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Legislative Updates
LEGISLATIVE ALERT!
WRWA learned yesterday that AB 182, the "Landlord Bill", is going to public hearing next week on Tuesday, February 28th at 1:00pm in Room 225 Northwest in the State Capital. The Water & Electric Utility industry has been opposed to this issue for years and is concerned that the current political climate may allow it to proceed.
AB 182, as originally written, would have prevented utilities from putting unpaid tenant utility balances on the tax rolls at the end of the year. A Substitute Amendment that was recently introduced would still allow utilities to put unpaid tenant delinquent balances on the tax rolls, but would require utilities to notify the Consolidated Court Automation Program when they become a lien on the property.
What can You Do?
1. Please consider attending this hearing and show your opposition by testifying or simply registering in opposition. We anticipate supporters of this bill will be doing the same.
2. If you are unable to attend the hearing, please consider contacting (phone or e-mail) your Legislator directly and ask that they oppose Assembly Bill 182.
3. If your community passed a resolution in opposition to the bill and didn't send a copy to the WRWA office yet, please Fax one to us at 715-344-5555.
4. If you or a representative of your community/utility has already called or submitted information to your legislator(s), please let Dave Lawrence know at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Click on the following links for AB 182 Bill Description & Comments.
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE NEWS – September, 2011
REGULATIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH – "On Aug. 19, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made a decision to waive environmental compliance for New York City's water supply. The EPA intimated that New York would not be required to spend $1.6 billion to cover some of its drinking water reservoirs. The City of Waukesha has not attempted a similar challenge to the EPA mandate that is requiring the city to pay an estimated $164 million for Lake Michigan water to bring its supply into compliance with federal standards for the EPA radium regulation. Why would caring and intelligent people such as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, New York Sen. Charles Schumer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg want to waive compliance with environmental protection regulations? Because often the specific requirements of environmental regulations don't do anything reasonable to protect the environment or the public health...Consider EPA's radium rule that is causing extreme burden on Waukesha citizens. Yes, radium is radioactive. However, so is breathing pure, natural air from similar elements found in nature - at very low levels of radioactivity that do not cause public alarm when explained in the context of reality. And remarkably, the health level of radioactivity that the EPA uses to determine its radium level is less a risk to health than the air you breathe from radon. Furthermore, the EPA can't tell the public at what level naturally occurring radium in the water is safe and when the level becomes unsafe. This seems difficult to believe. But know that the EPA determines its regulatory levels based on technological achievable levels, not public health levels. When asked what the safety level would be, the EPA answered that it could not identify such a level. The reason such a situation can occur is a result of a regulatory system that removes public health decisions from the people affected by the policy and have to pay for implementation of the policy. And instead, it directs the determination to a bureaucracy mandated to make a regulation based on technology, not public health." By Mike Keegan, analyst with the National Rural Water Association in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit association of over 27,000 small and rural communities. SOURCE - http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/129416483.htm l (September 8, 2011).
PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY CODE COUNCIL - At the August 25, 2011 meeting of the WRWA Board of Directors, Mr. Vincent Matarrese was selected as WRWA's representative on the Safety Code Council. Vince currently serves as WRWA's Safety Consultant and has over 34 years of experience in safety and health, with 31 of those years in training personnel in safety and rescue procedures. His background in safety includes: excavations, fall protection safety, emergency and rescue operations, mines, tunnels and shafts, confined space entry, and hazardous waste operations. In addition, his training experience includes: construction, general industry, municipalities and fire departments throughout the United States. WRWA knows he will represent the interests of municipal employees and the communities they serve with distinction. The Division of Safety and Buildings within the Department of Safety and Professional Services is reconvening the Council in October to update Chapter Comm 32.
BACKFLOW PREVENTION REGULATIONS – WRWA 40 Hour Cross Connection Control Assembly Tester Certification Course is scheduled for October 17 – 21. Become a certified tester and join the Class of 2011 graduates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=054Vh9HJok4&feature=player_profilepage . We make learning fun! For more information on this course, including fees and registration information see http://www.wrwa.org/images/documents/Training/PFT/tester%20course%20agenda%20and%20reg%20oct%202011.pdf.
