Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis
Rule Subject:
Animal Disease and Movement and Animal Markets, Truckers and Dealers
Adm. Code Reference:
ATCP
10 and 12
Rules Clearinghouse #:
Not yet assigned
DATCP Docket #:
13-R-01
Rule Summary
Small
Business
es
Affected
The majority of these rule modifications are technical and have no or minimal fiscal effect. Many of the rule modifications will ease program requirements and may reduce costs to small business.
The entities that may be affected by this rule modification include the following:
1
.
Veterinarians.
Upon the effective date of the rule, veterinarians and authorized employees or agents of
the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (
DATCP
),
or the federal bureau
in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),
will be required to take
DATCP
-approved training on
t
uberculosis
testing and sample collection within 5 years prior to testing an animal for
t
uberculosis
. Such training is already required of veterinarians testing farm-raised deer
(FRD)
for
t
uberculosis
. This will be a new requirement for veterinarians who choose to test animals for this disease. Because this training is provided free of charge, there will be no cost to these veterinarians.
2.
Farm-raised deer keepers (FRDKs).
CWD testing
. FRDKs
who have herds enrolled in the CWD herd status program with at least 5 years of status
may realize a significant cost savings
,
as only 25% of their FRD aged 12 months or older shipped directly to slaughter must be tested for CWD. This change is significant as current rule requires 100% of these
FRD
to be tested for CWD when sent to slaughter.
FRDKs whose herd
s
are
not enrolled
in the CWD herd status program may realize a significant cost savings as only 50% of their FRD aged 16 months or older that are killed intentionally, except after escape, must be tested
for CWD.
This change is significant as current rule requires 100% of these
FRD
to be tested for CWD.
It is estimated that hiring a veterinarian to collect CWD test samples costs approximately $75 per deer
.
D
epending on the number of deer tested at one time, this cost
may
be lower. This cost
will
also be lower if the FRDK has a qualified employee or immediate family member that can collect the CWD test samples. Because the actual cost to tes
t a deer for CWD is unknown, total
cost savings are indeterminate.
Hunting preserves
. Changing the term hunting “preserves” to hunting “ranches” was requested by the farm-raised deer industry. The fiscal effect of this terminology change is unknown
but is presumably low, as it is sought by the FRD industry
.
Commingling FRD with bovine animals
. Current rule allows FRD and bovine animals to be commingled only if those animals move to slaughter.
The proposed rule clarifies that FRDKs who wish to keep deer and bovine animals at the same location without having to move them to slaughter must have fencing and facilities adequate to maintain medical separation at all times. Medical separation includes double fencing and bio-security procedures, including procedures to prevent the commingling of farm-raised deer with bovine animals.
A FRDK who chooses to keep FRD and bovine animals at the same location
using medical separation
will incur costs to purchase additional fencing and separate equipment for the FRD and bovine animals. There is also a one-time cost of $200 for each day needed for department staff to complete the medical separation inspection of the location.
It is unknown how many FRDKs wish to keep FRD and bovine animals at the same location
using medical separation
. Therefore, these costs are indeterminate.
3.
Wisconsin importers of elephants.
Current rule specifies requirements for any person that imports certain animals or imports animals for certain activities. The proposed rule specifies requirements for the import of elephants
.
The current import requirements for elephants are listed under wild animal and circus, rodeo, and menagerie animal imports.
The proposed elephant import requirements incorporate several of th
ose
provisions
into the rule. T
he new requirement that the owner of an elephant provide a statement that the elephant has not been exposed to mycobacterium tuberculosis within 5 years prior to the date of import should not result in a significant cost to the importer.
Reporting, Bookkeeping and other Procedures
T
his rule
modifies
record
keeping
requirements of
a) FRDK
s
and
b)
the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reintroducing fish to the same lake or river from which they were collected
, as follows:
1.
Farm-raised deer keepers (FRDKs).
Currently, FRDKs
must
maintain records relating to any farm-raised deer that
enter
s
,
leaves
, or escapes the herd
or dies on the premises
.
These
record keeping requirements are specified in
different places in the rule and are not always consistent.
The proposed rule
clearly
specifies the requirements for deer entering the herd, leaving the herd by authorized movement, leaving the herd by escape, leaving the herd for slaughter
or dying on the premises
under the general record keeping section
. For consistency, the proposed rule also
cross-references this section when record keeping requirements are specified elsewhere in the rule.
There are no additional record keeping requirements, therefore, there should be no additional costs related to this rule modification.
The proposed rule clarifies that records must include any known natural additions to the herd, including the month and year of birth, and sex of the farm-raised deer, if determined.
Certain information, including the age of a deer must be recorded by the FRDK before any deer may leave the premises. To know the age of any natural additions that may at some time leave the herd, a birth month (and sex of deer, if known) of these deer should be recorded.
The proposed rule eliminates the requirement that for each deer killed on a hunting preserve, the owner keep a record of:
•
The location of the premises where a deer was killed.
•
The name and address of the person who collected the test sample for the CWD test.
The proposed rule eliminates the requirement that a FRDK whose herd is enrolled in the CWD HS program include the number of deer at least one year old and the number of deer less than one year old on the herd census.
Any additional costs or cost savings related to these record keeping changes should be minimal.
2.
Fish
The
proposed rule requires the DNR to
keep a record of movement
, for five years,
of any fish
or fish eggs they
reintroduce to the same lake from which the
fish, or the eggs from which they were hatched, were collected, or to the same point or
a downstream point in the same river system
from which the fish, or the eggs from which they were hatched, were collected.
If these records are maintained by DNR, they no longer have to request a permit from the state veterinarian authorizing the reintroduction.
Professional Skills Required
To the extent that this rule requires changes in professional skills,
DATCP
’s analysis is included in the prior sections covering impacts on
owners o
r
keepers of farm-raised deer.
Accommodation for Small Business
Many of the businesses affected by this rule are “small businesses.” For the most part, this rule does not make special exceptions for small business, because disease does not differentiate or respect business size.
The rule provisions that may have a more significant fiscal effect are those required by
USDA
regulations
that
, again, do not differentiate by business size.
Finally as the “business impact” section describes above, there are several provisions that will benefit small businesses.
Conclusion
This rule will generally benefit affected businesses, including “small businesses.” Negative effects, if any, will be few and limited. This rule will not have a significant adverse effect on “small business,” and is not subject to the delayed “small business” effective date provided in s.
227.22(2)
(e)
, Stats.
