WSR 15-23-110 PERMANENT RULES DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY [Order 15-02—Filed November 18, 2015, 11:15 a.m., effective December 19, 2015]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: To increase annual permit fees for the following fee types by 5.31 percent for state fiscal year (FY) 2016 and 5.27 percent for state FY 2017: Aluminum alloys, aluminum forming, aggregate production - individual and general permits, 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, and stormwater municipal phase 1 and 2 permits.
To increase annual permit fees for the following fee types by 3.25 percent for state FY 2016 and 3.21 percent for state FY 2017: Aquaculture, aluminum and magnesium reduction mills, combined industrial waste treatment, combined food processing waste treatment, combined sewer overflow system, commercial laundry, crop preparing - 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, 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 and wineries - individual permits.
Ecology is also adding three new fee categories that will include bridge washing, in-water vessel deconstruction, and wineries - general permit coverage.
King County DNR Wastewater Treatment will have fees increased by 4.22 percent for state FY 2016 and 4.19 percent for state FY 2017.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 173-224-040.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 90.48.465 Water pollution control.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 15-15-174 on July 22, 2015.
Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: Correct a typo on the FY 2016 proposed fee for c. Concrete Production 3. 200,000 tons/yr. and greater; correct typos on the proposed fees for FY 2016 and 2017 for hazardous waste clean up sites, a. leaking underground storage tanks (LUST), 3. NPDES permit issued post July 1, 1994; reduce the proposed fees for aluminum and magnesium reduction mills from the proposed 5.41 percent increase for FY 2016 and 5.27 percent increase for FY 2017 to a 3.25 percent increase for FY 2016 and 3.21 percent increase for FY 2017.
A final cost-benefit analysis is available by contacting Garret Ward, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program, 300 Desmond Drive, Lacey, WA 98503, phone (360) 407-7544, fax (360) 407-6426, e-mail garret.ward@ecy.wa.gov.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: November 18, 2015.
Maia D. Bellon
Director
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 13-22-051, filed 11/1/13, effective 12/2/13)
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, 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 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 discharging only noncontact cooling water without additives shall pay the lesser of the applicable fee in the crop preparing 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 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 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) STORM WATER 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 storm water permit annual fee for the entities listed below will be:
(b) Municipal storm water 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 ((2014)) 2016, ecology will charge $((1.39)) 1.53 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 $((.68)) .75 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit. For fiscal year ((2015)) 2017, ecology will charge $((1.45)) 1.61 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 $((.71)) .79 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit. Fees will not exceed $((47,810.00)) 52,680.00 for fiscal year ((2014)) 2016 and $((50,024.00)) 55,455.00 for fiscal year ((2015)) 2017. The minimum annual fee will not be lower than $((1,988.00)) 2,190.00 for fiscal year ((2014)) 2016 and $((2,080.00)) 2,305.00 for fiscal year ((2015)) 2017 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 $((.68)) .75 per housing unit for fiscal year ((2014)) 2016. The fee amount for FY ((2015)) 2017 will be $((.71)) .79 per housing unit.
(c) Other entities required to have permit coverage under a municipal storm water 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 storm water 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 storm water general permit as determined in (c) of this subsection, the fiscal year ((2014)) 2016 annual fee for a permit written for a specific entity shall be $((9,945.00)) 10,958.00. For FY ((2015)) 2017, the annual fee will be $((10,405.00)) 11,535.00.
(e) Ecology will assess a single permit fee for entities which apply only as co-permittees or co-applicants. The permit fee shall be equal to the highest single permit fee which would have been assessed if the co-permittees had applied separately.
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