RURAL WATER LEGISLATIVE NEWS – June, 2011
AB 182 - WRWA opposes AB-182. WRWA asks its members to contact their legislators and request that they oppose AB-182, a bill that would prevent municipal utilities from putting the unpaid balances of tenants on the tax rolls. For a copy of the proposed bill, click here. On behalf of their memberships, the Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin (MEUW), the Wisconsin Rural Water Association (WRWA), the Wisconsin Water Association (WWA), and the Municipal Environmental Group (MEG – Water & Wastewater Divisions) sent the following (http://www.wrwa.org/images/documents/Legislative/legislative%20sb58.pdf) to all Wisconsin Legislators when the bill was being circulated for sponsorship as LBR 1393/1 – we continue to urge members of the Legislature to oppose this legislation – a bill that will have a significant adverse financial impact for many communities in Wisconsin, and force their utility customers who do pay their own bills to pay for those that don't. Call, or write your state Legislators today!
SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST - public workers right to collective bargaining. "Acting with unusual speed, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the reinstatement of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial plan to end most collective bargaining for tens of thousands of public workers... In addition to limiting collective bargaining, the bill also requires state employees to pay more for their health care and pensions. Those changes were to take effect in April, but were stopped from going into place because of Sumi's order. Last week, Administration Secretary Michael Huebsch said that if the court ruled in the administration's favor, implementation of the law could move quickly. State employees should expect to see the changes in pension and health care costs to become effective on their paychecks by the middle of August, Huebsch said." SOURCE - http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/123859034.html.
BUDGET DEBATE CONTINUES – "Amid protests and high security, GOP lawmakers worked behind closed doors Tuesday on a state budget deal, but failed to get one in time to start debate on the bill late in the night. Republican leaders in the Assembly said they would need another day to work on changes such as preserving federal money for transit and broadband access in rural areas. They vowed to come back (today) Wednesday morning to take up Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill for what is expected to be a marathon debate... The two-year, $66 billion budget would close a $3 billion shortfall, in part by making deep cuts to schools and local governments. It would put tight limits on property taxes and leave the state with an estimated $300 million surplus two years from now, putting the state's long-term finances into balance for the first time in more than a decade... Among items being discussed are a plan to expand private school vouchers to Green Bay and a budget provision that would require local governments to use private contractors for certain public works projects... Some Republicans are raising concerns about the budget provision that would prohibit counties and municipalities from using their own crews to perform some public works jobs costing more than $100,000. They would have to turn to private contractors, potentially driving up their costs and making it harder to keep on staff highway workers who also drive snowplows in the winter. The provision has led some local government officials to say that if it is enacted, they will stop performing maintenance work on state highways unless they get more money to perform that work. The heads of public works departments have urged lawmakers to reverse course, saying it will inhibit the ability of local governments to save money by collaborating with each other. 'Ambiguities within the proposed language leave one with the impression that current and future collaboration, consolidation and cooperation efforts could be seriously curtailed and impacted,' the letter says. 'Does, for example, the proposed prohibition foreclose the opportunity of adjacent communities to collaboratively pave a road that forms the boundary between the two? Or, does this prevent an entity such as the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District from providing wastewater treatment services for its member communities?' The letter was signed by 14 local officials from around the state, including Jeffrey Mantes, Milwaukee's public works commissioner." SOURCE - http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/123848589.html.
QUOTE – "I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." Will Rogers
Ken M. Blomberg
WRWA Executive Director
(715) 344-7778
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
RURAL WATER LEGISLATIVE NEWS – May, 2011
SB 58 - SENATE BILL 58 - "Current law imposes a two−year deadline on public utility bills for service. Under the deadline, a public utility must bill a customer for service within two years of the service. Current law also provides that a customer is not liable for unbilled service two years after the date of the service, unless certain specified exceptions apply. As a result, under current law, a customer is liable, without exception, for service billed within the two−year deadline, but is liable for service billed after the two−year deadline only if an exception applies. This bill creates an exception to customer liability for service billed within the two−year deadline. Under the bill, a customer is not liable for service if a public utility fails to bill the customer in a timely manner and the failure resulted from the inaccurate measurement of service caused in whole or in part by the public utility's act or omission. The bill provides that service is considered billed in a timely manner if it is billed in the same billing cycle in which the service is delivered. The bill also prohibits the Public Service Commission from allowing a public utility to recover in rates any amounts that the bill prohibits the public utility from collecting from customers." Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
LANDLORD BILL RESURFACES – On behalf of their memberships, the Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin (MEUW), the Wisconsin Rural Water Association (WRWA), the Wisconsin Water Association (WWA), and the Municipal Environmental Group (MEG – Water & Wastewater Divisions) sent the following (http://www.wrwa.org/images/documents/Legislative/legislative%20sb58.pdf) to all Wisconsin Legislators when the bill was being circulated for sponsorship as LBR 1393/1 – we continue to urge members of the Legislature to oppose this legislation – a bill that will have a significant adverse financial impact for many communities in Wisconsin, and force their utility customers who do pay their own bills to pay for those that don't.
