STATE OF WISCONSIN
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PROPOSED ORDER AMENDING EMERGENCY RULE
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation proposes an order to:
Amend ss. Trans 212 (title), 212.02 (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7) and (8), 212.03, 212.04 (1), (2) and (3), 212.05, 212.06 (1), 212.07, 212.09, 212.10, 212.12, 212.13, 213.02 (1), 213.02 (3), 213.02 (8), 213.03 (1) (a), 213.03 (2), (2) (a) and (2) (b), 213.03 (4) (a), 213.03 (4) (c) (Note), 213.03 (5).
Create ss. Trans 212.02 (6g), (6r), (9), (10) and (11), 212.04 (4), 213.02 (1m), 213.02 (7d), (7h), (7p) and (7t), 213.02 (10) and (11), 213.03 (1) (e), 213.03 (2) (c) The Statement of Scope for this Emergency Rule, SS 045-23, was approved by the Governor on July 6, 2023, published in Register No. 811A2 on July 10, 2023, and approved by Secretary of the State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation (Department) Craig Thompson, as required by s. 227.135(2), Stats, on June 1, 2023. This emergency rule was approved by the Governor on July 17, 2025. The analysis below was prepared by the Department. ANALYSIS
Finding of Emergency:
The welfare of local communities and safety of the driving public in the state of Wisconsin are at risk of harm if ch. Trans 212, relating to local bridge inspection standards, and ch. Trans 213, relating to the local bridge program, are not updated. Ch. Trans 212 needs updating to be consistent with recent 23 CFR Part 650 Subpart C Final Rule on National Bridge Inspection Standards modifications. Revisions to ch. Trans 213 will expand the eligible types of bridge improvement work completed with federal funds by local communities. Under current rules a bridge must meet sufficiency rating criteria to be eligible for funding. This rulemaking will increase the range of rehabilitation activities eligible for federal funding. This emergency rule enables local bridge owners to seek available federal funding for the upcoming local bridge program solicitation to pay for expanded bridge improvements to proactively maintain their structures with appropriate bridge work at the appropriate time. The current rule uses a sufficiency rating which is comprised of many factors in addition to bridge condition. This requires bridge owners to wait longer for their structures to fall into disrepair and meet current sufficiency rating criteria. Rather than allowing bridges to degrade until they have a sufficiency rating where the bridge needs more major rehabilitation or replacement, the emergency rule will allow owners to apply other rehabilitation treatments, or replace as appropriate, to maintain local structures in a good state of repair at a lower life cycle cost and extend the life of a bridge. The upcoming summer 2025 local bridge program application solicitation will fill program years through state fiscal year 2029. If these eligibilities are not available during that solicitation, the department risks lapsing federal funds in future fiscal years. The department is currently promulgating a permanent rule for expanding eligible types of bridge improvement using federal funding and cannot complete rulemaking in time to avoid one year of lapsed federal funding. Lapsing federal funds deprives local communities of critical funding needed to ensure the ongoing safety and operations of local bridges. Per the Bridge Formula Program (BFM) Implementation Guidance memorandum, federal funds from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) must be obligated and expended as follows:
Any such amounts not obligated within the period of availability for obligation shall lapse. Once the period of availability for obligation has expired, BFP funds will only remain available for adjusting and liquidating obligations as authorized in accordance with 31 USC 1553. In federal fiscal year 2022, the total annual federal funding in the Local Bridge Improvement Assistance Program was approximately $69.4 million. Ensuring local units of government are able to evaluate local bridges and identify eligible improvements in accordance with current standards, funding mechanisms and procedures is imperative. Therefore, the department is seeking to undertake emergency rulemaking for chs. Trans 212 and Trans 213 for the overall benefit of safety and operations for the state’s local bridge program. Explanation of Agency Authority:
(3) After the initial inspection and inventory under sub. (2) is completed, all highway bridges in the state shall be inspected on a continuing basis as determined by the department. The department shall establish standards for the continuing inspection program. The responsibility for the continuing inspection program shall be as follows:
(a) The department shall be responsible for inspecting the highway bridges on the state trunk highway system.
