WSR 17-06-071 PROPOSED RULES DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY [Order 16-11—Filed March 1, 2017, 9:23 a.m.]
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 16-24-082.
Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: Chapter 173-224 WAC, Wastewater discharge permit fees.
Hearing Location(s): Presentation, question and answer session followed by the formal public hearing. 300 Desmond Drive, Lacey, WA 98503, on April 4, 2017, at 1:30 p.m., combined with a webinar.
Webinar: Ecology is also offering this hearing via webinar. Webinars are an online meeting forum that you can attend from any computer using internet access.
Comments: Ecology will accept comments at the Lacey location and through the webinar.
To join the webinar click on the following link for more information and instructions https://wadis.webex.com/wadis/j.php?RGID=r50e27d5d01ef99bfb9f05ede8a9d1516.
Date of Intended Adoption: June 28, 2017.
Submit Written Comments to: Charles Gilman, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600, email charles.gilman@ecy.wa.gov, by April 11, 2017.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact ecology water quality program by March 28, 2017, TTY (877) 833-6341 or (360) 407-6600.
Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: Ecology is proposing to change the title of this chapter to water quality permit fees.
Ecology is also proposing to:
Ecology is also updating rule language to account for changes in current business practices relating to electronic payment options, collection processes, and data collection. Ecology is also removing the winery general permit fee category for the 2017-19 biennium, as this new permit will not be effective until July 1, 2019.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: RCW 90.48.465, water pollution control requires ecology to establish, by rule, annual fees that will fund the water quality permit programs. Ecology adopted chapter 173-224 WAC, Wastewater discharge permit fees, in response to this law.
This rule amendment allows for the continued recovery of ecology's expenses in operating and managing the permit programs. Ecology is proposing to increase fees for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 in order to collect the revenue needed to recover the costs of administering the water quality permit programs next biennium.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 90.48.465, water pollution control.
Statute Being Implemented: Chapter 90.48 RCW, Water pollution control.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Name of Proponent: Washington state department of ecology, governmental.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Charles Gilman, 300 Desmond Drive S.E., Lacey, WA, (360) 407-6425; Implementation and Enforcement: Don Seeberger, 300 Desmond Drive S.E., Lacey, WA, (360) 407-6489.
A small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW.
Small Business Economic Impact Statement
This small business economic impact statement (SBEIS) presents the:
A small business is defined by the Regulatory Fairness Act as having fifty or fewer employees. Estimated costs are determined as compared to the existing regulatory environment - the regulations in the absence of the rule. The SBEIS only considers costs to "businesses in an industry" in Washington state. This means that impacts for this document are not evaluated for nonprofit or government agencies.
The existing regulatory environment is called the "baseline" in this document. It includes only existing laws and rules at federal and state levels.
This information is excerpted from ecology's complete set of economic analyses of the proposed rule. For complete discussion of the likely costs, benefits, minimum compliance burden, and relative burden on small businesses, see the preliminary regulatory analysis (Ecology Publication No. 17-10-004, February 2017).
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROPOSED RULE, INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES: The baseline for our analyses generally consists of existing rules and laws, and their requirements. This is what allows us to make a consistent comparison between the state of the world with and without the proposed rule amendments. In the current analysis, the regulatory baseline is the way permit fees would be calculated if the proposed rule is not adopted.
Under the current law, (RCW 90.48.465, water pollution control), ecology is required to set, by rule, fees that would fund the program. Without the adoption of the proposed rule, fees would remain at their previously set levels.
The proposed rule amendments that differ from the baseline and are not specifically dictated in the authorizing statute or elsewhere in law or rule include:
1. Increase fees for the following fee types (overpaying fee payers) by:
• 5.50 percent for fiscal year 2018
• 4.50 percent for fiscal year 2019
These fee types include:
• Aluminum and magnesium reduction mills
• Aquaculture
• Bridge washing
• Combined industrial waste treatment
• Combined food processing waste treatment
• Combined sewer overflow system
• Commercial laundry
• Crop preparing (fruit packers)—Individual and general permits
• Facilities not otherwise classified—Individual and general permits
• Flavor extraction
• Food processing
• Fuel and chemical storage
• Hazardous waste cleanup sites
• Ink formulation and printing
• Inorganic chemicals manufacturing
• Municipal wastewater - >250,000 residential equivalents (res)
• Noncontact cooling water with additives—Individual and general permits
• Noncontact cooling water without additives—Individual and general permits
• Organic chemical manufacturing
• Petroleum refining
• Photofinishers
• Power and/or steam plants
• Pulp, paper, and paperboard
• Radioactive effluents and discharges
• RCRA corrective action sites
• Seafood processing
• Solid waste sites
• Textile mills
• Timber products
• Vegetable/bulb washing facilities
• Vehicle maintenance and freight transfer
• Water plants—Individual and general permits
• Wineries—Individual permits
2. Increase fees for the following fee types (underpaying fee payers) by:
• 6.37 percent for fiscal year 2018
• 5.58 percent for fiscal year 2019
These fee types include:
• Aluminum alloys
• Aluminum forming
• Aggregate production (sand and gravel)—Individual and general permit
• Aquatic pest control
• Boatyards—Individual and general permits
• Coal mining and preparation
• Concentrated animal feeding operations
• Dairies
• Iron and steel
• Metal finishing
• Nonferrous metals forming
• Ore mining
• Private and state-owned facilities
• Shipyards
• Stormwater construction—Individual and general permits
• Stormwater industrial—Individual and general permits
• Stormwater municipal Phase 1 and 2 permits
Overpaying fee payers:
• Baseline
Zero percent increase in fees for 2018 and 2019.