OVERTURN NONPOINT POLLUTION RULES? – "The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee voted to overturn rules regulating nonpoint pollution in the state. Both houses of the Legislature will have to approve the measure. For now, regulations stay in place until new rules are written. Nonpoint pollution - the kind of pollution that comes from farm fields and city streets - is the largest source of water pollution in the state. The committee's action Tuesday night drew criticism from environmental groups. Amber Meyer Smith, program director for Clean Wisconsin, says her organization fears that lawmakers want to weaken the regulations. The River Alliance of Wisconsin called it a "giant step backward." Ken Johnson, water division administrator with the Department of Natural Resources, said the agency needs to talk to lawmakers to learn what kind of changes they are seeking. The Republican-controlled Legislature has been critical of the DNR at times for advancing regulations that exceed federal standards, or that heap new costs on business or municipalities. The committee also asked the DNR for a detailed economic analysis of the rules." SOURCE - http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/122630018.html.
GOV SIGNS BILLS – "Gov. Scott Walker on Monday signed into law proposals repealing a clean water testing requirement and giving his office more power in the crafting of state agency rules. One bill Walker signed repeals a state DNR rule that calls for municipal governments to install equipment to disinfect their water by December 2013...The other bill he signed gives the governor veto powers over rules written by state agencies and other elected state officials." SOURCE - http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110524/APC0101/105240432/Walker-signs-bills-affecting-water-testing-rules?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CAPC-News%7Cs.
Ken M. Blomberg
WRWA Executive Director
(715) 344-7778
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Congressman Ron Kind - (D) LaCrosse
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin - (D) Madison
*CONGRESSMAN SIGNS ON – Electronic submissions to the Appropriations Chair is the only method allowed for priority funding requests during this year's federal FY12 budget process. WRWA learned today that Congressman Ron Kind and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin have agreed to submit their requests on behalf of Rural Water funding. Has your Congressperson sent in their electronic submission request for Rural Water's training, source water and technical assistance funding yet?
REPORT TO CONGRESS
REPORT TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE
NR 854 WATER SUPPLY SERVICE AREA PLANS
To view WRWA's comments on the proposed NR 854 Water Supply Service Area planning regulations
Click here.
WATER SUPPLY SERVICE AREA HEARINGS
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This rule supports the implementation of § 281.348, Wis. Stats., as created in 2007 Wisconsin Act 227, to establish a continuing water supply service area planning process for persons that operate public water supply systems that serve a population of 10,000 or more and any person that operates a consecutive water supply system that receives water from a public water supply system required to prepare a plan under this rule. Persons required to prepare a water supply service area plan under this rule must have an approved plan by Dec. 31, 2025. However, persons proposing a new or increased withdrawal from the waters of the Great Lakes basin must prepare a water supply service area plan prior to receiving approval for the new or increased withdrawal. The rule also applies to any person proposing a new or increased diversion from the Great Lakes Basin – regardless of the size of the population. Persons requesting a new or increased diversion must have an approved water supply service area plan before the department will grant an approval of a new or increased diversion. The purpose of water supply service area planning is to systematically evaluate alternative means of supplying water to a delineated water supply service area and to identify a cost-effective water supply alternative for the 20-year planning period. The proposed rule requires that persons preparing a water supply service area plan: include the identification of water supply options that are based on a cost-effectiveness analysis of regional and individual water supply and water conservation alternatives; delineate a water supply service area; forecast populations and water demands; establish population densities and population forecasts; assess environmental impacts of implementing water supply alternatives; analyze how the plan is consistent with comprehensive and other planning processes; and conduct a public participation process, including review and comment, for a proposed water supply service area plan. The proposed rule and supporting documents, including the fiscal estimate, may be viewed and downloaded and comments electronically submitted through the Wisconsin Administrative Rules website. (Search the Web site using Natural Resources Board Order No. DG-39-10). Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted via U.S. mail to Mr. Dino Tsoris, Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921 or by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Comments may be submitted until December 31, 2010. Written comments, whether submitted electronically or by mail, will have the same weight and effect as oral statements presented at the public hearings. More information or a copy of the proposed rule and supporting documents may be obtained from Dino Tsoris, DNR Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921 or by calling (608) 267-4581. The hearings will be held:
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December 14, Concurrent sessions will be held at 2 p.m. at:
Milwaukee - University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Lubar Hall, Room S-250, 3202 N. Maryland Ave.
