Under current law, DOA and DNR administer the Safe Drinking Water Loan
Program (SDWLP), which provides financial assistance from the environmental
improvement program to municipalities, and to the private owners of community
water systems that serve municipalities, for projects that will help the municipality
comply with federal drinking water standards. DNR establishes a funding list for
SDWLP projects and DOA allocates funding for those projects.
The bill creates a general fund appropriation under the environmental
improvement program for projects involving forgivable loans to private users of
public water systems to cover not more than 50 percent of the cost to replace lead
service lines.
Well construction notification fee
Under current law, no person may construct a high capacity well, which is a well
with a capacity of more than 100,000 gallons per day, without prior approval of DNR
and payment of a $500 fee. Prior to construction of a well that is not a high-capacity
well, the owner of the property where the well is to be constructed must notify DNR
and pay a fee of $50. The bill increases the notification fee to $70.
Well construction variances application fee
Under current law, DNR regulates groundwater withdrawal. Administrative
rules promulgated by DNR establish requirements for the construction of wells and
provide that a person may request a variance from those rules if strict compliance
with the requirements is not feasible. DNR may determine whether a variance is
justified and may condition the issuance of a variance on additional construction
features to safeguard groundwater. The bill provides that DNR must collect a $100
fee from a person requesting a well construction variance.
Water stewardship certification
The bill creates a grant program for DATCP to provide grants to reimburse the
costs for agricultural producers to apply for a certification of water stewardship from
the Alliance for Water Stewardship. The grants must be made directly to the
producer, and may not be used to pay the costs of operational changes needed to
achieve certification.
Procedures under the clean water fund program and safe drinking water
loan program
The bill makes various changes to the process for applying for financial
assistance under the Clean Water Fund Program (CWFP) and the SDWLP. The
CWFP, which is administered by DNR, provides financial assistance to
municipalities for projects to control water pollution, such as sewage treatment
plants.
Under current law, a municipality that intends to apply for financial assistance
under either program must submit notice of its intent to apply to DNR at least six
months before the beginning of the fiscal year in which it will request to receive the
assistance. The bill eliminates the requirement to submit a notice of intent to apply
before applying.
Current law also requires an applicant for financial assistance under the
SDWLP to submit an engineering report as required by DNR by rule. The bill
changes this provision to allow DNR to determine, by rule, whether to require
submission of engineering reports. Under the bill, if an engineering report is
required by DNR, the applicant must submit the report either before or at the same
time as the application.
In addition, current law requires an applicant for financial assistance under
the SDWLP to submit the application on or before the June 30 before the fiscal year
in which the applicant wishes to receive funding, with certain exceptions. The bill
removes this requirement and instead requires DNR to provide, at least annually,
instructions for submitting applications, including the deadline for submittal, if any.
Finally, under the current SDWLP, if funding is allocated for a loan and the loan
is not closed before June 30 of the year following the year in which funding is
allocated, DOA must release the allocated funding. The bill repeals this provision.
Clean water fund program appropriation
The CWFP receives federal capitalization grants for a state revolving loan fund,
for which the state provides a 20 percent match. An appropriation under current law
provides a certain amount from the federal revolving loan fund account for general
operations of the CWFP. The bill changes this appropriation to provide all moneys
received from the federal revolving loan fund account for general operations of the
CWFP.
Environmental improvement fund revenue bonding limit
Current law authorizes the issuance of revenue bonds for the CWFP and the
SDWLP under the environmental improvement fund, but limits the principal
amount of those revenue bonds to $2,526,700,000. The bill increases that limit by
$385,000,000, to $2,911,700,000.
Bonding for nonpoint source water pollution abatement
Under current law, the state may contract up to $50,550,000 in public debt to
provide financial assistance for projects that control pollution that comes from
diffuse sources rather than a single concentrated discharge source in areas that
qualify as high priority due to water quality problems. The bill increases the bonding
authority for these projects by $6,500,000.
Bonding for Great Lakes contaminated sediment removal
Under current law, the state may contract up to $36,000,000 in public debt to
provide financial assistance for projects to remove contaminated sediment from Lake
Michigan or Lake Superior, or a tributary of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, if DNR
has identified the body of water as being impaired by the sediment. The bill increases
the bonding authority for sediment removal projects by $25,000,000.
