SB 632

Current law requires the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the

Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to promulgate

rules to limit nonpoint source water pollution, that is, water pollution from diffuse

sources, such as construction sites and feedlots.

This bill requires DNR, in consultation with DATCP, to promulgate rules to

limit pollution of groundwater caused by the spreading of any kind of waste,

including animal waste, septage, sewage sludge, and industrial waste, on land (land

spreading). Under the bill, the rules apply to certain areas with carbonate bedrock

that are susceptible to groundwater contamination caused by land spreading and

that are not sufficiently protected by the current rules concerning nonpoint source

water pollution. The rules promulgated under this bill apply to susceptible areas in

covered counties, which are Brown County, Calumet County, Door County,

Kewaunee County, Manitowoc County, and any other county that opts to have them

apply. The bill also requires DATCP to make its existing rules concerning nutrient

management consistent with the new DNR rules concerning land spreading on

susceptible lands in covered counties.

To identify the areas for which additional regulation of land spreading is

potentially needed, the bill requires DNR to identify areas in this state that exhibit

carbonate bedrock characteristics that may cause them to be susceptible to

groundwater contamination from land spreading, including areas that have

carbonate bedrock less than 50 feet from the surface of the land. The bill requires

DNR to promulgate rules for ranking the land in potentially susceptible areas into

categories according to relative vulnerability to groundwater contamination from

land spreading, based on factors that include bedrock features and the depth and

other characteristics of top soil, and to identify the categories for which additional

regulation is needed.

The bill requires the county land conservation committee in a covered county

to categorize the land in potentially susceptible areas (as identified by DNR) in the

county according to the rules for ranking those lands. The bill provides a process for

a land owner or other person, including DNR and DATCP, to obtain a review of a land

conservation committee's categorization of land. The bill also requires DATCP to

produce maps that show land that is categorized under this process, by category, and

to post those maps on its Internet site.

The bill authorizes DNR to enforce the rules concerning land spreading on

susceptible lands by issuing citations, which are similar to traffic tickets. A district

attorney may also proceed against a person who violates the rules.

The rules promulgated by DNR and DATCP under current law to limit nonpoint

source water pollution, as described above, do not apply to an agricultural facility or

practice that was in existence before October 14, 1997, unless financial assistance

is available to pay a portion of the cost of complying with the rules.