and retention requirements in federal SEC rule 17a-4. New subsections (3) and (4) replace the current Wisconsin rules in DFI-Sec 4.03 (3) and (4) [that prescribe branch office records and retention requirements], with language which provides that the books and records required to be prepared and maintained at broker-dealer offices triggering the definition of “branch office" under current rule DFI-Sec 1.02 (7) (a), are the same records prescribed under the new federal provisions in new federal Rule 17a-3, and must be held for the retention periods specified in new federal Rule 17a-4.

(2) Section 2 repeals current Wisconsin rule DFI-Sec 4.03 (6) [which permitted broker-dealers to utilize alternative records to satisfy the principal office and branch office records required in existing rules DFI-Sec 4.03 (1) and (3)], because under NSMIA, states no longer have the authority to permit alternative forms of broker-dealer records different from the records prescribed by federal law.

(3) Section 3 is a renumbering of current rule DFI-Sec 4.03 (7) to reflect the repeal of DFI-Sec 4.03 (6) in Section 2 above.

(4) Under Section 4, the existing Wisconsin Rule of Conduct provision in DFI-Sec 4.05 (5) [requiring broker-dealers to provide customers with prescribed new account information and subsequent amendments to such information] is amended to both substitute a cross-reference to the new federal provision on that subject in SEC rule 17a-3(a)(17) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and to repeal language in the Wisconsin rule inconsistent with federal provisions.

The Department of Health and Family Services finds that an emergency exists and that the rules are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:

On June 25, 1999, the Department submitted a request for a waiver of federal law to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that controls states' use of Medicaid funds. On June 14, 2002, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare granted the waiver, effective January 1, 2003. The waiver allows the state to expand Medicaid services by providing coverage of family planning services for females of child-bearing age who would not otherwise be eligible for Medicaid coverage. Under the waiver, a woman of child-bearing age whose income does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty line will be eligible for most of the family planning services currently available under Medicaid, as described in s. HFS 107.21. Through this expansion of coverage, the Department hopes to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in Wisconsin.

Department rules for the operation of the Family Planning Demonstration Project must be in effect before the program begins. The program statute, s. 49.45 (24r) of the statutes, became effective on October 14, 1997. It directed the Department to request a federal waiver of certain requirements of the federal Medicaid Program to permit the Department to implement the Family Planning Demonstration Project not later than July 1, 1998, or the effective date of the waiver, whichever date was later. After CMS granted the waiver, the Department determined that the Family Planning Demonstration Project could not be implemented prior to January 1, 2003, and CMS approved this starting date. Upon approval of the waiver, the Department began developing policies for the project and subsequently the rules, which are in this order. The Department is publishing the rules by emergency order so the rules take effect in February 2003, rather than at the later date required by promulgating permanent rules. In so doing, the Department can provide health care coverage already authorized by CMS as quickly as possible to women currently not receiving family planning services and unable to pay for them. The Department is also proceeding with promulgating these rule changes on a permanent basis through a proposed permanent rulemaking order.

* The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules suspended this emergency rule on April 30, 2003

The Department of Health and Family Services finds that an emergency exists and that rules are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:

2001 Wisconsin Act 109 amended s. 146.50 (6) (a) 2., (b) 2. and (8) (b) 3. by adding the requirement that as of January 1, 2003, to receive an initial or renewed EMS license or first responder certification, the applicant must have received training in response to acts of terrorism. Section 146.50 (6) (b) 2. of the statutes specifically directs the Department, in conjunction with the technical college system board, to promulgate rules specifying training, education, or examination requirements for training in response to acts of terrorism. The training must be completed by all persons desiring to receive an initial or renewed license or certification after January 1, 2003. To enforce and administer this statutory requirement, the Department must revise the administrative rules associated with the licensing of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) - Basic and EMTs- Basic IV (found in ch. HFS 110), EMTs- Intermediate (found in ch. HFS 111), EMTs - Paramedic (found in ch. HFS 112) and First Responders (found in ch. HFS 113.)

The required rule changes will remove any question of whether the department had the authority to require persons to receive training for acts of terrorism. Such training is needed to promote the public's health and safety and due to the statutory effective date of January 1, 2003, the department is promulgating these rule changes through an emergency order. The department is also proceeding with promulgating these rule changes on a permanent basis through a proposed permanent rulemaking order.

