Section 173-455-100. Control technology fees.

(1) General. Ecology may assess and collect a fee as authorized in RCW 70.94.153 or 70.94.154 and described in subsections (2) through (5) of this section.

(2) Fee schedule for source-specific determinations where RACT analysis and determination are performed by ecology.

(a) Basic RACT analysis and determination fee:

(i) Low complexity (the analysis addresses one type of emission unit) - One thousand five hundred dollars;

(ii) Moderate complexity (the analysis addresses two to five types of emissions units) - Seven thousand five hundred dollars;

(iii) High complexity (the analysis addresses more than five types of emission units) - Fifteen thousand dollars.

(b) Additional charges based on criteria pollutant emissions: In addition to those fees required under (a) of this subsection, a fee will be required for a RACT analysis and determination for an emission unit or multiple emission units of uniform design that, individually or in the aggregate, emit one hundred tons per year or more of any criteria pollutant - Two thousand dollars.

(c) Additional charges based on toxic air pollutant emissions: In addition to those fees required under (a) and (b) of this subsection, the following fees will be required as applicable:

(i) RACT analysis and determination for an emissions unit or multiple emissions units of uniform design that, individually or in the aggregate, emit more than two tons per year but not more than ten tons per year of any toxic air pollutant - One thousand dollars; or

(ii) RACT analysis and determination for an emissions unit or multiple emissions units of uniform design that, individually or in the aggregate, emit more than ten tons per year of any toxic air pollutant - Two thousand dollars.

(3) Fee schedule for source-specific determinations where RACT analysis is performed by the source and review and determination conducted by ecology.

(a) Basic RACT review and determination fees:

(i) Low complexity (the analysis addresses one type of emission unit) - One thousand dollars;

(ii) Moderate complexity (the analysis addresses two to five types of emissions units) - Five thousand dollars;

(iii) High complexity (the analysis addresses more than five types of emission units) - Ten thousand dollars.

(b) Additional charges based on criteria pollutant emissions: In addition to those fees required under (a) of this subsection, a fee will be required for a RACT analysis and determination for an emission unit or multiple emissions units of uniform design that, individually or in the aggregate, emit one hundred tons per year or more of any criteria pollutant - One thousand dollars.

(c) Additional charges based on toxic air pollutant emissions: In addition to those fees required under (a) and (b) of this subsection, the following fees will be required as applicable:

(i) RACT analysis and determination for an emissions unit or multiple emissions units of uniform design that, individually or in the aggregate, emit more than two tons per year but not more than ten tons per year of any toxic air pollutant - Five hundred dollars; or

(ii) RACT analysis and determination for an emissions unit or multiple emissions units of uniform design that, individually or in the aggregate, emit more than ten tons per year of any toxic air pollutant - One thousand dollars.

(4) Fee schedule for reviews authorized under RCW 70.94.153 for the replacement or substantial alteration of control technology.

(a) Notice of construction application. Review and approval of notice of construction application (NOCA) for replacement or substantial alteration of control technology - Three hundred fifty dollars.

(b) RACT analysis and determination. Review and approval of a RACT analysis and determination for affected emission unit - Five hundred dollars.

(5) Fee schedule for categorical RACT determinations. Fees for categorical RACT determinations (for categories with more than three sources) shall be assessed as shown below. The fees described in (a) of this subsection shall be based on the most complex source within a category. Except as provided in (b) and (d) of this subsection, fees for individual sources in the category will be determined by dividing the total source category fee by the number of sources within the category.

(a) RACT analysis and determination (RACT analysis performed by ecology with assistance from sources):

(i) Low complexity source category (average source emissions of individual criteria pollutants are all less than twenty tons per year, average source emissions of individual toxic air pollutants are all less than two tons per year, or the analysis addresses one type of emission unit) - Twenty-five thousand dollars;

(ii) Moderate complexity source category (average source emissions of one or more individual criteria pollutants are greater than twenty tons per year and less than one hundred tons per year, average source emissions of one or more individual toxic air pollutants are greater than two tons per year and less than ten tons per year, or the analysis addresses two to five types of emissions units) - Fifty thousand dollars; or

(iii) High complexity source category (average source emissions of one or more individual criteria pollutants exceed one hundred tons per year, average source emissions of one or more individual toxic air pollutants exceed ten tons per year, or the analysis addresses more than five types of emission units) - One hundred thousand dollars.

