Opinion ID: 2812919
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Directly affects

Text: ¶121 All parties agree that if Wis. Admin. Code ch. PSC 128 directly affects housing, the Commission was required to obtain a housing report from the Department before it filed the rule with the Legislative Reference Bureau. The parties' dispute centers on the meaning of directly affects in Wis. Stat. § 227.115(2). This issue is clouded in the majority opinion because it never bothers to interpret § 227.115(2) and tell the reader what directly affects means. It is also clouded by the majority opinion's repeated mischaracterization of Wisconsin Realtors' argument.5 ¶122 Determination of the meaning of directly affects is informed by the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(b) because § 196.378(4g)(b) is the enabling legislation for Wis. Admin. 5 For example, the majority asserts, that Wisconsin Realtors contends that a housing impact report is required under Wis. Stat. § 227.115(2) whenever a proposed rule relates to housing. Majority op., ¶69. That is not an accurate representation of Wisconsin Realtors' contention. Rather, Wisconsin Realtors contends that a housing report is required when a Commission's rule directly or substantially affects housing. 4 No. 2013AP1407.pdr Code ch. PSC 128. Therefore, the Commission was required to follow the legislative directives of § 196.378(4g)(b) when it promulgated ch. PSC 128. Wis. Hosp. Ass'n v. Natural Res. Bd., 156 Wis. 2d 688, 706, 457 N.W.2d 879 (Ct. App. 1990) (explaining that on review court[s] should identify the elements of the enabling statute and match the rule against those elements). The meaning of Wis. Stat. § 227.115(2) also informs the controversy before us because of the proximity of wind turbines to housing. ¶123 I interpret Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(b) and Wis. Stat. § 227.115(2) to ascertain their meaning. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane Cnty., 2004 WI 58, ¶43, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110. Scope, context and purpose are relevant to a plain meaning analysis. Id., ¶48. I also note that [a]n administrative agency has only those powers which are expressly conferred or can be fairly implied from the statutes under which it operates. Oneida Cnty. v. Converse, 180 Wis. 2d 120, 125, 508 N.W.2d 416 (1993). ¶124 Wisconsin Stat. § 227.115(2) addresses rules that affect housing such that, together with Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(b), they establish requirements for the Commission's promulgation of Wis. Admin. Code ch. PSC 128. Furthermore, because these statutes bear on the same subject matter, here, the promulgation of administrative rules that regulate wind turbines, they are construed in that context so that they are consistent with one another. McDonough v. DWD, 227 Wis. 2d 271, 279, 595 N.W.2d 686 (1999). Accordingly, the 5 No. 2013AP1407.pdr Commission was required to have exercised its rule-making authority within the framework established by these statutes. ¶125 I begin with the words chosen by the legislature in its enabling legislation. Wisconsin Stat. § 196.378(4g)(b) provides in relevant part: The commission shall . . . promulgate rules that specify the restrictions a political subdivision may impose on the installation or use of a wind energy system consistent with the conditions specified in s. 66.0401(1m)(a) to (c). The subject matter of these rules shall include setback requirements that provide reasonable protection from any health effects, including health effects from noise and shadow flicker, associated with wind energy systems. The subject matter of these rules . . . may include . . . set-back distances, maximum audible sound levels, shadow flicker, proper means of measuring noise, interference with radio, telephone, or television signals, or other matters. A political subdivision may not place a restriction on the installation or use of a wind energy system that is more restrictive than these rules. ¶126 The legislative grant of authority to the Commission in Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(b) described the legislature's purpose and topics that the Commission was required to address when promulgating Wis. Admin. Code ch. PSC 128. Section 196.378(4g)(b) plainly states that the rules enacted shall include setback requirements that provide reasonable protection from any health effects, including health effects from noise and shadow flicker. Section 196.378(4g)(b) also granted the Commission discretionary authority in other areas. ¶127 There are good reasons for the legislature's mandate that the Commission enact setback requirements for wind turbines. It is well known that wind turbines may be harmful to 6 No. 2013AP1407.pdr the health of those who live close to them and are sensitive to the noise and shadow flicker they produce. See Roy D. Jeffery, et al., Adverse Health