                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PERMIT FEE REGULATIONS (§ 62.1-44.15:6)

A. The Board shall promulgate regulations establishing a fee assessment and
collection system to recover a portion of the State Water Control Board&#8217;s,
the Department of Wildlife Resources&#8217; and the Department of Conservation
and Recreation&#8217;s direct and indirect costs associated with the processing
of an application to issue, reissue, amend or modify any permit or certificate,
which the Board has authority to issue under this chapter and Chapters 24
(&#xA7; 62.1-242 et seq.) and 25 (&#xA7; 62.1-254 et seq.) of this title, from
the applicant for such permit or certificate for the purpose of more efficiently
and expeditiously processing permits. The fees shall be exempt from statewide
indirect costs charged and collected by the Department of Accounts. The Board
shall have no authority to charge such fees where the authority to issue such
permits has been delegated to another agency that imposes permit fees.

B1. Permit fees charged an applicant for a Virginia Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit or a Virginia Pollution Abatement permit shall reflect
the average time and complexity of processing a permit in each of the various
categories of permits and permit actions. However, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, in no instance shall the Board charge a fee for a permit
pertaining to a farming operation engaged in production for market or for a
permit pertaining to maintenance dredging for federal navigation channels or
other Corps of Engineers- or Department of the Navy-sponsored dredging projects
or for the regularly scheduled renewal of an individual permit for an existing
facility. Fees shall be charged for a major modification or reissuance of a
permit initiated by the permittee that occurs between permit issuance and the
stated expiration date. No fees shall be charged for a modification or amendment
made at the Board&#8217;s initiative. In no instance shall the Board exceed the
following amounts for the processing 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 limits
   				$10,300
   				Minor Industrial with standard limits
   				$6,600
   				Minor Municipal greater than 100,000 gallons per day
   				$7,500
   				Minor Municipal 10,001-100,000 gallons per day
   				$6,000
   				Minor Municipal 1,000-10,000 gallons per day
   				$5,400
   				Minor Municipal less than 1,000 gallons per day
   				$2,000
   				General-industrial stormwater management
   				$500
   				General-stormwater management-phase I land clearing
   				$500
   				General-stormwater management-phase II land clearing
   				$300
   				General-other
   				$600

   2. Virginia Pollution Abatement
   				Industrial/Wastewater 10 or more inches per year
   				$15,000
   				Industrial/Wastewater less than 10 inches per year
   				$10,500
   				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 certificate that occurs
   between the permit issuance and expiration dates shall be 50 percent of the
   maximum amount established by this subsection. No fees shall be charged for
   minor modifications or minor amendments to such permits. For the purpose of
   this subdivision, &#8220;minor modifications&#8221; or &#8220;minor
   amendments&#8221; means specific types of changes defined by the Board that
   are made to keep the permit current with routine changes to the facility or
   its operation that do not require extensive review. A minor permit
   modification or amendment does not substantially alter permit conditions,
   increase the size of the operation, or reduce the capacity of the facility to
   protect human health or the environment.

B2. Each permitted facility shall pay a permit maintenance fee to 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 million gallons per day
   				$4,750
   				Major Municipal 2-10 million gallons per day
   				$4,350
   				Major Municipal less than 2 million gallons per day
   				$3,850
   				Minor Industrial with nonstandard limits
   				$2,040
   				Minor Industrial with standard limits
   				$1,320
   				Minor Industrial water treatment system
   				$1,200
   				Minor Municipal greater than 100,000 gallons per day
   				$1,500
   				Minor Municipal 10,001-100,000 gallons per day
   				$1,200
   				Minor Municipal 1,000-10,000 gallons per day
   				$1,080
   				Minor Municipal less than 1,000 gallons per day
   				$400