Bonding for urban storm water, flood control, and riparian restoration
Under current law, the state may contract up to $57,600,000 in public debt to
provide financial assistance for projects that manage urban storm water and runoff
and for flood control and riparian restoration projects. The bill increases the bonding
authority for these projects by $12,000,000 and allocates $8,000,000 of those
amounts in fiscal biennium 2021-23 for cost-sharing grants under the municipal
flood control and riparian restoration program administered by DNR under current
law. The program provides financial assistance to local units of government for
facilities and structures for the collection and transmission of storm water and
groundwater and for the floodproofing of public and private structures that remain
in the 100-year floodplain.
Storm water management
Under current law, a person may need to obtain a storm water discharge permit
from DNR, and pay a permit fee, in order to discharge storm water. Current law
appropriates money annually from the general fund for the administration,
including enforcement, of the storm water discharge permit program (storm water
permit appropriation). An annual appropriation is expendable only up to the amount
shown in the schedule and only for the fiscal year for which made. Storm water
permit fees collected by DNR are credited to the storm water permit appropriation.
The bill changes the storm water permit appropriation from an annual to a
continuing appropriation, which is an appropriation that is expendable until fully
depleted or repealed by subsequent action of the legislature. Under the bill, the
storm water permit appropriation is still funded by all moneys received from storm
water permit fees.
Hazardous substances and environmental cleanup
Elimination of the land recycling loan program
Under the environmental improvement fund, the state provides financial
assistance to local governmental units for certain projects. The environmental
improvement fund is made up of three programs: the CWFP; the SDWLP; and the
land recycling (brownfields) loan program, which provides financial assistance for
the investigation and remediation of certain contaminated properties.
The bill eliminates the land recycling loan program, which has not provided
loans since 2008. Under the bill, current law provisions continue to apply to any
outstanding loans under the program that are in repayment. The bill also requires
any unallocated balance of moneys appropriated to the land recycling loan program
to be transferred to the CWFP.
Recycling
Local regulation of certain containers
Current law limits the ability of political subdivisions (cities, villages, towns,
and counties) to regulate auxiliary containers. “Auxiliary container" is defined as “a
bag, cup, bottle, can, or other packaging that is designed to be reusable or single-use;
that is made of cloth, paper, plastic, cardboard, corrugated material, aluminum,
glass, postconsumer recycled material, or similar material or substrates, including
coated, laminated, or multilayer substrates; and that is designed for transporting or
protecting merchandise, food, or beverages from a food service or retail facility.” In
general, a political subdivision may not 1) enact or enforce an ordinance regulating
the use, disposition, or sale of auxiliary containers, 2) prohibit or restrict auxiliary
containers, or 3) impose a fee, charge, or surcharge on auxiliary containers.
The bill provides that DNR may grant a political subdivision an exemption from
these prohibitions as they apply to a specific type of container. A political subdivision
seeking an exemption must make an application to DNR that describes the type of
container to which the exemption would apply and demonstrate that the political
subdivision cannot sell the type of container at a price that exceeds the recycling
processing costs of the container. If DNR grants the exemption, DNR must specify
the period of the exemption, which may not exceed two years.
E-Cycle grants
The bill requires DNR to create a program to provide grants to expand
electronics recycling collection in rural counties of the state. Grants may be provided
to local units of government, businesses, and nonprofit entities for hosting a
collection site or collection event in a rural county of the state.
General environment
Tipping fee exemption for waste-to-energy facilities
Current law imposes several fees, commonly called tipping fees, on generators
of solid waste that is disposed of at a landfill or other waste disposal facility. Under
current law, a facility that recycles construction, demolition, and remodeling
materials is exempt from these tipping fees, in an amount equal to the weight of
residue generated by the recycling process or 30 percent of the total weight of
material accepted by the recycling facility, whichever is less. To be eligible for this
exemption, the facility must be licensed as a solid waste processing facility; the
facility's plan of operation must require reporting of the volume or weight of
materials processed, recycled, and discarded; and the facility must be in compliance
with its plan of operation.
The bill creates a similar exemption from tipping fees for existing facilities that
incinerate solid waste for the purpose of energy recovery, commonly called
waste-to-energy facilities. To be eligible for this exemption, the facility must be
licensed as a municipal solid waste combustor; the facility's plan of operation must
require reporting of the weight of material coming into the facility, and the weight
of material rejected and residue produced by the facility and where the rejected
material and residue is sent; and the facility must be in compliance with its plan of
operation. The exemption does not apply to ash residue generated at these facilities.
The bill also makes a terminology change, referring to facilities exempt from
the tipping fee as “qualified facilities” instead of “qualified materials recovery
facilities.”