Green Bay - University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, Instructional Services Building, Room 1034, 2420 Nicolet Drive. -
December 15, Concurrent sessions will be held at 2 p.m. at:
Eau Claire - University of Wisconsin -- Eau Claire, Old Library, Room OL1132, 105 Garfield Ave.
Madison - The Pyle Center, Room 232, 702 Langdon St. -
Phosphorus Hearing Comments (7-28-2010)
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SENATE HEARING ON PROPOSED PHOSPHORUS REGULATIONS
The Senate Environment Committee has announced a hearing on proposed revisions to NR 102 and NR 217 related to phosphorus water quality standards criteria and WPDES permit provisions for phosphorus which were recently approved by the DNR's Natural Resources Board. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 10am, in Room 411-S of the State Capital.
Facts: According to the DNR’s own estimates, to comply with the proposed regulations 163 Wastewater Treatment Plants in Wisconsin would have to install new filtration systems at a cost of between $1.8 million and $6.9 million per system. These costs could climb to between $8.6 million and $26 million per system, once land acquisition and other costs are included.
Municipal WWTPs have already spent millions of dollars to remove up to 90% of their phosphorus discharges – and it would cost an additional $200 per pound to remove phosphorus to the levels proposed.
Although 163 communities would initially be affected, virtually every municipal WWTP would eventually be forced to comply with the new standards.
These rules do not address agricultural runoff, failing septic systems or other sources that account for up to 80% of the phosphorus pollution in Wisconsin waters.
Municipal WWTP operators and municipal representatives are strongly encouraged to provide written comments or attend this hearing. Let your legislators know your community cannot afford to spend millions of dollars on this unfunded mandate for additional treatment, while the larger issue is not addressed! -
Proposed Conservation & Efficiency Rules- https://health.wisconsin.gov/admrules/public/Rmo?nRmoId=7924
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Proposed Water Use Fees- https://health.wisconsin.gov/admrules/public/Rmo?nRmoId=7823
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Fee Calculator website (with a hyperlink to http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/dwg/greatlakes/rules.html )
STATE LEGISLATIVE NEWS
*GROUNDWATER BILL (AB 844) HEARING The Assembly Natural Resources Committee will be meeting at 9 am, this Wednesday, March 31, at the state Capitol in room 417-N. On the agenda is Assembly Bill AB-844. Groundwater management, water conservation, standard setting and a process for designating areas in this state as groundwater management areas - all will have an impact on public water suppliers. Last week’s Senate hearing drew out a crowd from the environmental arena who stacked the deck in favor of SB 620, which is the Senate’s version of same bill. It is important that our public water supply make a strong showing at the hearing, where you do not have to testify, but can simply register in opposition to the bill. WRWA’s testimony will be posted soon.
These bills appear on the fast track to the Governor’s desk and unless we act now, may become law and place an unfair share of the water conservation burden on the backs of the public water supply industry. See you in Madison on Wednesday!
Click here to view bill.
►WRWA Testimony
►Plover-Whiting-Stevens Point Testimony
►Municipal Environmental Group (MEG)
– Water Division Comments
FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE NEWS
STATE REGULATORY NEWS
FEDERAL REGULATORY NEWS
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Regulatory Snapshot
(Note: For Rural Water Members Only)
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