CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

                   SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1649

                        52nd Legislature

                      1991 Regular Session

Passed by the House March 19, 1991

  Yeas 64   Nays 34

Speaker of the

       House of Representatives

Passed by the Senate April 19, 1991

  Yeas 27   Nays 20

President of the Senate

Approved

Governor of the State of Washington

CERTIFICATE

I, Alan Thompson, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1649 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.

Chief Clerk

                                     FILED         

                        Secretary of State   

                       State of Washington  

                  _______________________________________________

                            SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1649

                  _______________________________________________

                     Passed Legislature - 1991 Regular Session

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By House Committee on Environmental Affairs (originally sponsored by Representative Rust; by request of Department of Ecology and Office of Financial Management).

Read first time March 6, 1991.  Updating municipality water discharge fees.

     AN ACT Relating to municipal water discharge permit fees; and amending RCW 90.48.465.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

     Sec. 1.  RCW 90.48.465 and 1989 c 2 s 13 (Initiative Measure No. 97) are each amended to read as follows:

     (1) The department shall establish annual fees to collect expenses for issuing and administering each class of permits under RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, and 90.48.260.  An initial fee schedule shall be established by rule within one year of March 1, 1989, and thereafter the fee schedule shall be adjusted no more often than once every two years.  This fee schedule shall apply to all permits, regardless of date of issuance, and fees shall be assessed prospectively.  All fees charged shall be based on factors relating to the complexity of permit issuance and compliance and may be based on pollutant loading and toxicity and be designed to encourage recycling and the reduction of the quantity of pollutants. Fees shall be established in amounts to fully recover and not to exceed expenses incurred by the department in processing permit applications and modifications, monitoring and evaluating compliance with permits, conducting inspections, securing laboratory analysis of samples taken during inspections, reviewing plans and documents directly related to operations of permittees, overseeing performance of delegated pretreatment programs, and supporting the overhead expenses that are directly related to these activities.

     (2) The annual fee paid by a municipality, as defined in 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1362, for all domestic wastewater facility permits issued under RCW 90.48.162 and 90.48.260 shall not exceed the total of a maximum of ((five)) fifteen cents per month per residence or residential equivalent contributing to the municipality's wastewater system.  The department shall adopt by rule a schedule of credits for any municipality engaging in a comprehensive monitoring program beyond the requirements imposed by the department, with the credits available for five years from March 1, 1989, and with the total amount of all credits not to exceed fifty thousand dollars in the five‑year period.

     (3) The department shall ensure that indirect dischargers do not pay twice for the administrative expense of a permit. Accordingly, administrative expenses for permits issued by a municipality under RCW 90.48.165 are not recoverable by the department.

     (4) In establishing fees, the department shall consider the economic impact of fees on small dischargers and the economic impact of fees on public entities required to obtain permits for storm water runoff and shall provide appropriate adjustments.

     (5) All fees collected under this section shall be deposited in the water quality permit account hereby created in the state treasury.  Moneys in the account may be appropriated only for purposes of administering permits under RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, and 90.48.260.

     (6) The department shall submit an annual report to the legislature showing detailed information on fees collected, actual expenses incurred, and anticipated expenses for the current and following fiscal years.

     (7) The legislative budget committee in 1993 shall review the fees established under this section and report its findings to the legislature in January 1994.