Sources of Revenue:

General Fund

Legislation creates:

A New Program

Fiscal Note Summary

Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.

The purpose of this bill is to require the Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health to conduct a public health impact statement assessing the health impact of any new air or water rule, or modification of an existing air or water rule, proposed by the Department of Environmental Protection to insure that no air or water rule is promulgated without substantiating independent medical or scientific evidence that there is no detrimental public health impact from the rule. The responsibility for implementation would reside in the Department's Bureau for Public Health, Office of Environmental Health Services which would require additional staff. The Department is basing this fiscal note estimate on data from our current federal grant Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which funds site specific health activities to determine the public health impact of human exposure to hazardous substances at hazardous waste sites and the estimated number of air and water rules (73) that may be subject to the provisions of this legislation. The Department estimates that the total annual cost increase would be $696,426, based on the additional staff needed due to the lack of personnel with the time and expertise to carry out this effort.

Fiscal Note Detail

Effect of Proposal	Fiscal Year
Effect of Proposal	2008 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	2009 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	Fiscal Year (Upon Full Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost	0	696,426	696,426
Personal Services	0	537,626	537,626
Current Expenses	0	128,800	158,800
Repairs and Alterations	0	0	0
Assets	0	30,000	0
Other	0	0	0
2. Estimated Total Revenues	0	0	0

Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):

The estimated cost is based on a new work unit and the associated costs to verify no detrimental public health impact from WVDEP air and water rules. Estimate includes 9 new full time positions for which space is not available. Personal Services: 2 Epidemiologist II @ $50,000 = $100,000, 2 Environmental Toxicologist @ $60,000 = $120,000, 1 Environmental Resources Specialist @ $35,000, 1 Engineer @ $50,000, 1 Office Assistant I @ $20,000, 1 Office Assistant II @ $25,000, 1 Environmental Resource Analyst @ $50,000, Benefits of $137,626 were calculated as follows: admin. fees and health insurance at $6,394 per FTE = (9 * $6,394 = $57,546); FICA, retirement and workers' compensation at 20.02% of personal services = $80,080.Total Personal Services $400,000 + Fringes 137,626 equals $537,626. Current Expenses: Travel @ $20,000, Office Supplies @ $8,000, Rent @ $6,800, Vehicle Rental @ $5,000, Telephone @ $2,000, Cell Phone @ $2,000, Postage @ $1,000, Printing @ $1,000, Research, Educational & Medical @ $63,000, Misc. Equipment (recorders, cameras, copiers) $3,000, Office Furniture @ $17,000 = $128,800. Equipment: Computers @ $30,000. The operation of this program would require the same estimated annual expense for future years. The first year start up costs for equipment will be needed in following years to fund the cost of additional surveys and medical testing in future years.

Memorandum

The Department has no capacity to substantiate with independent medical or scientific evidence (separate from what the WVDEP used to formulate the rule) that there is no detrimental public health impact. The air and water rules must be consistent with federal standards and can not be less stringent. The estimated number of staff needed for this new responsibility is difficult to project. Depending upon the number and technical evaluations of any proposed rule or rule change, staffing may be under/over stated. This is only an estimate based on the Department's current experiences. The costs for surveys and testing should be based on the data to be collected and the potential detrimental public health impact to be measured. The Department cannot estimate the amount of time and effort needed to assess each rule (there are approximately 73 air and water rules that could be subject to the provisions of this bill). It is probable that assessments may take more than one year, particularly if surveys and medical data must be collected to verify the public health impact.

Person submitting Fiscal Note: Martha Yeager Walker
Email Address: fnbudoff@wvdhhr.org