The Department of Health and Family Services finds that an emergency exists and that the rules are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:

The federal Rural Hospital Flexibility Program promotes the continued viability of rural hospitals by allowing qualifying hospitals to receive cost-based reimbursement for their services if the hospital qualifies for and is approved to convert to what is known as a Critical Access Hospital (CAH). In Wisconsin, subchapter VI of ch. HFS 124 governs the Department's designation and regulation of CAHs. Designation as a CAH and receipt of cost-based reimbursement promotes the hospital's continued viability. To date, 25 hospitals in Wisconsin have transitioned to CAH status, thereby ensuring continued acute care access for many rural residents.

The Department recently learned that the tenuous financial condition of St. Mary's Hospital in Superior jeopardizes its continued operation and places it in imminent danger of closing unless the hospital can be designated as a CAH and receive cost-based reimbursement. The closure of St. Mary's would reduce Douglas County residents' accessibility to acute care. Moreover, the loss of the facility would have a significant detrimental effect on the county because St. Mary's annual payroll is between $7-8 million and it employs the equivalent of about 160 persons full-time.

Federal regulations permit a hospital in an urban area such as Superior to be reclassified as a critical access hospital if the hospital is located in an area designated as rural under state law or regulation. The Department has determined that the current provisions in ch. HFS 124 preclude St. Mary's from being reclassified as a rural hospital and designated as a necessary provider of health services to area residents. However, St. Mary's Hospital meets “necessary provider" status in the Wisconsin Rural Health Plan based on economic, demographic and health care delivery in its service area. Therefore, through this rulemaking order, the Department is modifying provisions in subchapter VI of ch. HFS 124 to permit St. Mary's Hospital to be classified as a rural hospital and begin the approval process for designation as a Critical Access Hospital.

Section 149.143 (4), Stats., permits the Department to promulgate rules required under s. 149.143 (2) and (3), Stats., by using emergency rulemaking procedures, except that the Department is specifically exempted from the requirement under s. 227.24 (1) and (3), Stats., that it make a finding of emergency.

The State of Wisconsin in 1981 established a Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) for the purpose of making health insurance coverage available to medically uninsured residents of the state. HIRSP offers different types of medical care coverage plans for residents. According to state law, HIRSP policyholder premium rates must fund sixty percent of plan costs. The remaining funding for HIRSP is to be provided by insurer assessments and adjustments to provider payment rates, in co-equal twenty percent amounts.

One type of medical coverage provided by HIRSP is the Major Medical Plan. This type of coverage is called Plan 1. Eighty-nine percent of the 16,445 HIRSP policies in effect in March 2003, were of the Plan 1 type. Plan 1 has Option A ($1,000 deductible) or Option B ($2,500 deductible). The rates for Plan 1 contained in this rulemaking order increase an average of 10.6% for policyholders not receiving a premium reduction. The average rate increase for policyholders receiving a premium reduction is 18.5%. Rate increases for individual policyholders within Plan 1 range from 5.4% to 20.9%, depending on a policyholder's age, gender, household income, deductible and zone of residence within Wisconsin. Plan 1 rate increases reflect general and industry-wide premium increases and take into account the increase in costs associated with Plan 1 claims.

A second type of medical coverage provided by HIRSP is for persons eligible for Medicare. This type of coverage is called Plan 2. Plan 2 has a $500 deductible. Eleven percent of the 16,445 HIRSP policies in effect in March 2003, were of the Plan 2 type. The rate increases for Plan 2 contained in this rulemaking order increase an average of 15.6% for policyholders not receiving a premium reduction. The average rate increase for policyholders receiving a premium reduction is 23.8%. Rate increases for individual policyholders within Plan 2 range from 9.9% to 26.5%, depending on a policyholder's age, gender, household income and zone of residence within Wisconsin. Plan 2 rate increases reflect general and industry-wide cost increases and take into account the increase in costs associated with Plan 2 claims. Plan 2 premiums are also set in accordance with the authority and requirements set out in s. 149.14 (5m), Stats.

The Department through this order amends ch. HFS 119 in order to update HIRSP premium rates in accordance with the authority and requirements set out in s. 149.143 (2) (a), Stats. The Department is required to set premium rates by rule. HIRSP premium rates must be calculated in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles.

The Department through this order is also increasing total HIRSP insurer assessments and reducing provider payment rates, in accordance with the authority and requirements set out in s. 149.143 (2) (a) 3. and 4., Stats. With the approval of the HIRSP Board of Governors and as required by statute, the Department reconciled total costs for the HIRSP program for calendar year 2002. The Board of Governors approved a methodology that reconciles the most recent calendar year actual HIRSP program costs, policyholder premiums, insurance assessments and health care provider contributions collected with the statutorily required funding formula.