   2. Virginia Pollution Abatement
   				Industrial/Wastewater 10 or more inches per year
   				$3,000
   				Industrial/Wastewater less than 10 inches per year
   				$2,100
   				Industrial/Sludge
   				$3,000
   				Municipal/Wastewater
   				$2,700
   				Municipal/Sludge
   				$1,500
   				An additional permit maintenance fee of $1,000 shall be collected from
   facilities in a toxics management program and an additional permit maintenance
   fee shall be collected from facilities that have more than five process
   wastewater discharge outfalls. Permit maintenance fees shall be collected
   annually and shall be remitted by October 1 of each year. For a local
   government or public service authority with permits for multiple facilities in
   a single jurisdiction, the permit maintenance fees for permits held as of
   April 1, 2004, shall not exceed $20,000 per year. No permit maintenance fee
   shall be assessed for facilities operating under a general permit or for
   permits pertaining to a farming operation engaged in production for market.

B3. Permit application fees charged for Virginia Water Protection Permits,
ground water withdrawal permits, and surface water withdrawal permits shall
reflect the average time and complexity of processing a permit in each of the
various categories of permits and permit actions and the size of the proposed
impact. Only one permit fee shall be assessed for a water protection permit
involving elements of more than one category of permit fees under this section.
The fee shall be assessed based upon the primary purpose of the proposed
activity. In no instance shall the Board charge a fee for a permit pertaining to
maintenance dredging for federal navigation channels or other U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers- or Department of the Navy-sponsored dredging projects, and in no
instance shall the Board exceed the following amounts for the processing of each
type of permit/certificate category:
			Maximum Amount
			$2,400 plus $220 per 1/10 acre of impact over two acres, not to exceed
$60,000
			$25,000
			$35,000
			$7,500
			$0
			$600
			$1,200
			$120 per 1/10 acre of impact
			$9,000
			$12,000
			No fees shall be charged for minor modifications or minor amendments to such
permits. For the purpose of this subdivision, &#8220;minor modifications&#8221;
or &#8220;minor amendments&#8221; means specific types of changes defined by the
Board that are made to keep the permit current with routine changes to the
facility or its operation that do not require extensive review. A minor permit
modification or amendment does not substantially alter permit conditions,
increase the size of the operation, or reduce the capacity of the facility to
protect human health or the environment.

C. When promulgating regulations establishing permit fees, the Board shall take
into account the permit fees charged in neighboring states and the importance of
not placing existing or prospective industries in the Commonwealth at a
competitive disadvantage.

D. Beginning January 1, 1998, and January 1 of every even-numbered year
thereafter, the Board shall make a report on the implementation of the water
permit program to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural
Resources, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House
Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and
Natural Resources and the House Committee on Finance. The report shall include
the following: (i) the total costs, both direct and indirect, including the
costs of overhead, water quality planning, water quality assessment, operations
coordination, and surface water and ground water investigations, (ii) the total
fees collected by permit category, (iii) the amount of general funds allocated
to the Board, (iv) the amount of federal funds received, (v) the Board&#8217;s
use of the fees, the general funds, and the federal funds, (vi) the number of
permit applications received by category, (vii) the number of permits issued by
category, (viii) the progress in eliminating permit backlogs, (ix) the
timeliness of permit processing, and (x) the direct and indirect costs to
neighboring states of administering their water permit programs, including what
activities each state categorizes as direct and indirect costs, and the fees
charged to the permit holders and applicants.

E. Fees collected pursuant to this section shall not supplant or reduce in any
way the general fund appropriation to the Board.

F. Permit fee schedules shall apply to permit programs in existence on July 1,
1992, any additional permits that may be required by the federal government and
administered by the Board, or any new permit required pursuant to any law of the
Commonwealth.

G. The Board is authorized to promulgate regulations establishing a schedule of
reduced permit fees for facilities that have established a record of compliance
with the terms and requirements of their permits and shall establish criteria by
regulation to provide for reductions in the annual fee amount assessed for
facilities accepted into the Department&#8217;s programs to recognize excellent
environmental performance.

HISTORY: 1992, cc. 621, 657; 1993, cc. 749, 756; 1995, c. 107; 1997, cc. 115,
154; 2002, c. 822; 2004, cc. 249, 324; 2011, cc. 87, 149; 2018, c. 424; 2020, c.
958.