• Proposed
Increase in fees by:
o 5.50 percent for fiscal year 2018
o 4.50 percent for fiscal year 2019
• Expected impact
Increase in fees.
Underpaying fee payers:
• Baseline
Zero percent increase in fees for 2018 and 2019.
• Proposed
Increase in fees by:
o 6.37 percent for fiscal year 2018
o 5.58 percent for fiscal year 2019
• Expected impact
Increase in fees.
The baseline of no fee increases would result in total annual fees of $20,823,885 (estimated aggregate fees for fiscal year 2017).
Under the proposed rule, we estimated total fees to be $21,867,315 in fiscal year 2018 and $22,803,749 in fiscal year 2019. This represents increases of $1,043,430 in fiscal year 2018 and $1,979,864 in fiscal year 2019 for an aggregated, discounted total cost of $3,001,365 for the biennium.
COSTS OF COMPLIANCE: EQUIPMENT, compliance with the proposed rule, compared to the baseline, is not likely to impose additional costs of equipment.
COSTS OF COMPLIANCE: SUPPLIES, compliance with the proposed rule, compared to the baseline, is not likely to impose additional costs of supplies.
COSTS OF COMPLIANCE: LABOR, compliance with the proposed rule, compared to the baseline, is not likely to impose additional costs of labor.
COSTS OF COMPLIANCE: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, compliance with the proposed rule, compared to the baseline, is not likely to impose additional costs of professional services.
COSTS OF COMPLIANCE: ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS, where applicable, ecology estimates administrative costs ("overhead") as part of the cost of labor and professional services, above.
COMPARISON OF COMPLIANCE COST FOR SMALL VERSUS LARGE BUSINESSES: Ecology currently manages nearly five thousand six hundred permits in the various categories. Each of the permitted businesses would be impacted by the rule.
Though many of the permitted categories have more than one fee level, these breakpoints are based on the scope and scale of the permitted activity, NOT the size of the business (measured by employment at the highest level of ownership and operation) conducting the activity. While it is often the case that smaller businesses conduct smaller permitted activities and larger businesses conduct larger activities, this is far from universal and the opposite may sometimes be the case. For this reason, permit fee changes were treated as constant, regardless of the number of employees a business has.
Inherently, these constant values divided by a smaller number of employees (fewer than fifty) will result in a larger cost-to-employee ratio than if divided by a larger number of employees (greater than fifty).
We conclude that the proposed rule is likely to impose disproportionate compliance costs on small businesses, and must therefore include elements in the proposed rule to mitigate this disproportion, as far as is legal and feasible.
CONSIDERATION OF LOST SALES OR REVENUE: Businesses that would incur costs could experience reduced sales or revenues if the fee changes would significantly affect the prices of the goods they sell. The degree to which this could happen is strongly related to each business's production and pricing model (whether additional lump-sum costs significantly affect marginal costs), as well as the specific attributes of the markets in which they sell goods, including the degree of influence of each firm on market prices, as well as the relative responsiveness of market demand to price changes.
The businesses incurring increased compliance costs under the proposed rule are highly diverse. They would likely have varied ability to pass costs onto their consumers without causing a response in demand that affects their revenues.
MITIGATION OF DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT: The RFA (RCW 19.85.030(2)) states that:
Based upon the extent of disproportionate impact on small business identified in the statement prepared under RCW 19.85.040, the agency shall, where legal and feasible in meeting the stated objectives of the statutes upon which the rule is based, reduce the costs imposed by the rule on small businesses. The agency must consider, without limitation, each of the following methods of reducing the impact of the proposed rule on small businesses:
(a) Reducing, modifying, or eliminating substantive regulatory requirements;
(b) Simplifying, reducing, or eliminating recordkeeping and reporting requirements;
(c) Reducing the frequency of inspections;
(d) Delaying compliance timetables;
(e) Reducing or modifying fine schedules for noncompliance; or
(f) Any other mitigation techniques including those suggested by small businesses or small business advocates.
Ecology considered all of the above options, and included the following legal and feasible elements in the proposed rule that reduce costs. These may be available to small and large businesses, but would reduce relative burden more for small businesses. We also considered the alternative rule contents discussed in Chapter 6, and excluded those elements that would have imposed excess compliance burden on businesses.
The permit fee rule contains language that helps mitigate the impact of fees on small businesses.
WAC 173-224-090 allows business[es] to have their annual fee reduced by fifty percent if they meet the following criteria:
(a) Be a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other legal entity formed for the purpose of making a profit;
(b) Be independently owned and operated from all other businesses (i.e. not a subsidiary of a parent company);
(c) Have annual sales of one million dollars or less of the goods or services produced using the processes regulated by the permit; and
(d) Have an original annual fee assessment totaling five hundred dollars or greater.
Extreme hardship fee reductions: Any industrial or construction small business with annual gross revenue totaling one hundred thousand dollars or less of the goods or services produced using the processes regulated by the permit may apply to ecology for an extreme hardship fee reduction. If granted, the annual fee is reduced to a flat rate totaling $128.00.