Ban on coal tar-based sealants
The bill prohibits the sale of coal tar-based sealant products and high PAH
sealant products (products with more than 0.1 percent polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons by weight) beginning January 1, 2022, and prohibits the use of such
products beginning July 1, 2022. A person who violates these prohibitions is subject
to the same penalty that applies under current law to other general environmental
provisions, which is a forfeiture of between $10 and $5,000 for each violation.
Municipal flood control aid
The bill requires DNR to award, from the amounts appropriated to DNR to
provide assistance for municipal flood control, $1,000,000 in grants in each fiscal
year of the 2021-23 fiscal biennium for the preparation of flood insurance studies
and other flood mapping projects.
Lapsing certain appropriations
The bill lapses, to the general fund in fiscal year 2021-22, $2,500 from the DNR
appropriation for Great Lakes remediation; $37,800 from the DNR appropriation for
maintenance and development of state parks and lands; and $7,200 from the DNR
appropriation for acquisition and development of new buildings.
health and human services
Public assistance
Emergency assistance for needy families
Under current law, DCF administers a program to distribute emergency
assistance funds to qualifying families who are homeless or who are facing
impending homelessness. Current law describes several scenarios that constitute
“homelessness or impending homelessness” for purposes of receiving the emergency
assistance. One scenario under current law is if the family receives an eviction notice
due to its inability to make rent, mortgage, or property tax payments that results
from a financial hardship. Under current law, a family can only qualify for this
emergency assistance once in a 12-month period. DCF rules specify certain financial
and nonfinancial eligibility requirements and the maximum payment amounts for
the emergency assistance.
Under current DCF rule, a family is defined as one or more dependent children
and a qualified caretaker relative who lives with the child, and a family's annual
gross income may not exceed 115 percent of the federal poverty line in order to
qualify. The maximum payment amount is calculated by multiplying the maximum
payment amount per family member for a family of that size by the number of family
members, or is determined by the amount of actual financial need due to the
emergency, whichever is less. Under current DCF rule, the maximum payment
amounts for families range from $258 per family member for a two-person family to
$110 per family member for a family of six or more people.
The bill makes the following changes to the emergency assistance program:
1. Adds that an individual who is between the ages of 18 and 24 may qualify
for emergency assistance payments even if that person is not a qualifying caretaker
relative of a child.
2. Increases the maximum family annual gross income to 200 percent of the
federal poverty line.
3. Allows a family to receive emergency assistance once in a six-month period
instead of once in a 12-month period.
4. Sets the maximum payment at an amount set by DCF by publication in the
Wisconsin Administrative Register, regardless of the size of the family, or the actual
financial need of the family due to the emergency, whichever is less.
The bill also specifies that, during a national emergency declared by the U.S.
president or a state of emergency declared by the governor, a family is considered to
be facing impending homelessness if it cannot make rent, mortgage, or property tax
payments regardless of whether the family has received notice that it will be evicted
if the payments are not made immediately.
Definition of “domestic abuse” in the emergency assistance program
Under the emergency assistance program, a family is considered to be homeless
or facing impending homelessness if certain conditions apply, including if a member
of the family was a victim of domestic abuse. Under the program, “domestic abuse”
has the same definition as under the statute establishing arrest and prosecution
procedures for domestic abuse incidents.
Also under current law, however, DCF is required under the Wisconsin Works
(W-2) program to promulgate rules for screening victims of domestic abuse, and
those rules must specify the evidence that is sufficient to establish that an individual
is or has been a victim of domestic abuse or is at risk of further domestic abuse. Under
current law, the W-2 program provides, among other things, work experience and
benefits for low-income custodial parents who are at least 18 years old.
The bill eliminates the definition of domestic abuse in the emergency assistance
program. Instead, it provides that evidence that is sufficient under the W-2 domestic
abuse screening program to establish that an individual is or has been a victim of
domestic abuse is also sufficient for that purpose under the emergency assistance
program.
Child care quality improvement program
Under Wisconsin Shares, which is a part of the W-2 program, an individual
who is the parent of a child under the age of 13 or, if the child is disabled, under the
age of 19, who needs child care services to participate in various education or work
activities, and who satisfies other eligibility criteria may receive a child care subsidy
for child care services under Wisconsin Shares. Under current law, DCF sets the
maximum payment rates for child care providers who provide services under
Wisconsin Shares and may modify an individual child care provider's payment rate
in the following manner on the basis of the child care provider's quality rating under
the Young Star system: a provider who receives a one-star rating may be denied
payment; a provider who receives a two-star rating may have the maximum
payment rate reduced by up to 5 percent; a provider who receives a three-star rating
may receive up to the maximum payment rate; a provider who receives a four-star
rating may have the maximum payment rate increased by up to 15 percent; and a
provider who receives a five-star rating may have the maximum payment rate
increased by up to 30 percent.
