The proposed rule requires a cost benefit analysis before procuring engineering or other specialized services under s. 84.01 (13), Stats., in excess of $25,000 when those services are normally performed by state employees. The required analysis includes a comparison between the costs of contracting out and performing the services with state employees. The analysis also considers other subjective factors such as timeliness, quality and technical expertise.

The Legislature, by Section 7 of 2005 Wis. Act 363, provides an exemption from a finding of emergency for the adoption of the rule.

Section 348.07 (1), Stats., historically has limited vehicle lengths on Wisconsin highways to 65 feet. Section 348.07(2), Stats., allowed vehicles meeting the specifications of that subsection to operate without permits despite exceeding the 65-foot limit of subsection (1).

2005 Wis. Act 363 amended s. 348.07, Stats., and essentially made 75 feet the default permitted length on the state trunk highway system. Wisconsin's old default 65-foot overall length limit still applies on all local roads but only applies to state trunk highways that are designated as 65-foot restricted routes by the Department. This emergency rule making establishes a preliminary list of such “65-foot restricted routes."

Prior to Act 363, s. 348.07 (4), Stats., permitted the Department to designate “long truck routes" upon which no overall length limits apply. The Department designates the state's long truck routes in s. Trans 276.07. This rule making does not affect those longstanding designations.

The new “default" 75-foot overall length limit applies on state highways that are neither designated as 65-foot restricted routes under this rule making nor long truck routes under s. Trans 276.07.

Definitions have been added to the rule to make it easier to identify the nature of designations made by the Department in Ch. Trans 276.

In drafting this rule the Department noticed several items that it believes may be of special interest to the legislature and which, in the Department's view, deserve special legislative attention. First, Act 363 did not grant any authority for 75-foot vehicles using the new 75-foot routes to leave those routes to reach fuel, food, maintenance, repair, rest, staging, terminal or vehicle assembly facilities or points of loading or unloading. The Department does not believe this oversight was intentional and, on an emergency basis, has designated the intersection of each 75-foot route and any other highway as a long truck route under its authority in s. 348.07 (4), Stats. This will permit trucks to exceed the 65-foot default length limit on local roads to access such facilities and make deliveries. The Department encourages the legislature to consider statutorily establishing access rights for vehicles using 75-foot restricted routes.

The second consequence of Act 363 the Department has discovered in drafting this emergency rule is that one statute that formerly restricted double-bottom tractor-trailer combinations to the state's long-truck network was repealed by the deletion of the reference to s. 348.07 (2) (gm), Stats., by the Act's amendment of s. 348.07 (4), Stats. Under the amended statute, as revised by Act 363, it might appear to a reader that double bottom trucks of unlimited length may operate upon any highway in the state, including local roads and streets, without permits. Section 348.08 (1) (e), Stats., however, continues to provide that double-bottom trucks be restricted to highways designated by the department under s. 348.07 (4). WisDOT believes this provision continues to limit double-bottom operation to long truck routes designated by the Department under s. 348.07 (4), Stats. WisDOT would suggest the deleted reference to (2) (gm) in 348.07 (4), Stats., be re-inserted into the statute to avoid confusion.

Finally, the Department notes that s. 348.07, Stats., is becoming difficult to decipher from a legal standpoint because of the many amendments that have been made to it over the years. It may be that recodifying the statute for the purpose of clarification of the length limitations of Wisconsin law would be helpful to truck and long vehicle operators in this state.

The Department of Workforce Development finds that an emergency exists and that the rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or welfare. A statement of facts constituting the emergency is:

Adjusting the thresholds for application of the prevailing wage rate requirements by emergency rule ensures that the adjustments are effective on a date certain that is prior to the time of year that project requests are generally submitted to the Department and applicability of the prevailing wage law is determined. The adjustment avoids imposing an additional administrative burden on local governments and state agencies caused by an effective decrease of the thresholds due solely to inflation in the construction industry. If these new thresholds are not put into effect by emergency rule, the old thresholds will remain effective for approximately six to seven months, until the conclusion of the permanent rule-making process. The thresholds are based on national construction cost statistics and are unlikely to be changed by the permanent rule-making process.