SMALL BUSINESS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION: When the fee rule was first developed, an advisory committee consisting of representatives of large and small business, state and federal government agencies, municipalities, and environmental groups helped us establish fee category types and fee amounts. They also gave us input on how we could mitigate the fees for small business by allowing small business or extreme hardship fee reductions.
We have continued to work with this committee now called the "water quality partnership" (the partnership). We meet to discuss proposed fee rule amendments and other issues surrounding the permit programs. Ecology met with the partnership prior to the filing of the CR-101 for this rule amendment.
Ecology also has a very intense public involvement process which allows permit holders consisting of large and small business[es], municipalities, state and federal governments, and tribes to provide comments on any amendments being proposed to the fee rule.
NAICS CODES OF INDUSTRIES IMPACTED BY THE PROPOSED RULE: The proposed rule is likely to impact the following industries:
IMPACT ON JOBS: Ecology used the Washington state office of financial management's 2007 Washington input-output model1 to estimate the impact of the proposed rule on jobs in the state. The model accounts for interindustry impacts and spending multipliers of earned income and changes in output.
1 See the Washington state office of financial management's site for more information on the input-output model. http://www.ofm.wa.gov/economy/io/2007/default.asp.
We estimated that there would be a net decrease of twenty-nine jobs statewide over the two years covered by the proposed rule.
These prospective changes in overall employment in the state are actually the sum of multiple small increase[s] and decreases across all industries in the state.
A copy of the statement may be obtained by contacting Charles Gilman, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600, phone (360) 407-6425, email charles.gilman@ecy.wa.gov.
A cost-benefit analysis is required under RCW 34.05.328. A preliminary cost-benefit analysis may be obtained by contacting Charles Gilman, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600, phone (360) 407-6425, email charles.gilman@ecy.wa.gov.
February 22, 2017
Polly Zehm
Deputy Director
Chapter 173-224 WAC
((WASTEWATER DISCHARGE)) WATER QUALITY PERMIT FEES AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 13-22-051, filed 11/1/13, effective 12/2/13)
WAC 173-224-030 Definitions.
"Administrative expenses" means those costs associated with issuing and administering permits under RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, and 90.48.260.
(("Aggregate production" means the mining or quarrying of sand, gravel, or rock, or the production of concrete, or asphalt or a combination thereof.))
"Aluminum and magnesium reduction mills" means the electrolytic reduction of alumina or magnesium salts to produce aluminum or magnesium metal.
"Animal unit" means the following:
For those concentrated animal feeding operations not listed on the above table, the department will use 1,000 pounds of live animal weight and the weight of the type of animal in determining the number of animal units.
"Annual permit fee" means the fee charged by the department for annual expenses associated with activities specified in RCW 90.48.465. This annual fee is based on the state's fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).
"bbls/d" means barrels per day of feedstock for petroleum refineries.
"bins/yr" means total standard bins used during the last complete calendar year by a facility in the ((crop preparing)) fruit packing industry. The bins measure approximately 47.5 inches x 47.4 inches x 29.5 inches and hold approximately 870 pounds of fruit.
"Chemical pulp mill w/chlorine bleaching" means any pulp mill that uses chlorine or chlorine compounds in their bleaching process.
"Combined food processing waste treatment facility" means a facility that treats wastewater from more than one separately permitted food processor and receives no domestic wastewater or waste from industrial sources other than food processing.
"Combined industrial waste treatment" means a facility which treats wastewater from more than one industry in any of the following categories: Inorganic chemicals, metal finishing, ore concentration, organic chemicals, or photofinishers.
"Combined sewer overflow (CSO)" means the event during which excess combined sewage flow caused by inflow is discharged from a combined sewer, rather than conveyed to the sewage treatment plant because either the capacity of the treatment plant or the combined sewer is exceeded.
"Concentrated animal feeding operation" means an "animal feeding operation" that meets the criteria in Appendix B of 40 C.F.R. 122 as presently enacted and any subsequent modifications thereto.
"Contaminants of concern" means a chemical for which an effluent limit is established (this does not include pH, flow, temperature, or other "nonchemical parameters"). Petroleum constituents will be considered as one contaminant of concern even if more than one effluent limit is established (e.g., Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons and BTEX).
"Crane" means a machine used for the hoisting and lifting of ship hulls.
(("Crop preparing" means the preparation of fruit for wholesale or retail sale by washing and/or other processes in which the skin of the fruit is not broken and in which the interior part of the fruit does not come in direct contact with the wastewater.))
"cu. yds/yr" means the total production from an ((aggregate production)) sand and gravel facility in cubic yards during the most recent completed calendar year.
"Department" means the department of ecology.
"Director" means the director of the department of ecology.
"Disturbed acres" means the total area which will be disturbed during all phases of the construction project or common plan of development or sale. This includes all clearing, grading, and excavating, and any other activity which disturbs the surface of the land.
"Domestic wastewater" means water carrying human wastes, including kitchen, bath, and laundry wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with any groundwater infiltration or surface waters that may be present.
"Domestic wastewater facility" means all structures, equipment, or processes required to collect, carry away, treat, reclaim or dispose of domestic wastewater together with such industrial waste as may be present.
