H. B. 2896


(Delegates Farris, Compton and Leach)


(Originating in the Committee on Finance)

[April 4, 1997]




A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article eleven, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to establishing the water quality management fund; providing for an increase in permit application fees and annual permit fees; dedication of proceeds; and authorizing promulgation of an emergency rule.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article eleven, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11.WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT.
ยง22-11-10.
Water quality management fund established; permit application fees; annual permit fees; dedication of proceeds; rules.

(a)A special revenue fund designated the "Water Quality Management Fund" shall be established in the state treasury on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine.
(b)The permit application fees and annual permit fees established and collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the water quality management fund. The director shall spend the proceeds of the water quality management fund, including the interest thereon, for the review of initial permit applications, renewal permit applications, and permit issuance activities.
(c)The director shall promulgate rules in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to establish a schedule of application fees for which the appropriate fee shall be submitted by the applicant to the division with the application filed pursuant to this article for any state water pollution control permit or national pollutant discharge elimination system permit. Such schedule of application fees shall be designed to establish reasonable categories or permit application fees based upon the complexity of the permit application review process required by the division pursuant to the provisions of this article and the rules promulgated thereunder: Provided, That no initial application fee shall exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars for any facility nor shall any permit renewal application fee exceed two thousand five hundred dollars. The division shall not process any permit application pursuant to this article until said permit application fee has been received.
(d)The director shall promulgate rules in accordance with the provision of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to establish a schedule of permit fees which shall be assessed annually upon each person holding a state water pollution control permit or national pollutant discharge elimination system permit issued pursuant to this article. Each person holding such a permit shall pay the prescribed annual permit fee to the division pursuant to the rules promulgated hereunder. Such schedule of annual permit fees shall be designed to establish reasonable categories of annual permit fees based upon the relative potential of such categories or permits to degrade the waters of the state: Provided, That no annual permit fee may exceed two thousand five hundred three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. Any such permit issued pursuant to this article is void, upon the forwarding of a certified or registered letter to the permittee advising of such action, when the annual permit fee is more than one hundred and eighty ninety days past due pursuant to the rule promulgated hereunder.
(e)The Legislature finds and declares that conditions warranting a rule to be promulgated as an emergency rule do exist and the rule required by the amendment to this section should be accorded emergency status. Accordingly the director is authorized to promulgate title forty-seven, series twenty-six of the code of state regulations as an emergency rule to implement the new fee schedules as provided for in this section. This section shall become effective upon passage.
(e) (f)The provisions of this section are not applicable to fees required for permits issued under article three