•   Small/medium CAFOs: The revisions reflect federal and state authority to define and designate small and medium size animal feeding operations that have discharges to navigable waters as CAFOs and to issue WPDES permits for those discharges. The revisions also outline permit requirements for permits issued to small and medium CAFOs.

a. Types of small businesses affected: Animal feeding operations

b. Description of reporting and bookkeeping procedures required: In accordance with revised federal rule requirements, permittees must conduct frequent inspections of water lines (daily), storm water diversions (weekly) and storage facilities and runoff control systems (weekly) at the animal production area. These inspections are then summarized in a quarterly report and these quarterly reports are submitted to the Department on an annual basis. For land application activities, the proposed code requires periodic manure and soil sampling, daily spreading logs documenting spreading activities, and a weather log. Permittees summarize this information and submit it to the Department as part of an annual report. In general, the required bookkeeping procedures are designed to document that an operation is complying with the regulations. For permitted operations, the revised code proposal does not significantly alter current code requirements, aside from the addition of certain types of self-inspections that are required and the maintenance of a weather log. The Department is in the process of creating standardized reporting forms that will increase the ease and consistency of reporting. Permitted operations must keep all records on-site for five years. Since these are federal requirements, the Department may not waive or provide less stringent requirements.

c. Professional skills necessary: The requirements of the proposed rule changes are similar to the type of requirements currently in the rules, so the type of professional skills required to comply with the rule are not expected to be significantly different. Depending on the knowledge, training, qualifications and time available of an owner or operator of a given permitted operation, a nutrient management plan may or may not require involvement of a hired certified agronomist or other qualified professional. Most large CAFOs already have professional agronomists develop their nutrient management plans. Smaller operations are more likely to need outside assistance given time and resource restrictions. Many, if not most, large CAFOs hire professional engineers to design their structural facilities and systems. Given the size, complexity and technical nature of the design of systems and structures, it is difficult for permittees to comply with design requirements associated with the permit, short of basic earth-moving, without the involvement of a professional with expertise in the area of design and construction. For example, a manure storage facility for a 2000 animal unit dairy designed to provide six months of storage has a volume of approximately 5.5 million gallons. All size operations may, if available, have access to design and technical assistance from counties or NRCS staff free of charge.

The Department's Small Business Regulatory Coordinator may be contacted at:
  SmallBusinessReg.Coordinator@dnr.state.wi.us
  or by calling (608) 266-1959.

August 15, 2005   Roosevelt Room
Monday at 6:00 p.m.   Ramada White House
  1450 Veterans Drive
  Richland Center

August 17, 2005   UW-Extension
Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.   Jefferson County Office
  864 Collins Road
  Jefferson

August 18, 2005   Room 103
Thursday at 6:00 p.m.   Chippewa Valley Tech. College,
  Business Education Center
  Clairemont Campus
  620 West Clairemont Avenue
  Eau Claire

August 22, 2005   Room E101/E102
Monday at 6:00 p.m.   Northcentral Tech. College
  1000 W. Campus Drive
  Wausau

August 25, 2005   Auditorium
Thursday at 6:00 p.m.   Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
  1660 E. Shore Drive
  Green Bay

The fiscal impacts of revisions to ch. NR 243 falls into two major areas--increasing the amount of review time required for nutrient management plans and increasing the number of reviews for manure storage facilities.

The estimated impact is as follows:

(A) Nutrient management plans. The Department estimates that an additional 10 hours of staff time will be required for each annual review of a nutrient management plan. This type of work is typically done by a Wastewater Specialist - Senior. Assume 235 CAFOs * 10 hours each = 2,350 additional staff hours per year. This equates to 1.3 FTE (2,350 hours/1800 hours per FTE = 1.3 FTE) and associated salary-related costs (excluding fringes) of $53,369 (2,350 hours * $22.71/hr = $53,369).

(B) Manure storage facilities. The Department estimates that there will be a 40% increase in the number of manure storage facilities and that each facility will require 8 hours of review time. This type of work is typically done by a Water Resources Engineer - Senior. Assume 235 CAFOs * 40% increase in storage facilities = 94 new storage facilities * 8 hours review per facility = 752 additional hours over a 5-year period/5 years = 150 additional staff hours per year. This equates to approximately 0.1 FTE per year (150 hours/1800 hours per FTE = 0.1 FTE) and associated salary-related costs (excluding fringes) of $2755 (150 hours * $25.03/hr = $3755).

