GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SECOND EXTRA SESSION 1996

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 76*

Short Title:  Amend Environmental Management Commission Fees.           (Public)

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Sponsors: Representative Nichols.

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Referred to:  Rules.

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July 10, 1996

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO INCREASE THE MAXIMUM FEES THAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION MAY CHARGE FOR PERMITS AND COMPLIANCE MONITORING UNDER THE WATER QUALITY PROGRAM AND TO INCREASE THE MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL BUDGETS OF CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS THAT MAY BE DERIVED FROM FEES FROM THIRTY TO FIFTY PERCENT, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) reads as rewritten:
"(1a)	To charge fees for the following:
a.	Processing of applications for permits, certifications, and registrations issued under Articles 21, 21A, 21B, and 38 of this Chapter;
b.	Administering permits, certifications, and registrations issued under Articles 21, 21A, 21B, and 38 of this Chapter including monitoring compliance with the terms of those permits; and
c.	Reviewing, processing, and publicizing applications for construction grant awards under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
No fee may be charged under this provision, however, to a farmer who submits an application that pertains to his farming operation except for a permit that is required under Article 21, 21A, 21B, or 38 of this Chapter or rules adopted by the Commission under any of the provisions of those Articles."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1b) reads as rewritten:
"(1b)	The fee to be charged pursuant to G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) for processing an application for a permit under G.S. 143-215.1 of Article 21 may not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).  The fee to be charged pursuant to G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) for processing an application for a permit under G.S. 143-215.108 and G.S. 143-215.109 of Article 21B of this Chapter may not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00).  The fee to be charged pursuant to G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) for processing a registration under Part 2A of this Article or Article 38 of this Chapter may not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) for any single registration.  An additional fee of twenty percent (20%) of the registration processing fee may be assessed for a late registration under Article 38 of this Chapter.  The fee for administering and compliance monitoring under G.S. 143-215.1 of Article 21 shall be charged on an annual basis for each year of the permit term and may not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per year.  The fee for administering and compliance monitoring under G.S. 143-215.108 and G.S. 143-215.109 of Article 21B shall be charged on an annual basis for each year of the permit term and may not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per year.  Fees for processing all permits under Article 21A and all other sections of Articles 21 and 21B for which a fee is not specified shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) for any single permit.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, the total payment for fees required for an individual permit under this subsection shall not exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) per year, which amount shall include all application fees and fees for administration and compliance monitoring.  A single facility is defined to be any contiguous area under one ownership and in which permitted activities occur.  For all permits issued under these Articles where a fee schedule is not specified in the statutes, the Commission, or other commission specified by statute shall adopt a fee schedule in a rule following the procedures established by the Administrative Procedure Act.  Fee schedules shall be established to reflect the size of the emission or discharge, the potential impact on the environment, the staff costs involved, relative costs of the issuance of new permits and the reissuance of existing permits, and shall include adequate safeguards to prevent unusual fee assessments which would result in serious economic burden on an individual applicant.  A system shall be considered to allow consolidated annual payments for persons with multiple permits.  In its rulemaking to establish fee schedules, the Commission is also directed to consider a method of rewarding facilities which achieve full compliance with administrative and self-monitoring reporting requirements, and to consider, in those cases where the cost of renewal or amendment of a permit is less than for the original permit, a lower fee for the renewal or amendment."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 143-215.3A(a1) reads as rewritten:
"(a1)	The total monies collected per year from fees for permits under G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a), after deducting those monies collected under G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1d), shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the total budgets from all sources of environmental permitting and compliance programs under Articles 21, 21A, 21B, and 38 of this Chapter."
Sec. 4.  This act is effective upon ratification.