(("Existing operations" means those industrial operations requiring a wastewater discharge permit before July 1, 1993.))
"EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
"Fin fish rearing and hatching" means the raising of fin fish for fisheries enhancement or sale, by means of hatcheries, net pens, or other confined fish facilities.
"Flavor extraction" means the recovery of flavors or essential oils from organic products by steam distillation.
"Food processing" means the preparation of food for human or animal consumption or the preparation of animal byproducts, excluding ((crop preparing)) fruit packing. This category includes, but is not limited to, fruit and vegetable processing, meat and poultry products processing, dairy products processing, beer production, rendering and animal feed production. Food processing wastewater treatment plants that treat wastes from only one separately permitted food processor must be treated as one facility for billing purposes.
"Fruit packing" means the preparation of fruit for wholesale or retail sale by washing and/or other processes in which the skin of the fruit is not broken and in which the interior part of the fruit does not come in direct contact with the wastewater.
"Gross revenue for business" means the gross income from Washington business activities ((as reported to the Washington state department of revenue)).
"Hazardous waste clean up sites" means any facility where there has been confirmation of a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance that requires remedial action other than RCRA corrective action sites.
"Industrial facility" means any facility not included in the definition of municipal/domestic facility.
"Industrial gross revenue" means the annual amount of the sales of goods and services produced using the processes regulated by the wastewater discharge permit.
"Industrial stormwater" means an operation required to be covered under ecology's NPDES and state waste discharge ((baseline)) general permit for stormwater discharges associated with industrial activities or modifications to that permit or having an individual wastewater permit for stormwater only.
(("MGD" means permitted flow expressed in million gallons per day.))
"Manufacturing" means the making of goods and articles by hand or especially, by machinery into a manufactured product.
"Median household income" means the most recent available census data, updated yearly based on inflation rates as measured by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and published as the Consumer Price Index.
"Metal finishing" means the preparation of metal surfaces by means of electroplating, electroless plating, anodizing, coating (chromating, phosphating and coloring), chemical etching and milling, and printed circuit board manufacture.
"MGD" means permitted flow expressed in million gallons per day.
"Municipal/domestic facility" means a publicly owned facility treating domestic wastewater together with any industrial wastes that may be present, or a privately owned facility treating solely domestic wastewater.
"Municipal gross revenue" means gross receipts from monthly, bimonthly, and/or quarterly user charges for sewer services received from all classes of customers;
Included in these user charges are user charges and fees based on wastewater constituents' strengths and characteristics including high-strength surcharges and charges based on biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, oil and grease, toxicants, heavy metals, and flow, etc.
Municipal gross revenue includes charges for receipt and treatment of septic tank wastes, holding tank wastes, chemical toilet wastes, etc.
Municipal gross revenue includes all amounts received from other municipalities for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal.
Gross revenue excludes:
Amounts derived by municipalities directly from taxes levied for the support or maintenance of sewer services.
Late charges, penalties for nontimely payment by customers, interest on late payments, and all other penalties and fines.
Permit fees and compliance monitoring fees for wastewater discharge permits issued by municipalities with local pretreatment programs. Permit fees which are charged to cover the cost of providing sewer service are not excluded from municipal gross revenue.
Receipts by a municipality of special assessments or installments thereof and interests and penalties thereon, and charges in lieu of assessments.
Connection charges.
Revenues from sales of by-products such as sludge, processed wastewater, etc.
"Municipality" means a city, town, county, district, association, or other public body created by or in accordance with state law and that has jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency under 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1288. State government agencies are not included in this definition.
"Noncontact cooling water with additives" means water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw materials, intermediate product, waste product or finished product, but which may contain chemicals or additives added by the permittee to control corrosion or fouling of the cooling system.
"Noncontact cooling water without additives" means water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product, and which does not contain chemicals added by the permittee. The noncontact cooling water fee without additives category applies to those facilities which discharge only noncontact cooling water and which have no other wastewater discharges required to be permitted under RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, and 90.48.260.
"Nonferrous metals forming" means the manufacturing of semifinished products from pure metal or metal alloys other than iron or steel or of metals not otherwise classified in WAC 173-224-040(2).
"Nonoperating ((aggregate)) sand and gravel site" means a location where previous mining or processing has occurred; that has not been fully reclaimed; that ((has no current)) conducts mining or processing fewer than ninety days per year, and that may include stockpiles of raw materials or finished products. The permittee may add or withdraw raw materials or finished products from the stockpiles for transportation off-site for processing, use, or sale and still be considered a nonoperating site. ((This definition can be found in ecology's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and State Waste Discharge Permit for Process Water, Stormwater, and Mine Dewatering Water Discharges Associated with Sand and Gravel Operations, Rock Quarries and Similar Mining Facilities including Stockpiles of Mined Materials, Concrete Batch Operations and Asphalt Batch Operations.))
"NPDES permit" means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the department under Section 402 of the federal Clean Water Act and RCW 90.48.260.
"Person" means any political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation, partnership, association, firm, individual, or any other entity whatever.
"Portable facility" means a facility that is designed for mobility and is moved from site to site for short term operations. A portable facility applies only to an asphalt batch plant, portable concrete batch plant and portable rock crusher.
"RCRA" means Resource Conservation Recovery Act clean up sites required to have a wastewater discharge permit resulting from a corrective action under relevant federal authorities or under chapters 70.105 and 70.105D RCW including chapters 173-303 and 173-340 WAC, and are not subject to cost recovery.