Other State and Local Agencies. Since the WPDES permit program is administered solely by the Department, other state and local agencies should not expect increased costs associated with administering the changes to WPDES permit requirements. Other state (primarily, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection) and local agencies (primarily Land Conservation Departments) may experience additional requests for assistance from CAFOs in developing nutrient management plans and design of storage and runoff control facilities; however, the modifications to NR 243 do not require such assistance given that private consultants can provide the same services.

Private Sector. Fiscal impacts on the private sector primarily relate to phosphorus-based nutrient management requirements and to storage design requirements for solid and liquid manure. The Department estimates that the total annual statewide fiscal impact on CAFOs will range from $1.8 million to $6.1 million over each of the first five years of the revised rule. The great majority of costs are associated with manure storage requirements.

Using a variety of assumptions, the Department estimates a total annual statewide increase in costs associated with phosphorus-based nutrient management requirements of about $90,000 over each of the first five years of the revised rule. In estimating the cost impact, the Department assumed that 32% (75 operations) of existing and new operations over the next five years would fall under phosphorus-based nutrient management planning requirements for the first time as a result of the revised rules. Only 11% (8 operations) of these operations would experience increased costs based on soil test levels. Based on an estimated cost of $5.63 per animal unit per year for phosphorus-based management and an average of 2,000 animal units per CAFO, annual increases in costs associated with the new rule total $90,000 for proposed phosphorus-based nutrient management requirements

The Department estimates total annual statewide costs associated with manure storage requirements at $1.8 million to $6.1 million per year over each of the first five years of the revised rule. This cost estimate assumes that 50-70% of all current and future CAFOs have or will have 6 months of liquid manure storage regardless of the proposed revisions to ch. NR 243 and would not be impacted by the storage provisions in the proposed rule changes. The remaining 30-50% would need to build some amount of storage to comply with the proposed rule changes. If one assumes that a 2,000 animal unit operation produces 736,100 cubic feet of manure and process wastewater in a 6 month period, the range of manure storage construction costs would be $257,700 to $404,900 for six months of storage. If 30-50% of the current and future CAFOs would have otherwise built at least a 3 month storage, irrespective of the new NR 243 requirements, total cost is estimated at $1.8 million to $3.0 million/year. If 30-50% of the current and future CAFO would not have otherwise built any storage and are required to construct 6 month storage, total cost is estimated at $3.7 million to $6.1 million/year.

The emission limitations (“cutpoints") subject to this proposed revision are pass/fail standards for the I/M program. The Department proposes to revise certain cutpoints for specific categories of vehicles as follows:

1. Relax the cutpoints for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) for some groups of trucks and older cars to account for some deterioration of the emission control systems for these vehicles;

2. Establish new cutpoints for model year 2005 and newer heavy-duty trucks to account for new federal certification standards for these vehicles; and

3. Simplify the cutpoints for some categories of model year 1994 to 1996 vehicles so that the lane inspector would not need to decode data under the vehicle's hood in order to determine the proper cutpoints.

a. Types of small businesses affected: Small businesses that own nonexempt motor vehicles customarily kept in the 5-county I/M program area and small businesses that repair motor vehicles that fail the I/M inspection. Under the proposed rule, slightly fewer vehicles would fail the I/M inspection. This may lower vehicle repair costs for some small businesses that own motor vehicles, but may also result in a slight decrease in business for small businesses that repair motor vehicles.

b. Description of reporting and bookkeeping procedures required: Other than the requirements for vehicles to report at inspection stations, there are no reporting, bookkeeping or other procedures required for compliance with the rule.

c. Description of professional skills required: No professional skills are necessary.

The Department's Small Business Regulatory Coordinator may be contacted at:
  SmallBusinessReg.Coordinator@dnr.state.wi.us
  or by calling (608) 266-1959.

