62.1-44.15:6 - Permit fee regulations
§ 62.1-44.15:6. Permit fee regulations.
A. The Board shall promulgate regulations establishing a feeassessment and collection system to recover a portion of the State Water ControlBoard's, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' and the Department ofConservation and Recreation's direct and indirect costs associated with theprocessing of an application to issue, reissue, amend or modify any permit orcertificate, which the Board has authority to issue under this chapter andChapters 24 (§ 62.1-242 et seq.) and 25 (§ 62.1-254 et seq.) of this title,from the applicant for such permit or certificate for the purpose of moreefficiently and expeditiously processing permits. The fees shall be exempt fromstatewide indirect costs charged and collected by the Department of Accounts.The Board shall have no authority to charge such fees where the authority toissue such permits has been delegated to another agency that imposes permitfees.
B1. Permit fees charged an applicant for a Virginia PollutantDischarge Elimination System permit or a Virginia Pollution Abatement permitshall reflect the average time and complexity of processing a permit in each ofthe various categories of permits and permit actions. However, notwithstandingany other provision of law, in no instance shall the Board charge a fee for apermit pertaining to a farming operation engaged in production for market orfor a permit pertaining to maintenance dredging for federal navigation channelsor other Corps of Engineers sponsored dredging projects or for the regularlyscheduled renewal of an individual permit for an existing facility. Fees shallbe charged for a major modification or reissuance of a permit initiated by thepermittee that occurs between permit issuance and the stated expiration date.No fees shall be charged for a modification or amendment made at the Board'sinitiative. In no instance shall the Board exceed the following amounts for theprocessing of each type of permit/certificate category:
Type of Permit/Certificate Category Maximum Amount
1. Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
Major Industrial $24,000
Major Municipal $21,300
Minor Industrial with nonstandard $10,300
limits
Minor Industrial with standard limits $ 6,600
Minor Municipal greater than 100,000 $7,500
gallons per day
Minor Municipal 10,001-100,000 gallons $6,000
per day
Minor Municipal 1,000-10,000 gallons $5,400
per day
Minor Municipal less than 1,000 $2,000
gallons per day
General-industrial stormwater $ 500
management
General-stormwater management-phase I $ 500
land clearing
General-stormwater management-phase II $ 300
land clearing
General-other $ 600
2. Virginia Pollution Abatement
Industrial/Wastewater 10 or more $15,000
inches per year
Industrial/Wastewater less than 10 $10,500
inches per year
Industrial/Sludge $ 7,500
Municipal/Wastewater $13,500
Municipal/Sludge $ 7,500
General Permit $ 600
Other $ 750
The fee for the major modification of a permit or certificatethat occurs between the permit issuance and expiration dates shall be 50percent of the maximum amount established by this subsection. No fees shall becharged for minor modifications or minor amendments to such permits. For thepurpose of this subdivision, "minor modifications" or "minoramendments" means specific types of changes defined by the Board that aremade to keep the permit current with routine changes to the facility or itsoperation that do not require extensive review. A minor permit modification oramendment does not substantially alter permit conditions, increase the size ofthe operation, or reduce the capacity of the facility to protect human healthor the environment.
B2. Each permitted facility shall pay a permit maintenance feeto the Board by October 1 of each year, not to exceed the following amounts:
Type of Permit/Certificate Category Maximum Amount
1. Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
Major Industrial $4,800
Major Municipal greater than 10 $4,750
million gallons per day
Major Municipal 2-10 million gallons $4,350
per day
Major Municipal less than 2 million $3,850
gallons per day
Minor Industrial with nonstandard $2,040
limits
Minor Industrial with standard limits $1,320
Minor Industrial water treatment system $1,200
Minor Municipal greater than 100,000 $1,500
gallons per day
Minor Municipal 10,001-100,000 gallons $1,200
per day
Minor Municipal 1,000-10,000 gallons $1,080
per day
Minor Municipal less than 1,000 $ 400
gallons per day
2. Virginia Pollution Abatement
Industrial/Wastewater 10 or more $3,000
inches per year
Industrial/Wastewater less than 10 $2,100
inches per year
Industrial/Sludge $3,000
Municipal/Wastewater $2,700
Municipal/Sludge $1,500
An additional permit maintenance fee of $1,000 shall becollected from facilities in a toxics management program and an additionalpermit maintenance fee shall be collected from facilities that have more thanfive process wastewater discharge outfalls. Permit maintenance fees shall becollected annually and shall be remitted by October 1 of each year. For a localgovernment or public service authority with permits for multiple facilities ina single jurisdiction, the permit maintenance fees for permits held as of April1, 2004, shall not exceed $20,000 per year. No permit maintenance fee shall beassessed for facilities operating under a general permit or for permitspertaining to a farming operation engaged in production for market.
