Just an arbitrary way of increasing an airport's needed weather for dispatch. Easy way to remember the increase to the published mins is "1 and 4 for one, 2 and a 1/2 for two."
• For airports with 1 instrument approach (including circling)
o Add 400ft to Cat. 1 HAT or HAA
o Add 1 SM to Cat. 1
• For Airports with at least 2 approaches to different runways (no circling)
o Add 200ft to higher Cat. 1 HAT
o Add ½ SM to higher Cat. 1 visiblity
Take a vanilla ILS approach: CAT I mins are typically 200' and 1/2. You add the 1sm and 400', you get 600' and 1 1/2 derived values (sound vaguely familiar for alternate planning, don't they!)- so you can apply the exemption to the weather forecast AND/OR plan for the second alternate.
The real exemption is the ability to dispatch the plane on the strength of the TAF's main body, ignoring conditional (PROB, TEMPO) remarks that the weather will go south by ETA . Calculate the derived values, check the 1/2 vis, 1/2 derived values, and derived values for the intended destination, the 1st alternate, and the 2nd alternate respectively, and get the heck outta there. The thing is you actually need to know this stuff- sometimes our flights are dispatched on data that is hours old, and the release needs to have another airport or two to be legal by the time we're cranking an engine.
Wasn't it so much easier under part 91?