August 23, 2005     Room 140-141
Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.   DNR Southeast Region Hdqrs.
    2300 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
    Drive
    Milwaukee

The proposed rule is not expected to increase costs to state or local government nor have a significant fiscal effect on the private sector. Under certain circumstances, the proposed rule may decrease costs to state or local government, since slightly fewer vehicles will fail the emissions test:

(1) The 500 fewer failed vehicles would result in about 600 fewer retests (considering “dropouts" and multiple retests) and that reduction in the number of retests could reduce the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) payment to the I/M program contractor by as much as $10,000 per year. However, based on the terms of the DOT's contract with the I/M program contractor, in order for this savings to be realized, the actual number of tests per year would need to deviate from the number of tests estimated in the contract by more than 3% (in either direction). The likelihood that a deviation that large would occur is uncertain.

(2) Slightly fewer vehicles owned by state or local government may fail the emission test, possibly leading to lower repair costs. However, the repair costs for failed vehicles are often offset by improved fuel efficiency or increased vehicle durability.

Since both of these possibilities for reduced costs are subject to considerable uncertainty, a conservative assessment of the fiscal effect is “no state fiscal effect" and “no local government costs."

The proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be reviewed and comments electronically submitted at the following Internet site: adminrules.wisconsin.gov. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. mail to Mr. Chris Bovee, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Comments may be submitted until September 2, 2005. Written comments whether submitted electronically or by U.S. mail will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearing. A personal copy of the proposed rule and fiscal estimate may be obtained by contacting Proposed Rules, Bureau of Air Management, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707, phone: (608) 266-7118; FAX: (608) 267-0560.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to s. 41.17 (4) (g), Stats., the Wisconsin Department of Tourism will hold a hearing at the time and place shown below to consider a proposed order to revise s. Tour 1.03 (4) relating to the joint effort marketing program.

The hearing will be held at the Department of Tourism, Meeting Room 2B, 201 West Washington Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday August 11, 2005 at 10:00 a.m.

Written comments on the proposed rules may be sent to the contact person by Monday August 1, 2005. Written comments will receive the same consideration as written or oral testimony presented at the hearing.

Section 41.17, Stats., creates a joint effort marketing program and s. 41.17 (4) (g), Stats., authorizes the Department to adopt rules required to administer the program. The Joint Effort Marketing program provides for grants to non-profit organizations engaged in tourism activities that are directed at increasing tourism spending in a local area. Grant funds may be used for the development of publicity, the production and media placement of advertising and direct mailings that are part of a project and overall advertising plan of the applicant organization intended to increase tourism in Wisconsin.

Funding may be used for advertising of an event, for advertising of a sales promotion and for destination marketing advertising that is not tied to an event or promotion, but which is directed at extending the tourism market for the applicant and which has been identified by the Department as a market for the state.

If the project advertises an existing event, the rules require that the advertising be placed in a new geographic market, or reach a new demographic market, or the use of media where advertising for the event has not previously been placed. Existing Event projects are limited to one year of funding.

The proposal would allow the department to fund a second consecutive year of an existing event project.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to 227.14 Stats., the proposed rule will have minimal impact on small businesses. The initial regulatory flexibility analysis as required by 227.17 (3) (f), Stats., is as follows:

(1) Type of small business affected by the rule: None

(2) The proposed reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rule: None

(3) The types of professional skills necessary for compliance with the rule: None.

The proposed rule has no fiscal effect.

For additional information about or copies of the proposed rules contact:

Abbie Hill, Joint Effort Marketing Program Coordinator

Telephone: 608/261-6272

Wisconsin Department of Tourism

P.O. Box 8690

Madison, WI 53708-8690

Email: ahill@travelwisconsin.com

Pursuant to the authority vested in the Department of Tourism, by s. 41.17 (4) (g), Stats., and interpreting s. 41.17, Stats., the Department hereby amends the rules as follows:

SECTION 1. TOUR 1.03 (4) is amended to read:

TOUR 1.03 (4) A project described in s. Tour 1.02 (6) (a), or (f), may receive up to 3 years of funding, and the 3 years are not required to be consecutive. A project described in s. Tour 1.02 (6) (b) (c) (d), may receive up to 2 consecutive years of funding. A recipient of funding for a project described in s. Tour 1.02 (6) (d) may apply for another project under s. Tour 1.02 (6) (d) no earlier than the third fiscal year following the fiscal year during which funding was granted. Projects described in s. Tour 1.02 (6) (b) and (c) are limited to one year of funding unless the department determines that a second year of funding is necessary because severe weather, some other natural event or act of God had a substantial negative impact upon the prior year operation of the event. For each year of funding requested, an application shall be submitted and a determination made as provided under this chapter.