014.08.16 Ark. Code R. § 001

• Library: Arkansas Administrative Code
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, December, 2023
• Citation: 014.08.16 Ark. Code R. § 001
• Year: 2023

CHAPTER 1 : TITLE

Reg. 9.101 Title This regulation shall be known by and may be cited by the short title "Regulation No. 9: Fees."

Reg 9.102 Purpose It is the purpose of this regulation to develop and implement a system of fees for permits issued by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality pursuant to the provisions of the Water and Air Pollution Control Act (Act 472 of 1949, as amended, Ark. Code Ann. § 8Title8-4-101 et seq) or the Solid Waste Management Act (Act 237 of 1971, as amended, Ark Code Ann. § 8Title8-6-201 et seq) Act 817 of 1983, as amended, Act 1254 of 1993, as amended, and Act 1052 of 1999 (Ark. Code Ann. § 8Purpose8-1-101 et seq) authorize the collection and enforcement of these fees and authorize their use to defray the costs of operating the Department. It is also the purpose of this regulation to assess reasonable fees to establish and to administer the State Environmental Laboratory Certification Program Act (Act 876 of 1985, as amended, Ark. Code Ann. § 8Title8-2-201 et seq)

Reg. 9.103 Applicability Permit fees established by this regulation shall be applicable to all water permits, including no-discharge and closed system permits, issued under the provisions of the Water and Air Pollution Control Act, as amended all air permits issued under the Water and Air Pollution Control Act, as amended, or any federal water or air permit program where permitting authority has been delegated to the Department (unless fees for such a program are otherwise provided by law), and all solid waste disposal permits issued under the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Act, as amended, and the Solid Waste Management Code. Facilities operating under the provisions of the "Permits by Rule" or "Authorization by Rule" are exempt from this regulation until such time that the facility submits an application for an individual permit within each applicable permit category. Laboratory certification fees established by this regulation shall be applicable to all laboratories certified by the Department. The fees include, but are not limited to, the reasonable costs of administering the provisions of the program and the reasonable administrative costs of initial issuance, initial certificate, renewed certificates, and the expenses associated with conducting evaluations.

Reg. 9.104 Severability If any provision of this Regulation or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, its invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Regulation that can be given effect without the invalid portion or application, and to this end the provisions of this Regulation are declared to be severable.

CHAPTER 2 : DEFINITIONS

All terms used in this regulation shall have their usual meaning unless the context otherwise requires, or unless specifically defined in the enabling legislation or in federal regulations adopted by reference for program management. In addition, for purposes of this regulation, the following definitions apply:

"Administrative Permit Amendment" means a minor change or permit revision that is not typically considered a permit modification, as defined by applicable statutes or regulations, or a minor modification that does not require public notice and opportunity for comment For example, typographical corrections or revisions, or other changes initiated by the Department, might be considered administrative permit amendments. Some minor changes requested by the permittee may also qualify as administrative permit amendments. For purposes of Chapter 5, administrative permit amendments are defined in Regulations 18, 19, and 26. The Director, in his or her discretion, may decide whether a revision would be considered an administrative amendment. No fee will be charged for administrative permit amendments.

"Annual Fee" means the fee required to be submitted upon the facility-specific annual invoice date for a permit issued pursuant to the Water and Air Pollution Control Act, as amended, or the Solid Waste Management Act, as amended.

"Category" means one type of laboratory test or group of laboratory tests for similar materials or classes of materials or that use similar methods or related methods.

"Certificate" means the annual document showing those parameters for which a laboratory has received certification. The annual period begins at receipt of fee payments or at the expiration of a current certificate.

"Commission" means the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.

"Confined Animal Operation" means any lot or facility where livestock or fowl have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained, and where crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any significant portion of the lot or facility.

"Department" means the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) or its successor.

"Director" means the Director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality or his or her designated representative.

"Discretionary Major Facility" means an industrial facility discharging wastewater under the terms of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit that does not meet the numerical rating criteria as an NPDES non-municipal major facility, but is designated as a major permittee by the Department or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Such facilities are assigned a Major Rating Code (MRAT) greater than 500.

"EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Evaluation" means a review of the quality control and quality assurance procedures, records keeping, reporting procedures, methodology, and analytical techniques of a laboratory for measuring or establishing specific parameters.

"Facility" means an activity or operation within a specific geographical location including property contiguous thereto. A facility may consist of several manufacturing, treatment, storage, or disposal operational units. For purposes of this permit fee regulation, a facility shall be considered to be all property, facilities, or operations owned, leased, or operated by a single entity, whether a municipal, county, or state government, corporation, partnership, or proprietorship in the same geographical area, forming an integral part of the same activity or operation, whether or not such activity lies within the boundaries of the city or county. For purposes of permit fee assessment only, such property, facilities, or operations shall be considered as a single facility if they are regulated by a common state or federal permit within each permit category, or in the future such consolidation of multiple permits can be realized within the scope of applicable permitting regulations, and the facilities or operations are under the supervision of a single plant manager/superintendent.

"Initial Fee" means the fee that is required by law to be submitted with all applications for permits issued pursuant to the Water and Air Pollution Control Act, as amended, and the Solid Waste Management Act, as amended, and that must be received by the Department before a permit is issued.

"Issue Date" means the date the Department signed the permit.

"Laboratory" means any facility that performs analyses to determine the chemical, physical, or biological properties of air, water, solid waste, hazardous waste, wastewater, soil or subsoil materials, or any other analyses related to environmental quality evaluations.

"Major Municipal Facility" means a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) with a design flow or daily average flow of 1.0 million gallons per day (mgd) or greater, or a POTW designated as a major facility by the Department or EPA.

"Modification Fee" means that fee required by law to be submitted for modification of any existing or future permit required by the Water and Air Pollution Control Act, as amended, or the Solid Waste Management Act, as amended, such modification being either at the request of the permittee or as required by law or regulation. The fee may vary if the permit modification or renewal is considered to be a minor or major modification, as defined in applicable statutes or regulations, or otherwise determined by the Director.

"Non-Municipal Major Facility" means a facility subject to the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) whose status is determined following completion of an NPDES Permit Rating Worksheet (current version) in which points are allocated on the basis of toxic pollutant potential, permitted flow or the ratio of wastewater to stream flow volume conventional pollutants mass loadings, public health impacts (including proximity to drinking water supplies and potential for human health toxicity), and water quality factors. Additional points can be assessed for certain steam electric power plants or for separate storm sewers serving a population greater than 100,000. The total points accumulated is known as the Major Rating Code or MRAT, which is the numeric total of ranking points assigned to non-municipal facilities and used to delineate them as a major or minor facility. Currently, a facility with an...