The bill eliminates the current law method by which DCF may modify
payments to child care providers under Wisconsin Shares based on a child care
provider's rating under the quality rating system known as Young Star. The bill
instead authorizes DCF to establish a program for making monthly payments and
monthly per-child payments to certified child care providers, licensed child care
centers, and child care programs established or contracted for by a school board. The
bill allows DCF to promulgate rules to implement the program, including
establishing eligibility requirements and payment amounts and setting
requirements for how recipients may use the payments. The bill funds the program
through a new appropriation and by allocating federal moneys, including child care
development funds and moneys received under the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families block grant program.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Under current law, DCF allocates specific amounts of federal moneys, including
child care development funds and moneys received under the Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program for various public assistance
programs. Under the bill, TANF funding allocations are changed in the following
ways, as compared to the funding allocation in the 2019-21 fiscal biennium:
1. For Wisconsin Works benefits, agency contracts, and job access loans, the
total funding is increased by 20 percent.
2. For emergency assistance payments, funding is increased by 73 percent.
3. For grants to Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., for distribution to
programs that provide civil legal services to low-income families, funding is doubled.
4. For the Transform Milwaukee and Transitional Jobs programs, funding is
increased by 49 percent.
5. For direct child care services, child care administration, and child care
improvement programs, total funding is decreased by 7 percent.
6. For kinship care payments, safety and out-of-home placement services, and
child abuse and neglect prevention services, total funding is increased by 10 percent.
7. For grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, funding is increased by
5 percent.
8. For the earned income tax credit supplement, funding is increased by 34
percent.
9. For the support of the dependent children of recipients of supplemental
security income, funding is decreased by 27 percent.
10. For all other programs under TANF, funding is continued with a funding
change of less than 5 percent.
The bill additionally allocates $500,000 of TANF funding in each fiscal year to
fund the Jobs for America's Graduates programs to improve social, academic, and
employment skills of youth who are eligible to receive TANF.
Also, the bill specifies that, with respect to a TANF-funded contract for
services, “allocation” means the amount under the contract that DCF is obligated to
pay.
Grants for homelessness case management services
Under current law, DOA may award 10 annual grants from TANF funds of up
to $50,000 to homeless shelter facilities to provide case management services for
homeless families. The bill increases the annual limit on grants to a shelter facility
from $50,000 to $75,000 and eliminates the restriction that limits DOA to making
no more than 10 grants in total each year.
Civil legal services grants
Under current law, DCF is directed to allocate in each fiscal year specific
amounts of money, including federal moneys received under the TANF block grant
program, for various public assistance programs. Under current law, DCF provides
funding to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc. (the Foundation), to
provide civil legal services to TANF-eligible individuals in two ways:
1. DCF provides up to $100,000 in each fiscal year in matching funds to the
Foundation for the provision of civil legal services to eligible individuals. This grant
does not specify what types of civil legal services may be provided.
2. DCF provides a $500,000 grant in each fiscal year to the Foundation to
provide grants to programs, up to $75,000 each, that provide certain legal services
to eligible individuals. The legal services provided through this grant are limited to
legal services in civil matters related to domestic abuse or sexual abuse or to
restraining orders or injunctions for individuals at risk.
The bill removes the grant that requires matching funds and increases the
grant to provide certain legal services to eligible individuals to $1,000,000 per fiscal
year. Under the bill, the Foundation may additionally use this funding to provide
to eligible individuals civil legal services related to eviction. The bill removes the
$75,000 cap on grants provided by the Foundation to individual programs.
Internet assistance program
The bill requires DCF to establish an Internet assistance program, under which
it makes payments to Internet service providers on behalf of low-income individuals
to assist with paying for Internet service. The bill requires that other assistance
program options be exhausted before assistance is provided under this program. The
bill allows DCF to contract for the administration of the program. The bill requires
DCF to promulgate rules to implement the program, including a requirement that
the family income of a recipient not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
Under the bill, the new program is funded through an appropriation from the general
fund and from $10,000,000 that the bill requires DCF to allocate from federal
moneys, including moneys received under the TANF block grant program.