B3. Permit application fees charged for Virginia WaterProtection Permits, ground water withdrawal permits, and surface waterwithdrawal permits shall reflect the average time and complexity of processinga permit in each of the various categories of permits and permit actions andthe size of the proposed impact. Only one permit fee shall be assessed for awater protection permit involving elements of more than one category of permitfees under this section. The fee shall be assessed based upon the primarypurpose of the proposed activity. In no instance shall the Board charge a feefor a permit pertaining to maintenance dredging for federal navigation channelsor other U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-sponsored dredging projects, and in noinstance shall the Board exceed the following amounts for the processing ofeach type of permit/certificate category:
Type of Permit Maximum Amount
1. Virginia Water Protection
Individual-wetland impacts $2,400 plus
$220 per
1/10 acre of
impact over
two
Individual-minimum acres, not to
exceed $60,000
instream flow $25,000
Individual-reservoir $35,000
Individual-nonmetallic mineral mining $7,500
General-less than 1/10 acre impact $0
General-1/10 to 1/2 acre impact $600
General-greater than 1/2 to one acre
impact $1,200
General-greater than one acre
to two acres of impact $120 per 1/10
acre of impact
2. Ground Water Withdrawal $6,000
3. Surface Water Withdrawal $12,000
No fees shall be charged for minor modifications or minor amendmentsto such permits. For the purpose of this subdivision, "minormodifications" or "minor amendments" means specific types ofchanges defined by the Board that are made to keep the permit current withroutine changes to the facility or its operation that do not require extensivereview. A minor permit modification or amendment does not substantially alterpermit conditions, increase the size of the operation, or reduce the capacityof the facility to protect human health or the environment.
C. When promulgating regulations establishing permit fees, theBoard shall take into account the permit fees charged in neighboring states andthe importance of not placing existing or prospective industries in theCommonwealth at a competitive disadvantage.
D. Beginning January 1, 1998, and January 1 of everyeven-numbered year thereafter, the Board shall make a report on theimplementation of the water permit program to the Senate Committee onAgriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, the Senate Committee onFinance, the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee onAgriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the House Committee onFinance. The report shall include the following: (i) the total costs, bothdirect and indirect, including the costs of overhead, water quality planning,water quality assessment, operations coordination, and surface water and groundwater investigations, (ii) the total fees collected by permit category, (iii)the amount of general funds allocated to the Board, (iv) the amount of federalfunds received, (v) the Board's use of the fees, the general funds, and thefederal funds, (vi) the number of permit applications received by category,(vii) the number of permits issued by category, (viii) the progress in eliminatingpermit backlogs, (ix) the timeliness of permit processing, and (x) the directand indirect costs to neighboring states of administering their water permitprograms, including what activities each state categorizes as direct andindirect costs, and the fees charged to the permit holders and applicants.
E. Fees collected pursuant to this section shall not supplantor reduce in any way the general fund appropriation to the Board.
F. Permit fee schedules shall apply to permit programs inexistence on July 1, 1992, any additional permits that may be required by thefederal government and administered by the Board, or any new permit requiredpursuant to any law of the Commonwealth.
G. The Board is authorized to promulgate regulationsestablishing a schedule of reduced permit fees for facilities that haveestablished a record of compliance with the terms and requirements of theirpermits and shall establish criteria by regulation to provide for reductions inthe annual fee amount assessed for facilities accepted into the Department'sprograms to recognize excellent environmental performance.
(1992, cc. 621, 657; 1993, cc. 749, 756; 1995, c. 107; 1997,cc. 115, 154; 2002, c. 822; 2004, cc. 249, 324.)