"Residential equivalent" means a single-family residence or a unit of sewer service that yields an amount of gross revenue equal to the annual user charge for a single-family residence. In cases where the permit holder does not maintain data on gross revenue, user charges, and/or the number of single-family residences that it serves, "residential equivalent" means an influent flow of two hundred fifty gallons per day.
"Sand and gravel" means the mining or quarrying of sand, gravel, or rock, or the production of concrete, or asphalt or a combination thereof.
"Seafood processing" means:
(a) Preparing fresh, cooked, canned, smoked, preserved, or frozen seafoods, including marine and freshwater animals (fish, shellfish, crustaceans, etc.) and plants, for human or animal consumption; or
(b) Washing, shucking, and/or packaging of mollusks or crustaceans.
"Sewer service" means the activity of receiving sewage deposited into and carried off by a system of sewers, drains, and pipes to a common point, or points, for disposal or for transfer to treatment for disposal, and activities involving the interception, transfer, storage, treatment, and/or disposal of sewage, or any of these activities.
"State waste discharge permit" means a permit required under RCW ((98.48.160 [90.48.160])) 90.48.160 or 90.48.162.
"Stormwater" means an industrial operation or construction activity discharging stormwater runoff as defined in 40 C.F.R. 122.26 (b)(14) or facilities that are permitted as a significant contributor of pollutants as allowed in the federal Clean Water Act at Section 402 (p)(2)(E).
"Tons/yr." means the total production from an asphalt production facility in tons during the most recent completed calendar year.
"Vegetable/bulb washing" means the washing, packing, and shipping of fresh vegetables and bulbs when there is no cooking or cutting of the product before packing.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 15-23-110, filed 11/18/15, effective 12/19/15)
WAC 173-224-040 Permit fee schedule.
(1) Application fee. In addition to the annual fee, first time applicants (except those applying for coverage under a general permit) will pay a one time application fee of twenty-five percent of the annual permit fee, or $250.00, whichever is greater. An application fee will be assessed for RCRA sites regardless of whether a new permit is being issued or an existing permit for other than the discharge resulting from the RCRA corrective action, is being modified.
(2) Industrial facility categories.
(a) Facilities other than those in the ((aggregate production)) sand and gravel, shipyard, or RCRA categories that operate within several fee categories or subcategories, shall be charged from that category or subcategory with the highest fee.
(b) The total annual permit fee for a water treatment plant that primarily serves residential customers may not exceed three dollars per residential equivalent. The number of residential equivalents is determined by dividing the facility's annual gross revenue in the previous calendar year by the annual user charge for a single family residence that uses nine hundred cubic feet of water per month.
(c) ((Crop preparation and aggregate production)) Fruit packer and sand and gravel permit holders are required to submit information to the department certifying annual production (calendar year) or unit processes. When required, the department will send the information form to the permit holder. The permit holder shall complete and return the information form to the department by the required due date. Failure to provide this information will result in a fee determination based on the highest subcategory the facility has received permit coverage in.
(i) Information submitted shall bear a certification of correctness and be signed:
(A) In the case of a corporation, by an authorized corporate officer;
(B) In the case of a limited partnership, by an authorized partner;
(C) In the case of a general partnership, by an authorized general partner; or
(D) In the case of a sole proprietorship, by the proprietor.
(ii) The department may verify information submitted and, if it determines that false or inaccurate statements have been made, it may, in addition to taking other actions provided by law, revise both current and previously granted fee determinations.
(d) Fees for ((crop preparers)) fruit packers discharging only noncontact cooling water without additives shall pay the lesser of the applicable fee in the ((crop preparing)) fruit packing or noncontact cooling water without additives categories.
(e) Where no clear industrial facility category exists for placement of a permit holder, the department may elect to place the permit holder in a category with dischargers or permit holders that contain or use similar properties or processes and/or a category which contains similar permitting complexities to the department.
(f) Hazardous waste clean up sites and EPA authorized RCRA corrective action sites with whom the department has begun cost recovery through chapter 70.105D RCW shall not pay a permit fee under chapter 173-224 WAC until such time as the cost recovery under chapter 70.105D RCW ceases.
(g) Any permit holder, with the exception of nonoperating ((aggregate)) sand and gravel operations or a permitted portable facility, who has not been in continuous operation within a consecutive eighteen-month period or who commits to not being in operation for a consecutive eighteen-month period or longer can have their permit fee reduced to twenty-five percent of the fee that they would be otherwise assessed. This nonoperating mode ((must)) may be verified by the appropriate ecology staff. Once operations resume, the permit fee will be returned to the full amount.
Facilities who commit to the minimum eighteen-month nonoperating mode but go back into operation during the same eighteen-month period will be assessed permit fees as if they were active during the entire period.
(h) Facilities with subcategories based on gallons per day (gpd) shall have their annual permit fee determined by using the maximum daily flow or maximum monthly average permitted flow in gallons per day as specified in the waste discharge permit, whichever is greater.
(i) RCRA corrective action sites requiring a waste discharge permit will be assessed a separate permit fee regardless of whether the discharge is authorized by a separate permit or by a modification to an existing permit for a discharge other than that resulting from the corrective action.
