S-1560

AN ACT Relating to water discharge permit fees; amending RCW 90.48.465 and 90.48.250; adding a new section to chapter 70.146 RCW; creating a new section; and making appropriations.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 90.48.465 and 1989 c 2 s 13 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~~)) fee eligible expenses incurred by the department, so long as fees do not exceed the limitations upon total fees provided in subsection (10) of this section. Fee eligible expenses means the total actual costs 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 required 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 cents per month per residence or residential equivalent contributing to the municipality's wastewater system.)) each of the preceding activities. Fee eligible expenses shall not include costs related to: (a) Processing of penalties and notices of violation, inspections that extend beyond compliance monitoring, criminal investigations, or the overhead expenses directly related to these activities; or (b) department administrative overhead such as executive branch support or financial and administrative services.

(2) The department shall convene and consult with the permit fee advisory committee as necessary to review any adjustments to proposed fees for recovery of fee eligible expenses authorized under this chapter. The permit fee advisory committee shall consist of representatives from the department, state agencies that procure waste discharge permits, large and small industrial dischargers, large and small municipal dischargers, environmental organizations, other state and federal agencies as appropriate, and interested parties. The department shall consult with associations related to discharger categories for recommended representatives to the permit fee advisory committee.

(3) The department shall establish by rule, before January 1, 1992, the indirect and overhead program expenses that shall be recovered by waste discharge permit fees.

(4) 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~~)). The amount of credits issued to a municipality shall not exceed four percent of the total annual fees collected from municipal wastewater dischargers.

(5) The department shall tier permit monitoring requirements so that if baseline sampling discloses no measurable adverse effects to the waters of the state, or biota or sediments in the waters of the state, or that no potential adverse effects may result to the waters of the state, or biota or sediments in the waters of the state, a reduced monitoring schedule may then apply. The department shall also allow coordinated ambient monitoring by multiple neighboring permittees discharging into the same receiving waters, subject to department approval to ensure the quality of such coordinated monitoring.

((~~(3)~~)) (6) The department shall ensure that indirect dischargers do not pay twice for the administrative expenses of a permit. Accordingly, administrative expenses for permits issued by a municipality under RCW 90.48.165 are not recoverable by the department.

((~~(4)~~)) (7) 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)~~)) (8) 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)~~)) (9) The department shall submit ((~~an annual~~)) a report to the legislature by November 1st of each even year showing detailed information on fees collected, actual expenses incurred, ((~~and~~)) anticipated expenses, and the actual costs for representative permits in the large and small industrial, and large and small municipal discharger categories for the current and following fiscal years. The department shall include in its report, recommendations for cost reductions in permit management and compliance activities, and recommendations for nonregulatory or alternative approaches to control point source discharges.

((~~(7)~~)) (10) The department shall not increase the total fees collected by more than six percent for any two-year period commencing July 1, 1993. The base to which this limitation shall apply on July 1, 1993, shall be the amount appropriated from the water quality permit account for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, less four million dollars.

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

Sec. 2. RCW 90.48.250 and 1987 c 109 s 141 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department is authorized to make agreements and enter into such contracts as are appropriate to carry out a program of monitoring the condition of the waters of the state and the effluent discharged therein, including contracts to monitor effluent discharged into public waters when such monitoring is required by the terms of a waste discharge permit or as part of the approval of a sewerage system, if adequate compensation is provided to the department as a term of the contract.

(2) A person holding or applying for a waste discharge permit may request that the department contract with third parties, to be determined by the department, activities associated with preparing such permit or permit application, where not inconsistent with state or federal requirements.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 70.146 RCW to read as follows:

Permit fees paid by municipal wastewater dischargers for each class of permits under RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, and 90.48.260, may be claimed for the purpose of meeting matching grant requirements under this chapter. Permit fees paid in prior years may be claimed to meet match requirements, but not more than once.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of one hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, from the general fund to the water quality permit account solely for the purposes of offsetting the economic impact of permit costs for small dischargers and municipalities who meet the requirements of RCW 90.48.465(7).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of fourteen million six hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, from the water quality permit account to the department of ecology for the purpose of administering the water quality discharge permit program. Four million dollars of this appropriation is provided solely for the purpose of implementing the permit program improvements recommended by the efficiency commission, and identifying and regulating point source dischargers.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition for the allocation of federal funds to the state or the maintenance of the state authority to administer federal permit requirements, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and this conflict does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act. The rules adopted under this act shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state, or the maintenance of the state authority to administer federal permit requirements.