Effects of Industrial Wind Turbines, 59 Canadian Family Physician 473 (2013); Jerry Punch & Richard James, Negative Health Effects of Noise from Industrial Wind Turbines: Some Background, http://www.hearinghealthmatters.org/hearingviews/2014/windturbine-health-problems-noise (last visited March 26, 2015). ¶128 Directly connected to legislatively focused health concerns, Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 128.13 establishes siting criteria for wind turbines in regard to setback distance and height requirements; Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 128.14 addresses noise criteria;6 Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 128.15 addresses shadow flicker.7 Accordingly, the Commission's application of Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(b) is driven by wind turbines' effects on the health of people who live or work in proximity to wind turbines. 6 Wisconsin Admin. Code § PSC 128.14 provides in relevant part: [A]n owner shall operate the wind energy system so that the noise attributable to the wind energy system does not exceed 50 dBA during daytime hours and 45 dBA during nighttime hours. § PSC 128.14(3)(a). The determination of noise level is made at the outside wall nearest to the closest wind turbine. § PSC 128.14(4). 7 Wisconsin Admin. Code § PSC 128.15(1)(b) and (2) provides in relevant part: An owner shall design the proposed wind energy system to minimize shadow flicker at a residence or occupied community building . . . [so it] does not cause more than 30 hours per year of shadow flicker. 7 No. 2013AP1407.pdr ¶129 Wisconsin Admin. Code § PSC 128.13(1)(a) provides for permissible setbacks, depending on the type of building that is nearby. The largest setback is 1,250 feet. The setback from wind turbines generally is measured as the distance from the wind turbine tower to the nearest point on the foundation of a residence or occupied community building. § PSC 128.13(1)(b). ¶130 The setbacks of Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 128.13 lessen the noise and shadow flicker impacts of wind turbines on residents and real estate that are as far away from the wind turbines as § PSC 128.13(1)(a) provides. Stated otherwise, without consideration of the setbacks of § PSC 128.13, wind turbines could be placed in the middle of residential communities with houses only a few feet away so long as no local ordinance regulated placement. ¶131 Because Wis. Admin. Code ch. PSC 128 prevents placement of wind turbines that are inconsistent with its provisions, ch. PSC 128 lessens the effects of wind turbines on the health of people who reside nearby. Chapter PSC 128 does so by subjecting the housing in which people live to less noise and less shadow flicker. Stated otherwise, §§ PSC 128.13, 128.14 and 128.15 directly affect the levels of noise and shadow flicker that wind turbines inflict on nearby housing. ¶132 The effect of wind turbines on the health of people living nearby was considered by the Wind Siting Council when ch. PSC 128 was enacted. Furthermore, Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(e) 8 No. 2013AP1407.pdr requires periodic review of wind turbines' effects on health.8 Because wind turbines have the potential to affect the health of those who live nearby, wind turbines also will affect the market for those properties because some buyers will reject the properties because they believe that wind turbines will have a negative effect on their health. See, e.g., Nina Pierpont, Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment (2009) (available at http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com). ¶133 The legislature recognized that health effects associated with wind turbines may be connected to the distance between wind turbines and housing when it required that setbacks provide reasonable protection from any health effects. Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(b). As health effects caused by wind turbines also affect the real estate market, the legislature required the Commission to obtain a housing report while it was in the process of promulgating Wis. Admin. Code ch. PSC 128. Wisconsin Stat. § 227.115 specified the findings that the Department was required to make in assessing a proposed rule's effect on housing. Section 227.115(3) provides:
information about the effect of the proposed rule on housing in this state, including information on the effect of the proposed rule on all of the following: 8 The Wind Siting Council is required to survey the peerreviewed scientific research regarding the health impacts of wind energy systems. Wis. Stat. § 196.378(4g)(e); see Wisconsin Wind Siting Council, Wind Turbine Siting-Health Review and Wind Siting Policy Update, 3-4, 14 (2014). The Wind Siting Council addressed health concerns, not housing concerns. 9 No. 2013AP1407.pdr 1. The policies, strategies and recommendations of the state housing strategy plan.