(3) MUNICIPAL/DOMESTIC FACILITIES
(a) The annual permit fee for a permit held by a municipality for a domestic wastewater facility issued under RCW 90.48.162 or 90.48.260 is determined as follows:
(i) Holds more than one permit for domestic wastewater facilities; and
(ii) Treats each domestic wastewater facility as a separate accounting entity, is determined as in (a) of this subsection.
A separate accounting entity is one that maintains separate funds or accounts for each domestic wastewater facility. Revenues are received from the users to pay for the costs of operating that facility.
(c) The sum of the annual permit fees for permits held by a municipality that:
(i) Holds more than one permit for domestic wastewater facilities issued under RCW 90.48.162 or 90.48.260; and
(ii) Does not treat each domestic wastewater facility as a separate accounting entity, as described in (b) of this subsection, is determined as in (a) of this subsection.
(d) The permit fee for a privately owned and government-owned domestic wastewater facility that primarily serves residential customers is determined as in (a) of this subsection. Residential customers are those whose lot, parcel or real estate, or building is primarily used for domestic dwelling purposes.
(e) The annual permit fee for privately owned or government-owned domestic wastewater facilities must be determined by using the maximum daily flow or maximum monthly average permitted flow in million gallons per day, whichever is greater, as specified in the waste discharge permit. Permit fees for privately owned or government-owned domestic wastewater facilities that do not serve primarily residential customers and for state-owned domestic wastewater facilities are the following:
(f) The number of residential equivalents is calculated in the following manner:
(i) If the facility serves only single-family residences, the number of residential equivalents is the number of single-family residences that it served on January 1 of the previous calendar year.
(ii) If the facility serves both single-family residences and other classes of customers, the number of residential equivalents is calculated in the following manner:
(A) Calculation of the number of residential equivalents that the facility serves in its own service area. Subtract from the previous calendar year's gross revenue:
(I) Any amounts received from other municipalities for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal; and
(II) Any user charges received from customers for whom the permit holder pays amounts to other municipalities for sewage treatment or disposal services. Divide the resulting figure by the annual user charge for a single-family residence.
(B) Calculation of the number of residential equivalents that the facility serves in other municipalities which pay amounts to the facility for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal:
(I) Divide any amounts received from other municipalities during the previous calendar year by the annual user charge for a single-family residence. In this case "annual user charge for a single-family residence" means the annual user charge that the facility charges other municipalities for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal services for a single-family residence. If the facility charges different municipalities different single-family residential user fees, then the charge used in these calculations must be that which applies to the largest number of single-family residential customers. Alternatively, if the facility charges different municipalities different single-family residential user fees, the permit holder may divide the amount received from each municipality by the annual user charge that it charges that municipality for a single-family residence and sum the resulting figures.
(II) If the facility does not charge the other municipality on the basis of a fee per single-family residence, the number of residential equivalents in the other municipality is calculated by dividing its previous calendar year's gross revenue by its annual user fee for a single-family residence. If the other municipality does not maintain data on its gross revenue, user fees, and/or the number of single-family residences that it serves, the number of residential equivalents is calculated as in (f)(iv) of this subsection.
(III) If the other municipality serves only single-family residences, the number of residential equivalents may be calculated as in (f)(i) of this subsection.
The sum of the resulting figures is the number of residential equivalents that the facility serves in other municipalities.
(C) The number of residential equivalents is the sum of the number of residential equivalents calculated in (f)(ii)(A) and (B) of this subsection.
(iii) The annual user fee for a single-family residence is calculated by either of the following methods, at the choice of the permit holder:
(A) The annual user fee for a single-family residence using nine hundred cubic feet of water per month. If users are billed monthly, this is calculated by multiplying by twelve the monthly user fee for a single-family residence using nine hundred cubic feet of water per month. If users are billed bimonthly, the annual user fee is calculated by multiplying by six the bimonthly user fee for a single-family residence using one thousand eight hundred cubic feet of water per two-month period. If the user fee for a single-family residence varies, depending on age, income, location, etc., then the fee used in these calculations must be that which applies to the largest number of single-family residential customers.
(B) The average annual user fee for a single-family residence. This average is calculated by dividing the previous calendar year's gross revenue from provision of sewer services to single-family residences by the number of single-family residences served on January 1 of the previous calendar year. If the user fee for a single-family residence varies, depending on age, income, location, etc., then the gross revenue and number of single-family residences used in making this calculation must be those for all the single-family residential customers.
In either case, (f)(iii)(A) or (B) of this subsection, the permit holder must provide the department with a copy of its complete sewer rate schedule for all classes of customers.
(iv) If a permit holder does not maintain data on its gross revenue, user fees, and/or the number of single-family residences that it serves, and therefore cannot use the methods described in (f)(i) or (ii) of this subsection to calculate the number of residential equivalents that it serves, then the number of residential equivalents that it serves is calculated by dividing the average daily influent flow to its facility for the previous calendar year by two hundred fifty gallons. This average is calculated by summing all the daily flow measurements taken during the previous calendar year and then dividing the resulting sum by the number of days on which flow was measured. Data for this calculation must be taken from the permit holder's discharge monitoring reports. Permit holders using this means of calculating the number of their residential equivalents must submit with their application a complete set of copies of their discharge monitoring reports for the previous calendar year.
