Scope Statements
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
This statement of scope was approved by the Governor on October 29, 2013.
Rule No.
Relating to
Dairy processor grants.
Statutory Authority
Rule Type
Emergency and Permanent.
1. Description of the Objective of the Rule
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) proposes an emergency and permanent rule that will establish criteria DATCP will use to make determinations for grants to dairy processors to promote and develop the dairy industry. The emergency and permanent rules are necessitated by the addition of authority and general purpose revenue funding appropriated to the Department as part of
2013 Wis. Act 20, the Biennial Budget.
2. Description of Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule and of New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule and an Analysis of Policy Alternatives; the History, Background and Justification for the Proposed Rule
History and background.
In
2013 Wis. Act 20, the budget act, Section 203 created the following appropriation:
20.115 (4) (dm) Dairy processor Plant Grant Program. The amounts in the schedule for promoting the growth in the dairy industry by providing grants to persons operating processing plants as defined in s.
97.20 (1) (h). The appropriation is an annual appropriation of $200,000.
Nature of the Emergency
An emergency rule is necessary to ensure that funds are used to assist dairy processors during the first year of the annual appropriation as the legislation does not contain standards DATCP will use to make grant determinations and permanent rules cannot be adopted in time to provide the basis for grant determinations for that first year appropriation. The emergency rule is necessary for the welfare of those dairy processors who the Legislature has determined require assistance to maintain and expand their operations and for the welfare of the entire dairy industry. DATCP anticipates that the emergency and permanent rules will have the same provisions.
Policy Alternatives
Do nothing. If DATCP fails to adopt rules that contain the basis for grant determinations it will not be able to expend the funds and provide the assistance to dairy processors that the Legislature directed in
2013 Act 20, the biennial budget.
3. Statutory Authority for the Rule (Including the Statutory Citation and Language)
Section
93.07 (1), Stats., directs DATCP to make such regulations as are necessary for the discharge of all the powers and duties of the department. While granting the authority to make grants to dairy processors, the budget language does not specify the bases for grant determinations. The agency considers it necessary to adopt rules to establish the bases for grant and loan determinations in order to effectuate the purposes of s.
20.114 (4) (dm), Stats.
4. Estimate of the Amount of Time that State Employees Will Spend to Develop the Rule and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rule
DATCP estimates that it will use approximately 0.25 FTE staff to develop this rule. This includes time required for the investigation and analysis, financial assistance criteria, rule drafting, preparing related documents, holding public hearings and communicating with affected persons and groups. DATCP will use existing staff to develop this rule.
5. Description of all Entities that may be Impacted by the Rule
This rule will enable dairy processors to obtain financial assistance to expand, modernize, or improve the efficiency or profitability of their operations or who seek product, market or production process opportunities.
6. Summary and Preliminary Comparison of any Existing or Proposed Federal Regulation that is Intended to Address the Activities to be Regulated by the Rule
The United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency Value Added Producer Grant Program offers funding for activities that expand markets or add value to agricultural products.
7. Anticipated Economic Impact
The proposed rule will enable DATCP to provide financial assistance to dairy processors who wish to expand, modernize, or improve the efficiency or profitability of their operations or who seek product, market or production process opportunities. DATCP expects the proposed rule to have a positive economic impact upon the dairy industry and to have no negative economic impact statewide and locally.
Contact Person
Mike Bandli, DATCP; Phone (608) 224-5136.
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
This statement of scope was approved by the Governor on October 30, 2013.
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) gives notice, pursuant to 227.135, Stats., that it proposes to adopt an emergency administrative rule.
Rule No.
Chapter
ATCP 21, Wis. Adm. Code (existing).
Relating to
Exotic plant pests.
Rule Type
Emergency.
Preliminary Objectives
An emergency rule authorized by this statement of scope will create county or multi-county or township or multi-township quarantines for an exotic plant pest in counties and townships where the pest is detected. Any emergency rule authorized by this scope statement will be submitted to the Governor for approval pursuant to s.
227.24 (1) (e),
1g., Stats., each time the department finds that a quarantine area for an exotic plant pest is required. The authorization to draft an emergency rule creating a quarantine area pursuant to this statement of scope will expire on the first day following the twelfth month of publication of this statement of scope pursuant to s.