(b) Local authorities and other authorities shall be responsible for inspecting highway bridges on highways under their jurisdictions.
(1) Purpose. The local bridge program is created to accelerate the reconstruction or rehabilitation of seriously deteriorating local bridges.
(2) Definitions. In this section:
(a) “Coordinating agency" means the county which coordinates the submission of applications from eligible applicants within the county to the department.
(b) “Eligible applicant" means county, city, village, town or combination thereof.
(c) “Entitlement" means the amount of aids a coordinating agency will be eligible to receive under this section as determined under sub. (5).
(d) “Local bridge" means a bridge which is not on the state trunk highway system or on marked routes of the state trunk highway system designated as connecting highways.
(e) “Local bridge project" means a project for the design and construction or rehabilitation of a seriously deteriorating local bridge and minimum approaches.
(f) “Seriously deteriorating local bridge" means a local bridge exhibiting deficiencies that meet the criteria established by the department.
(3) Administration. The department shall administer a local bridge program which provides an entitlement of funds to the coordinating agency for the reconstruction or rehabilitation of seriously deteriorating local bridges. The department shall provide the same percentage of the cost of a local bridge project as the percent established under 23 USC 144 (f). (4) Applications. Any eligible applicant may apply to the coordinating agency for funds under this section. A separate application is required for each local bridge project. The application shall describe the specific local bridge project for which funds are to be used. The department shall prescribe the form, nature and extent of information to be contained in the application.
(5) Determination of entitlement. The department shall determine the entitlement to the coordinating agency based upon the ratio between the estimated cost of reconstructing or rehabilitating seriously deteriorating local bridges in that county and the estimated cost of reconstructing or rehabilitating the seriously deteriorating local bridges in the state which are eligible under this section, exclusive of any bridge that is programmed for construction under an order by the department under s. 84.11 (4). The estimated cost of reconstructing or rehabilitating the seriously deteriorating local bridges in the state and individual counties shall be based upon those bridges identified in the inventory of bridges made under s. 84.17. (6) Execution and control of work. Subject to s. 30.2022 and the control exercised by the United States, the construction under this section of any local bridge project shall be wholly under the supervision and control of the department. The secretary shall make and execute all contracts and have complete supervision over all matters pertaining to such construction and shall have the power to suspend or discontinue proceedings or construction relative to any bridge project at any time in the event any county, city, village or town fails to pay the amount required of it for any project eligible for construction under this section, or if the secretary determines that sufficient funds to pay the state's part of the cost of such bridge project are not available. All moneys provided by counties, cities, villages and towns shall be deposited in the state treasury, when required by the secretary, and paid out on order of the secretary. Any of the moneys deposited for a project eligible for construction under this section which remain in the state treasury after the completion of the project shall be repaid to the respective county, city, village or town in proportion to the amount each deposited. (7) Rules. The department shall adopt rules to implement this section.
(8) Exceptions. Nothing in this section prevents any of the following:
(a) Construction or rehabilitation projects under other bridge programs if applicable.
(b) The sharing of the cost under s. 82.08 to fund the local share of a local bridge project. Plain Language Analysis:
This rulemaking updates Wis. Admin. Code ch. Trans 212 by replacing obsolete language, updating references, adding language as necessary to complement current state and national practice, and comply with the code of federal regulations. This includes the addition of language related to tunnels and tunnel inspection standards consistent with federal standards and adopted by state DOTs. Inspection standards and procedures are clarified as well. These updates do not substantially change the way the Department inspects state-owned bridges, nor does it change expectations for the inspection of bridges on the local system. Rather, the changes reflect current practice on both the state and local system and reflect updates in the code of federal regulations. This rulemaking updates Wis. Admin. Code ch. Trans 213 by repealing and replacing obsolete language and updates references to make them current. There is also additional language added and deletion or modification of existing language to create eligibility criteria that is more closely aligned with modern bridge asset management practice and how bridge project eligibility is determined for state-owned bridges. The current language was developed at a time when bridge condition information was more difficult to gather, store, and analyze. These changes create a wider range of rehabilitation options for local owners and better allow local owners to seek funding for the appropriate bridge work at the appropriate time.
