Notice of action: The State Water Control Board is considering the amendment of a regulation on fees for permits and certificates. A regulation is a general rule governing people's rights or conduct that is upheld by a state agency.
Regulations affected: The regulations of the board affected by this regulatory action are as follows: Fees for Permits and Certificates (9VAC25-20).
Purpose of notice: The board is seeking comments through the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on the (i) proposal, (ii) costs and benefits of the proposal, (iii) effects of the proposal on farm and forest land preservation, and (iv) impacts of the proposal on small businesses.
Public comment period: May 14, 2010 to May 27, 2010. No public hearing will be held.
Public comment stage: Exempt Final.
Description of proposal: The major provisions of the proposal are summarized below: 1. Provision for an increase in the base permit maintenance fee rate to allow DEQ to recover revenue lost from the general fund appropriations under Item 355 of House Bill 30, as amended and enacted by the 2010 General Assembly; 2. Provision for a predictable annual adjustment of the permit maintenance fees in order to cover changes in the direct costs for administration, compliance and enforcement of Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) and the Virginia Pollution Abatement (VPA) permits; and 3. Provision for a cap on the amount of permit fees collected and an increase in the cap on the amount of permit maintenance fees due from certain public authorities with multiple facilities.This notice is being given solely for the purpose of soliciting public comment on the amendment and not for the purpose of satisfying any public participation provision of federal regulation or state law.
Locality particularly affected: There is no locality which will bear any identified disproportionate material water quality impact due to the proposal which would not be experienced by other localities.
How to comment: DEQ accepts written comments by email, fax, and postal mail. All written comments must include the full name, address and telephone number of the person commenting and be received by DEQ by the last day of the comment period. Commenters sending faxes are encouraged to provide the signed original within one week.
To review regulation documents: The proposal is available below and on the Town Hall web site (http://www.townhall.virginia.gov) under general notices for the State Water Control Board. The documents may also be obtained by contacting the DEQ representative named below.
9VAC25-20-142. Permit maintenance fees. A. The following annual permit maintenance fees apply to each individual VPDES and VPA permit, including expired permits that have been administratively continued, except those exempted by 9VAC25-20-50 B or 9VAC25-20-60 A 4: 1. Base fee rate for Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permitted facilities. (Note: All flows listed in the table below are facility "design" flows.)
VPDES Industrial Major VPDES Municipal Major/Greater Than 10 MGD VPDES Municipal Major/2 MGD - 10 MGD VPDES Municipal Major/Less Than 2 MGD VPDES Municipal Major Stormwater/MS4 VPDES Industrial Minor/No Standard Limits VPDES Industrial Minor/Standard Limits VPDES Industrial Minor/Water Treatment System VPDES Industrial Stormwater VPDES Municipal Minor/Greater Than 100,000 GPD VPDES Municipal Minor/10,001 GPD - 100,000 GPD VPDES Municipal Minor/1,001 GPD - 10,000 GPD VPDES Municipal Minor/1,000 GPD or Less VPDES Municipal Minor Stormwater/MS4
$4,800 $7,876
$4,750 $7,794
$4,350 $7,138
$3,850 $6,317
$3,800 $6,235
$2,040 $3,347
$1,200 $1,969
$1,200 $1,969
$1,440 $2,363
$1,500 $2,461
$1,200 $1,969
$1,080 $1,772
$400 $656
$400 $656
2. Base fee rate for Virginia Pollution Abatement (VPA) permits. (Note: Land application rates listed in the table below are facility "design" rates.)
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VPA Industrial Wastewater Operation/Land Application of 10 or More Inches Per Year |
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VPA Industrial Wastewater Operation/Land Application of Less Than 10 Inches Per Year |
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VPA Industrial Sludge Operation |
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VPA Municipal Wastewater Operation |
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VPA Municipal Sludge Operation |
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VPA Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation |
(Reserved) |
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VPA Intensified Animal Feeding Operation |
(Reserved) |
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All other operations not specified above |
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3. The amount of the annual permit maintenance fee due from the owner for VPDES and VPA permits for a specified year as required by 9VAC25-20-40 C shall be calculated according to the following formulae:
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F = |
B x C |
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C = |
1 + ?CPI |
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?CPI = |
CPI - 215.15 |
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215.15 |
where:
F = the permit maintenance fee amount due for the specified calendar year, expressed in dollars.
B = the base fee rate for the type of VPDES or VPA permit from subdivisions 1 or 2 of this subsection, expressed in dollars.
C = the Consumer Price Index adjustment factor.
?CPI = the difference between CPI and 215.15 (the average of the Consumer Price Index values for all-urban consumers for the 12-month period ending on April 30, 2009).
CPI = the average of the Consumer Price Index values for all-urban consumers for the 12-month period ending on April 30 of the calendar year before the specified year for which the permit maintenance fee is due. (The Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers is published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. All items, CUUR0000SA0).
For example, if calculating the 2010 permit maintenance fee (F) for a VPDES Industrial Major source:
CPI = 215.15 (the average of CPI values from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009, inclusive would be used for the 2010 permit maintenance fee calculation).
?CPI = zero for the 2010 permit maintenance fee calculation (i.e., CPI - 215.15 = 215.15 - 215.15 = zero). (Note: ?CPI for other years would not be zero.)
C = 1.0 for the 2010 permit maintenance fee calculation (i.e., 1 + ?CPI = 1.0 + zero = 1.0).
B = $7,876 (i.e. the value for a VPDES Industrial Major source, taken from subdivision 1 of this subsection).
F = $7,876 for the 2010 permit maintenance fee calculation for this VPDES Industrial Major source (i.e., $7,876 x 1.0 = $7,876).
4. Permit maintenance fees (F) calculated for each facility shall be rounded to the nearest dollar.
5. The total amount of permit fees collected by the board (permit maintenance fees plus permit application fees) shall not exceed 50 percent of direct costs for administration, compliance and enforcement of VPDES and VPA permits. The Director shall take whatever action is necessary to ensure that this limit is not exceeded.
B. Additional permit maintenance fees.
1. An additional permit maintenance fee of $1,000 shall be paid annually by permittees in a toxics management program. Any facility that performs acute or chronic biological testing for compliance with a limit or special condition requiring monitoring in a VPDES permit is included in the toxics management program.
2. An additional permit maintenance fee of $1,000 shall be paid annually by permittees that have more than five process wastewater discharge outfalls at a single facility (not including "internal" outfalls).
3. For a local government or public service authority with permits for multiple facilities in a single jurisdiction, the total permit maintenance fees for all permits held as of April 1, 2004, shall not exceed $20,000 $32,818 per year.
C. If the category of a facility (as described in 9VAC25-20-142 A 1 or 2) changes as the result of a permit modification, the permit maintenance fee based upon the permit category as of April 1 shall be submitted by October 1.
D. Annual permit maintenance fees may be discounted for participants in the Environmental Excellence Program as described in 9VAC25-20-145.
| Name / Title: | Gary E. Graham |
| Address: |
629 East Main Street P.O. Box 1105 Richmond, 23218 |
| Email Address: | gary.graham@deq.virginia.gov |
| Telephone: | (804)698-4103 FAX: (804)698-4510 TDD: ()- |