227.135 (3), Stats., and a new statement of scope must be approved and published pursuant to s.
227.135 (2) and
(3), Stats., to continue the authorization of emergency rulemaking related to exotic pest quarantines.
A rule authorized by this statement of scope will do the following:
•
Create county or multi-county or township or multi-township quarantines in which an exotic pest is detected. The quarantine will prohibit the movement of all articles potentially harboring the damaging pest. These regulated articles would likely include: firewood, nursery stock, green lumber, and other woody material living, dead, cut or fallen, including logs, stumps, roots, branches and composted and uncomposted chips in the cases of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB), Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) or Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD), as examples.
•
Provide an exemption for items that have been inspected and certified by a pest control official and are accompanied by a written certificate issued by the pest control official (some products, such as nursery stock, cannot be given an exemption).
•
Provide an exemption for businesses that enter into a state or federal compliance agreement. The compliance agreement describes in detail what a company can and cannot do with regulated articles.
Preliminary Policy Analysis
DATCP has authority under s.
93.07 (12), Stats., to conduct surveys and inspections for the detection and control of pests injurious to plants, and to make, modify, and enforce reasonable rules needed to prevent the dissemination of pests. DATCP also has plant inspection and pest control authority under s.
94.01, Stats. DATCP may by rule impose restrictions on the importation or movement of serious plant pests, or items that may spread serious plant pests.
In recent years the rate of arrival of new exotic plant pests to the United States has increased significantly. Some of the exotic pests which have already invaded our country include Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB), Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) and Gypsy Moth (GM). The annual cost of these invasive forest insects to local governments is estimated at more than $2 billion; residential property value loss due to exotic forest pests averages $1.5 billion per year nationally. To date, EAB and GM have infested Wisconsin. EAB is an exotic pest that endangers Wisconsin's 770 million ash trees and ash tree resources. This insect has the potential to destroy entire stands of ash, including up to 20% of Wisconsin's urban street trees (with an estimated cost of $3 billion) and residential landscaping trees, and may result in substantial losses to forest ecosystems. The insect can cause great harm to state lands and to the state's tourism and timber industries. At this time, EAB has been identified in twenty-two states including Wisconsin, and two Canadian provinces. Twenty Wisconsin counties are currently quarantined to restrict the movement of ash wood in order to prevent the spread of EAB.
Nature of the Emergency
This emergency rule is necessary to create a timely quarantine of the counties or townships, and possibly bordering counties or townships, with new exotic plant pest detections until a federal quarantine is enacted. The federal quarantine will take effect up to six months after a formal submission by the state plant regulatory official.
Statutory Authority for the Rule (Including the Statutory Citation and Language)
Section
93.07 (1), Stats., directs DATCP to make such regulations as are necessary for the discharge of all the powers and duties of the department. Section
93.07 (12), Stats., authorizes DATCP to conduct surveys and inspections for the detection and control of pests injurious to plants, and to make, modify, and enforce reasonable rules needed to prevent the dissemination of pests. DATCP also has plant inspection and pest control authority under s.
94.01, Stats.
Current and Proposed Federal Legislation and Comparison to Proposed Rule
In order to limit the spread of exotic plant pests, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (APHIS) has imposed quarantines for EAB in 20 states, ALB in 3 states, and GM in 18 states. Including Wisconsin, six states plus Canada have imposed an external quarantine for HWA, and sixteen states have done the same for TCD. DATCP rules currently prohibit movement of regulated plant articles from any federally quarantined area except under authorized conditions. This proposed rule is consistent with current state and federal rules.
Entities Affected
According to the American Forest and Paper Association (June 2011), Wisconsin is first in the nation in forestry jobs, employing over 56,000 workers and annually shipping forest industry products valued over $16.2 billion. Each year the agricultural industry also produces $1.38 billion of corn grain, and $511 million in soybeans. Additionally, Wisconsin leads the nation in snap bean production ($61 million annually) and ranks third in potato production ($293 million annually). Wisconsin apple orchards produce an annual yield of $28 million. This emergency rule could have an impact on persons or companies that deal in any agricultural crop or forest product from the quarantined counties or townships to locations outside of the quarantined counties.
