A. Source Categories. The owner or operator of a source required to have an air quality permit from the control officer shall pay the fees described in this section unless authorized to operate under a general permit issued under Article I. The fees are based on a source being classified in one of the following two categories:
1. Class II sources are those required to have a permit under Section 17.11.090(B)(2).
2. Class III sources are those required to have a permit under Section 17.11.090(B)(3).
B. Fees for Permit Actions. The owner or operator of a Class II or Class III source shall pay to the control officer one hundred five dollars and eighty cents per hour, adjusted annually under subsection G, for all permit processing time required for a billable permit action. Upon completion of permit processing activities other than issuance or denial of the permit or permit revision, the control officer shall send notice of the decision to the applicant along with a final itemized bill. The maximum fee for any billable permit action is twenty-five thousand dollars. The minimum fee for any billable permit action is one hour of the current hourly rate. Except as provided in subsection F, the control officer shall not issue a permit or permit revision until the final bill is paid in full.
C. Class II Annual Fee. The owner or operator of a Class II source that has undergone initial startup by January 1 shall pay the annual fee from the table below, adjusted annually under subsection G. The fee is due by February 1 or sixty days after the control officer mails the invoice under subsection E, whichever is later.
Class II Source Category | Annual Fee |
Area Sources | $540.00 |
NSPS/NESHAP Boilers and Generators | $2,500.00 |
NSPS/NESHAP True Minor Sources | $6,040.00 |
NSPS/NESHAP Synthetic Minor Sources | $11,040.00 |
D. Class III Annual Fee. The owner or operator of a Class III source that has undergone initial startup by January 1 shall pay the annual fee from the table below, adjusted annually under subsection G. The fee is due by February 1 or sixty days after the control officer mails the invoice under subsection E, whichever is later.
Class III Source Category | Annual Fee |
True Minor Sources | $1,960.00 |
Non-NSPS/NESHAP Boilers and Generators | $1,960.00 |
Synthetic Minor Sources | $3,920.00 |
E. The control officer shall mail the owner or operator of each source an invoice for all applicable fees due under subsections C or D by December 1.
F. Any person who receives a final itemized bill from the control officer under this section for a billable permit action may request an informal review of the hours billed and may pay the bill under protest as provided below:
1. The request shall be made in writing, and received by the control officer within thirty days of the date of the final bill. Unless the control officer and person agree otherwise, the informal review shall take place within thirty days after the control officer's receipt of the request. The control officer shall arrange the date and location of the informal review with the person at least ten business days before the informal review. The control officer shall review whether the amounts of time billed are correct and reasonable for the tasks involved. The control officer shall mail his or her decision on the informal review to the person within ten business days after the informal review date.
2. The control officer's decision after informal review shall become final unless, within thirty days after person's receipt of the informal review decision, the person requests in writing a hearing pursuant to A.R.S. § 49-482.
3. If the final itemized bill is paid under protest, the control officer shall take final action on the permit or permit revision.
G. The control officer shall adjust the hourly rate every November 1, to the nearest ten cents per hour, beginning on November 1, 2008, by multiplying one hundred five dollars and eighty cents by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the most recent year, and then dividing by the CPI for the year 2007. The control officer shall adjust the annual fees listed in subsections C and D every November 1, to the nearest ten dollars, beginning on November 1, 2008, by multiplying the fee by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the most recent year, and then dividing by the CPI for the year 2007. The Consumer Price Index for any year is the average of the Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers published by the United States Department of Labor, as of the close of the twelve-month period ending on August 31 of that year.
H. An applicant for a Class II or Class III permit or permit revision may request that the control officer provide accelerated processing of the application by providing the control officer written notice sixty days before filing the application. The request shall be accompanied by an initial fee of fifteen thousand dollars. The fee is non-refundable to the extent of the control officer's costs for accelerating the processing if the control officer undertakes the accelerated processing described below:
1. If an applicant requests accelerated permit processing, the control officer may, to the extent practicable, undertake to process the permit or permit revision according to the following schedule:
a. For applications for initial Class II and Class III permits under Section 17.13.010 or significant permit revisions under Section 17.13.140, the control officer shall issue or deny the proposed permit or permit revision within one hundred twenty days after the control officer determines that the application is complete.
b. For minor permit revisions under Section 17.13.130, the control officer shall issue or deny the permit revision within sixty days after receiving a complete application.
2. At any time after an applicant requests accelerated permit processing, the control officer may require additional advance payments based on the most recent estimate of additional costs.
3. Upon completion of permit processing activities but before issuance or denial of the permit or permit revision, the control officer shall send notice of the decision to the applicant along with a final bill. The maximum fee for any billable action for a Class II and Class III source is $25,000.00. The final bill shall include all regular permit processing and other fees due, and, in addition, the difference between the cost of accelerating the permit application, including any costs incurred by the control officer in contracting for, hiring, or supervising the work of outside consultants, and all advance payments submitted for accelerated processing. In the event all payments made exceed actual accelerated permit costs, the control officer shall refund the excess advance payments. Nothing in this subsection affects the public participation requirements of Section 17.13.210, or EPA and affected state review as required under Section 17.12.060 or Section 17.13.130.
I. Inactive Sources. The owner or operator of a permitted source that has undergone initial startup but was shut down for the entire preceding year shall pay fifty percent of the annual fee required under subsection C or D. The owner or operator of a source claiming inactive status under this subsection shall submit a letter to the control officer by November 1 of the calendar year for which the source was inactive. Termination of a permit does not relieve a source of any past fees due.
J. Transition.
1. Subsections A through I of this section are effective December 20, 2007. The first annual fees are due on February 1, 2008.
2. All fees incurred after December 20, 2007, are payable in accordance with the rates contained in this section.
a. Permit processing fees incurred after December 20, 2007 for any new permit, permit revision, transfer, or renewal shall be billed in accordance with the rates in this section.
b. Fees accrued but not yet paid before the effective date of this section remain as obligations to be paid to the control officer.
(Ord. 2017-20 § 2 (part), 2017)
Editor's note— Formerly § 17.12.520.