(b) If an emission unit is being evaluated for more than one categorical RACT determination within a five-year period, ecology will charge the owner or operator of that emission unit one fee and the fee will reflect the higher complexity categorical RACT determination.

(c) Ecology may adjust the fee to reflect workload savings from source involvement in source category RACT determination.

(d) Ecology may approve alternate methods for allocating the fee among sources within the source category.

(6) Small business fee reduction. The RACT analysis and determination fee identified in subsections (2) through (5) of this section may be reduced for a small business.

(a) To qualify for the small business RACT fee reduction, a business must meet the requirements of "small business" as defined in RCW 43.31.025.

(b) To receive a fee reduction, the owner or operator of a small business must include information in an application demonstrating that the conditions of (a) of this subsection have been met. The application must be signed:

(i) By an authorized corporate officer in the case of a corporation;

(ii) By an authorized partner in the case of a limited or general partnership; or

(iii) By the proprietor in the case of a sole proprietorship.

(c) Ecology may verify the application information and if the owner or operator has made false statements, deny the fee reduction request and revoke previously granted fee reductions.

(d) For small businesses determined to be eligible under (a) of this subsection, the RACT analysis and determination fee shall be reduced to the greater of:

(i) Fifty percent of the RACT analysis and determination fee; or

(ii) Two hundred fifty dollars.

(e) If due to special economic circumstances, the fee reduction determined under (d) of this subsection imposes an extreme hardship on a small business, the small business may request an extreme hardship fee reduction. The owner or operator must provide sufficient evidence to support a claim of an extreme hardship. The factors which ecology may consider in determining whether an owner or operator has special economic circumstances and in setting the extreme hardship fee include: Annual sales; labor force size; market conditions which affect the owner's or operator's ability to pass the cost of the RACT analysis and determination fees through to customers; and average annual profits. In no case will a RACT analysis and determination fee be reduced below one hundred dollars.

(7) Fee reductions for pollution prevention initiatives. Ecology may reduce RACT analysis and determination fees for an individual source if that source is using approved pollution prevention measures.

(8) Fee payments. Fees specified in subsection (4)(a) of this section shall be paid at the time a notice of construction applications is submitted to the department. Other fees specified in subsections (2) through (7) of this section shall be paid no later than thirty days after receipt of an ecology billing statement. For fees specified in subsection (5) of this section, a billing for one-half of the payment from each source will be mailed when the source category rule-making effort is commenced as noted by publication of the CR-101 form in the Washington State Register. A billing for the second half of the payment will be mailed when the proposed rule is published in the Washington State Register. No order of approval or other action approving or identifying a source to be at RACT will be issued by the department until all fees have been paid by the source. All fees collected under this regulation shall be made payable to the Washington department of ecology.

(9) Dedicated account. All control technology fees collected by the department from permit program sources shall be deposited in the air operating permit account created under RCW 70.94.015. All control technology fees collected by the department from nonpermit program sources shall be deposited in the air pollution control account.

(10) Tracking revenues, time, and expenditures. Ecology shall track revenues on a source-specific basis. For purposes of source-specific determinations under subsections (2) through (4) of this section, ecology shall track time and expenditures on the basis of source complexity categories. For purposes of categorical determinations under subsection (5) of this section, ecology shall track time and expenditures on a source-category basis.

(11) Periodic review. Ecology shall review and, as appropriate, update this section at least once every two years.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.94.151, chapter 70.94 RCW, 2011 1st sp.s. c 50 § 302(2), and section 302(9), chapter 158, 2012 2nd sp.s. c 7. WSR 12-24-051 (Order 11-07), § 173-455-100, filed 11/30/12, effective 12/31/12. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.94.181, [70.94.]152, [70.94.]331, [70.94.]650, [70.94.]745, [70.94.]892. WSR 07-11-018 (Order 06-14), § 173-455-100, filed 5/3/07, effective 6/3/07.]

RCW 70.94.151, chapter 70.94 RCW, 2011 1st sp.s. c 50 § 302(2), and section 302(9), chapter 158, 2012 2nd sp.s. c 7. WSR 12-24-051 (Order 11-07), § 173-455-100, filed 11/30/12, effective 12/31/12. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.94.181, [70.94.]152, [70.94.]331, [70.94.]650, [70.94.]745, [70.94.]892. WSR 07-11-018 (Order 06-14), § 173-455-100, filed 5/3/07, effective 6/3/07.