(g) Fee calculation procedures for holders of permits for domestic wastewater facilities.
(i) Municipalities holding permits for domestic wastewater facilities issued under RCW 90.48.162 and 90.48.260, and holders of permits for privately owned domestic wastewater facilities that primarily serve residential customers must complete a form certifying the number of residential equivalents served by their domestic wastewater system. The form must be completed and returned to the department within thirty days after it is mailed to the permit holder by the department. Failure to return the form could result in permit termination.
(ii) The form shall bear a certification of correctness and be signed:
(A) In the case of a corporation, by an authorized corporate officer;
(B) In the case of a limited partnership, by an authorized partner;
(C) In the case of a general partnership, by an authorized partner;
(D) In the case of a sole proprietorship, by the proprietor; or
(E) In the case of a municipal or other public facility, by either a ranking elected official or a principal executive officer.
(iii) The department may verify the information contained in the form and, if it determines that the permit holder has made false statements, may, in addition to taking other actions provided by law, revise both current and previously granted fee determinations.
(4) STORMWATER PERMIT COVERAGES (UNLESS SPECIFICALLY CATEGORIZED ELSEWHERE IN WAC 173-224-040(2))
To be eligible for less than the maximum permit fee, the permit holder must provide documentation to substantiate the gross revenue claims. Documentation shall be provided annually in a manner prescribed by the department. The documentation shall bear a certification of correctness and be signed:
(a) In the case of a corporation, by an authorized corporate officer;
(b) In the case of a limited partnership, by an authorized general partner;
(c) In the case of a general partnership, by an authorized partner; or
(d) In the case of a sole proprietorship, by the proprietor.
The department may verify the information contained in the submitted documentation and, if it determines that the permit holder has made false statements, may deny the adjustment, revoke previously granted fee adjustments, and/or take such other actions deemed appropriate or required under state or federal law.
(5) MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM PERMITS
(a) Except as provided for in (d) of this subsection, the municipal stormwater permit annual fee for the entities listed below will be:
(b) Municipal stormwater general permit fees for cities and counties, except as otherwise provided for in (a), (c), and (d) of this subsection, will be determined in the following manner: For fiscal year ((2016)) 2018, ecology will charge $((1.53)) 1.71 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit for those cities and counties whose median household income exceeds the state average. Cities and counties whose median household income is less than the state average will have their fee per housing unit reduced to $((.75)) .84 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit. For fiscal year ((2017)) 2019, ecology will charge $((1.61)) 1.81 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit for those cities and counties whose median household income exceeds the state average. Cities and counties whose median household income is less than the state average will have their fee per housing unit reduced to $((.79)) .89 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit. Fees will not exceed $((52,680.00)) 58,987.00 for fiscal year ((2016)) 2018 and $((55,455.00)) 62,280.00 for fiscal year ((2017)) 2019. The minimum annual fee will not be lower than $((2,190.00)) 2,452.00 for fiscal year ((2016)) 2018 and $((2,305.00)) 2,589.00 for fiscal year ((2017)) 2019 unless the permitted city or county has a median household income less than the state average. In this case, the city or county will pay a fee totaling $((.75)) .84 per housing unit for fiscal year ((2016)) 2018. The fee amount for FY ((2017)) 2019 will be $((.79)) .89 per housing unit.
(c) Other entities required to have permit coverage under a municipal stormwater general permit will pay an annual fee based on the entities' previous year's annual operating budget as follows:
For the purposes of determining the annual permit fee category, the annual operating budget shall be the entities' annual operating budget for the entities' previous fiscal year and shall be determined as follows:
(i) For diking, drainage, irrigation, and flood control districts, the district's annual operating budget.
(ii) For ports, the annual operating budget for the port district.
(iii) For colleges, schools, and universities, the portion of the operating budget related to plant or facilities operation and maintenance for the site or sites subject to the permit.
(iv) For state agencies, the annual operating budget for the site or sites subject to the permit.
(v) For other entities not listed, ecology will consider annual revenue, and the noncapital operating budget for the site subject to the permit.
(d) Municipal stormwater permits written specifically for a single entity, such as a single city, county, or agency, issued after the effective date of this rule will have its annual fee determined in the following manner:
(i) For cities and counties listed in (a) of this subsection, the fee shall be five times the amount identified.
(ii) For cities and counties whose median household income exceeds the state average, the fee shall be the higher of either five times the otherwise applicable general permit fee or $30,000. For municipalities whose median household income is less than the state average, the fee shall be the higher of 2.5 times the otherwise applicable general permit fee or $15,000.
(iii) For entities that would otherwise be covered under a municipal stormwater general permit as determined in (c) of this subsection, the fiscal year ((2016)) 2018 annual fee for a permit written for a specific entity shall be $((10,958.00)) 12,270.00. For ((FY 2017)) fiscal year 2019, the annual fee will be $((11,535.00)) 12,955.00.
(e) Ecology will assess a single permit fee for entities which apply only as ((co-permittees or co-applicants)) copermittees or coapplicants. The permit fee shall be equal to the highest single permit fee which would have been assessed if the ((co-permittees)) copermittees had applied separately.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 13-22-051, filed 11/1/13, effective 12/2/13)
WAC 173-224-050 Permit fee computation and payments.