By statute, the adjustments for the calendar year are to be applied to the next plan year budget beginning July 1, 2003. The total annual contribution to the HIRSP budget provided by an assessment on insurers is $35,444,109. The total annual contribution to the HIRSP budget provided by an adjustment to the provider payment rates is $39,170,353. On April 9, 2003, the HIRSP Board of Governors approved the calendar year 2002 reconciliation process. On May 19, 2003 the Board approved the HIRSP budget for the plan year July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004.

The department's authority to amend these rules is found in s. 149.143 (2) (a) 2., 3., 4., and (3), Stats., and s. 227.11 (2) Stats. The rule interprets ss. 149.142, 149.143, 149.146, and 149.165, Stats.

The Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board finds that an emergency exists and that the attached rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is:

The 1989 Wisconsin Act 31 created s. 39.435 which provides for Talent Incentive Program Grants to Wisconsin residents who meet criteria established by the statute and administrative code. The Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) administers this program under s. 39.435 and under ch. HEA 5. According to the administrative rules, a student must be continuously enrolled from semester to semester and year to year to continue to receive this grant after their initial year. Under current rules, exceptions to this requirement may only be made for medical reasons.

Recently, students who have returned from active duty military service and resumed enrollment at a college or university have begun to request exceptions to the continuous enrollment requirement. This situation is not addressed in the current administrative rules, because the break in these students' enrollment was not due to medical reasons.

Unless the Board changes its rules, participating students who have been called up to active duty military service will permanently lose their eligibility in this program. Because this grant targets the most financially-needy and educationally-disadvantaged students, the loss of eligibility will cause a hardship to those students who rely most heavily on financial assistance.

The emergency rule procedure is being used to ensure that students who have returned from active duty military service and resumed enrollment during the current academic year, 2002-2003, will not permanently lose their eligibility in this program.

The commissioner of insurance (commissioner) finds that an emergency exists and that promulgation of this emergency rule is necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:

Actuarial and accounting data necessary to establish PCF fees is first available in January of each year. It is not possible to complete the permanent fee rule process in time for the patients compensation fund (fund) to bill health care providers in a timely manner for fees applicable to the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2003.

The commissioner expects that the permanent rule corresponding to this emergency rule, clearinghouse No. 03-039, will be filed with the secretary of state in time to take effect October 1, 2003. Because the fund fee provisions of this rule first apply on July 1, 2003, it is necessary to promulgate the rule on an emergency basis. A hearing on the permanent rule, pursuant to published notice thereof, was held on May 14, 2003.

The emergency rule procedure, pursuant to s. 227.24, Stats., is necessary and justified in establishing rules to protect the public health, safety and welfare. The state legislature has delegated to the department rule-making authority in 2001 Wisconsin Act 108 to control the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Wisconsin. CWD poses a risk to the health of the state's deer herd and citizens and is a threat to the economic infrastructure of the department, the state, it citizens and businesses.

2001 Wis. Act 56 was not enacted until April of 2002. It required standards for captive animals held under licenses issued under ch. 169, Stats., to be in place by January 1, 2003, the effective date of the change from licensing under ch. 29, Stats., to ch. 169, Stats. As the use of the permanent rule process would not allow these standards to be in place by January 1, 2003, the Department had no choice but to use the emergency rule procedures. Failure to have standards in place would result in the lack of humane care standards for wild animals held in captivity and the lack of pen standards necessary to prevent the interactions between captive and wild animals.

The emergency rule procedure, pursuant to s. 227.24, Stats., is necessary and justified in establishing rules to protect the public health, safety and welfare. The state legislature has delegated to the department rule - making authority in 2001 Wisconsin Act 108 to control the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Wisconsin. CWD poses a risk to the health of the state's deer herd and citizens and is a threat to the economic infrastructure of the department, the state, it's citizens and businesses. This rule is needed to reduce the deer herd in the CWD eradication zone further than accomplished through the hunting seasons to help prevent the spread of CWD.

Initial Applicability. This emergency rule repeals and recreates portions of the original CWD emergency rule order (WM-32-02 (E)) which was adopted by the Natural Resources Board in June 2002. The effective period of this emergency rule will coincide with the effective period of the original CWD emergency rule order which has been extended by the Legislative Joint Committee on the Review of Administrative Rules until April 1, 2003, pursuant to 2001 Wisconsin Act 108.