Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 160.09

  • Department: when used without qualification, means the department of natural resources. See Wisconsin Statutes 160.01
  • Enforcement standard: means a numerical value expressing the concentration of a substance in groundwater which is adopted under ss. See Wisconsin Statutes 160.01
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Federal number: means a numerical expression of the concentration of a substance in water, established as:
      (a)    A drinking water standard or maximum contaminant level, by the federal environmental protection agency;
      (b)    A suggested no-adverse-response level, by the federal environmental protection agency; or
      (c)    For oncogenic substances, a concentration based on a risk level determination by the federal environmental protection agency or a concentration based on a probability of risk model determined by the national academy of sciences. See Wisconsin Statutes 160.01
  • Person: includes all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Regulatory agency: means the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection, the department of safety and professional services, the department of transportation, the department of natural resources and other state agencies which regulate activities, facilities or practices which are related to substances which have been detected in or have a reasonable probability of entering the groundwater resources of the state. See Wisconsin Statutes 160.01
  • State: when applied to states of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the several territories organized by Congress. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Substance: means any solid, liquid, semisolid, dissolved solid or gaseous material, naturally occurring or man-made chemical, parameter for measurement of water quality or biological organism which, in its original form, or as a metabolite or a degradation or waste product, may decrease the quality of groundwater. See Wisconsin Statutes 160.01
  •    (1)    Notwithstanding the authority of the department under ss. 280.11, 281.15 and 281.17 (8) to establish standards for pure drinking water, the department shall establish enforcement standards for substances of public welfare concern as follows:
          (a)    If a single federal number exists for a substance, the federal number shall be the enforcement standard.
          (b)    If more than one federal number exists for a substance, the most recently established federal number representing the most current data shall be the enforcement standard.
          (c)    If no federal number exists for a substance, but there is a state drinking water standard, the state drinking water standard shall be the enforcement standard.
          (d)    If neither a federal number nor a state drinking water standard exists for a substance, the department shall establish an enforcement standard using all relevant and scientifically valid information available in technical literature concerning the substance and, if necessary, by comparison to similar compounds or classes of compounds.
          (e)    Notwithstanding pars. (a) and (b), the department may establish an enforcement standard different than the federal number if there is significant technical information which is scientifically valid and which was not considered when the federal number was established, upon which the department concludes, with a reasonable scientific certainty, that such a standard is justified. The department may change an enforcement standard previously adopted by utilization of a federal number. In evaluating the evidence for establishing an enforcement standard different than a federal number, the department shall consider the extent to which the evidence was developed in accordance with scientifically valid analytical protocols and may consider whether the evidence was subjected to peer review, resulted from more than one study and is consistent with other credible medical or toxicological evidence.
       (2)   The department shall establish an enforcement standard for each substance of public welfare concern in the order of rankings within each category under s. 160.05 (4).
       (3)   The department shall establish enforcement standards by rule. The department shall prepare proposed rules establishing enforcement standards and shall provide the notice under s. 227.16 (2) (e), 227.17 or 227.24 (3) within 9 months after the name of a substance is received under s. 160.05.
       (4)   If a federal number is changed or newly established for a given substance after an enforcement standard is established by the department and if a request is submitted to the department by any person or regulatory agency, the department shall determine whether the enforcement standard needs to be revised based on sub. (1).