§342B-29  Fees.  (a)  The director shallestablish fees for permits issued pursuant to this chapter to be paid by theapplicant prior to the issuance of the permit and thereafter on a scheduleestablished by the department.

(b)  Fees for covered sources shall adequatelycover the direct and indirect costs required to develop, support, andadminister the permit program, including the reasonable costs of:

(1)  Reviewing and acting upon any application for orrenewal of a permit;

(2)  Implementing and enforcing the terms andconditions of any permit, including legal support;

(3)  Monitoring emissions and ambient air quality,including resources to audit and inspect source-operated monitoring programs atleast once a year;

(4)  Preparing generally applicable rules or guidance;

(5)  Performing or reviewing modeling, analyses, anddemonstrations;

(6)  Preparing inventories and tracking emissions;

(7)  Providing support to the small businessassistance program; and

(8)  Administering the fund.

(c)  Fees for covered sources shall be based onthe number of tons of regulated air pollutant, excluding carbon monoxide,allowed or emitted by the permitted source and shall not be less than $25 perton per year.

(d)  Unless changed by rules, fees for coveredsources shall be changed in December of each year only by the percentage, ifany, by which the consumer price index for that calendar year exceeds theconsumer price index for the prior calendar year.  The consumer price index forany calendar year is the average of the consumer price index for all urbanconsumers published by the United States Department of Labor, as of the closeof the twelve-month period ending on August 31 of each calendar year.

(e)  Nothing in the cost-per-ton fee provisionsof subsections (c) and (d) shall restrict the director from assessing more orless than the amount determined under subsections (c) and (d) from any onecovered source or any class or category of covered sources, as designated bythe director; provided the department collects a total amount of feessufficient to cover the costs of the permit program. [L 1992, c 240, pt of §1;am L 2009, c 42, §2]