(1) The department shall charge permit fees based on the permit fee schedule contained in WAC 173-224-040. The department may charge fees at the beginning of the fiscal year to which they apply. The department shall notify permit holders of fee charges by mailing billing statements. Permit fees must be received by the department within forty-five days after the department mails a billing statement. The department may elect to bill permit holders a prorated portion of the annual fee on a monthly, quarterly, or other periodic basis.
(2) Permit fee computation for individual permits. Computation of permit fees shall begin on the first day of each fiscal year. In the case of facilities or activities not previously covered by permits, fee computation begins on the issuance date of the permit. In the case of applicants for state waste discharge permits who are deemed to have a temporary permit under RCW 90.48.200, computation shall begin on the sixty-first day after the department accepts a completed application. In the case of NPDES permit holders who submit a new, updated permit application containing information that could change their assigned permit fee, computation and permit fee category reassignment begins upon acceptance of the application by the department. Any facility that obtains permit coverage but fails to operate will still be obligated to pay the annual permit fee assessment until the permit has been terminated by the department. Permits terminated during the fiscal year will pay the annual fee assessment regardless of the permit termination date.
(3) Permit fees for sand and gravel (((aggregate))) general permit holders will be assessed as in subsection (2) of this section and:
(a) Nonoperating sites. A facility conducting mining, screening, washing and/or crushing activities excluding portable rock crushing operations is considered nonoperating for fee purposes if they are conducting these activities for less than ninety cumulative days during a calendar year. A facility producing no asphalt and/or concrete during the calendar year is also considered nonoperating for fee purposes.
(b) Nonoperating sites that become active for only concrete and/or asphalt production will be assessed a prorated fee for the actual time inactive. For the actual time a concrete and/or asphalt facility is active excluding asphalt portable batch plants and concrete portable batch plants, fees will be based on total production of concrete and/or asphalt.
(c) Fees for continuously active sites that produce concrete and/or asphalt excluding asphalt portable batch plants and concrete portable batch plants, will be based on the ((average of the three)) previous calendar year((s)) production totals. Existing facilities must provide the department with the production totals for concrete and/or asphalt produced during the previous ((three)) calendar year((s or for the number of full calendar years of operation if less than three)). New facilities with no historical asphalt and/or concrete production data will have their first year fee based on the production levels reported on the application for coverage under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and State Waste Discharge Permit for Process Water, Stormwater, and Mine Dewatering Water Discharges Associated with Sand and Gravel Operations, Rock Quarries and Similar Mining Facilities including Stockpiles of Mined Materials, Concrete Batch Operations and Asphalt Batch Operations general permit. ((The second year fee will be determined based on the actual production during the first year and estimated production for the second year. The third year fee will be determined based on the average of actual production for the first two years and estimated for the third year. Fee calculation for subsequent years will be based on the average production values of previous years.
(d) Asphalt portable batch plants, concrete portable batch plants and portable rock crushing operations will be assessed fees as in subsection (2) of this section. Each permitted operation must commit to being shut down for a minimum of twelve calendar months before the status can be changed to nonoperating.))
(4) Fees for ((crop preparation)) fruit packer general permit holders will be assessed as in subsection (2) of this section and will be computed on the three previous calendar years production totals. Existing facilities must provide the department with the production totals in the manner described in WAC 173-224-040 (2)(((d))) (c). New facilities with no historical production data will have their first year fee based on the estimated production level for that year. The second year fee will be determined based on the actual production during the first year and estimated production for the second year. The third year fee will be determined based on the average of actual production for the first two years and estimated for the third year. Fee calculation for subsequent years will be based on the average production values of previous years.
(5) Facilities with construction and industrial stormwater general permit coverage will have their annual permit fees begin on the permit issuance date. Permit fee accrual will continue until the permit has been terminated by the department regardless if the activity covered under the permit has already ceased.
(6) Facilities with an existing NPDES and/or state wastewater discharge permit who also have obtained industrial and/or construction stormwater general permit coverage shall only pay an annual fee based on the permit with the highest permit fee category assessment.
(7) Computation of fees shall end on June 30th, the last day of the state's fiscal year regardless of the permit termination date.
(8) The applicable permit fee shall be paid using ecology's online payment software or by check or money order payable to the "Department of Ecology" and mailed to the ((Wastewater Discharge)) Water Quality Permit Fee Program, P.O. Box 47611, Olympia, Washington 98504-7611.
(9) In the event a check is returned due to insufficient funds, the department shall consider the permit fee to be unpaid.
(10) Delinquent accounts. Permit holders are considered delinquent in the payment of fees if the fees are not received by the first invoice billing due date. Delinquent accounts will be processed in the following manner:
(a) Municipal and government entities shall be notified by regular mail that they have forty-five days to bring the delinquent account up-to-date. Accounts that remain delinquent after forty-five days may receive a permit revocation letter for nonpayment of fees.
(b) Nonmunicipal or nongovernment permit holders shall be notified by the department by regular mail that they have forty-five days to bring the delinquent account up-to-date. Accounts that remain delinquent after forty-five days ((will)) may be turned over for collection. In addition((,)) to the amount owed, the collection agent will add a surcharge totaling twenty percent of the delinquent amount owed ((will also be added)). The surcharge is to recover the costs for collection. If the collection agency fails to recover the delinquent fees after twelve months, the permit holder may receive a permit revocation letter for nonpayment of fees.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||