Sec. 26.08.04.11. Discharge Permit Fees

A. General Requirements.

(1) Fees collected by the Department under this regulation shall be paid into the Maryland Clean Water Fund. The fees shall be used for activities that are related to identifying, monitoring, and regulating the proper discharge of effluent into waters of the State including program development of these activities.

(2) Persons or facilities holding or obtaining State discharge permits, except for those in categories listed below, shall pay both an annual permit fee and an application fee, including any additional cost as required in §C(10) of this regulation:

(a) Publicly owned treatment works;

(b) Other treatment works which treat only sewage;

(c) Persons covered under a general permit as described in Regulations .08 and .09 of this chapter; or

(d) Facilities or persons culturing or raising aquatic organisms in enclosed systems discharging less than 1 million gallons per day.

(3) Both permit fees and application fees are based on the total flow of all effluents discharged from a facility except for:

(a) Uncontaminated stormwater runoff; and

(b) Thermal discharge flows which have previously been evaluated by the Department in accordance with COMAR 26.08.03.03C(2).

B. Permit Fees.

(1) The permit fee is based on the anticipated:

(a) Cost of monitoring and regulating the permitted facility; and

(b) Needs for program development activities related to management of discharge of pollution to waters of this State.

(2) The permit fee is based on the total flow volume of effluent discharged from the facility. The fees are as follows:

Average Discharge Volume (gallons per day)	Permit Fee (per year)
Less than 1,000	$100
1,000-----5,000	400
5,001-----50,000	1,000
50,001-----100,000	2,000
100,001-----250,000	3,000
250,001-----1,000,000	4,000
Greater than 1,000,000	5,000

(3) The Department will calculate permit fees annually and will bill the permittee. The permit fees shall be paid within 30 days of receipt of the bill, unless the permittee questions the calculations or assumptions, or both, used to arrive at the fee. In which case, the Department shall be notified in writing within 15 days of receipt of the bill, and a meeting shall be scheduled, if necessary, within 10 days to resolve the dispute.

(4) Permit fees shall be paid by July 1 of each year to cover the expenses of the ensuing fiscal year. Fees for those permits which will be in effect for less than the full fiscal year shall be prorated for the number of months of the fiscal year during which the permit is in effect.

(5) The Department may refuse to issue or renew a discharge permit or may revoke a discharge permit if the applicant fails or refuses to pay the permit fee.

C. Application Fees.

(1) An application fee shall be paid for:

(a) An application for a new discharge permit;

(b) An application to renew a discharge permit; or

(c) A request to modify a discharge permit if the modification is considered significant by the Department.

(2) The application fee is based on the cost of the permit procedure.

(3) The minimum application fee is $50.

(4) The application fee is calculated by the following formula: Application fee = volume fee x industry factor x water use factor.

(5) Volume Fees.

(a) Volume fees are determined as follows:

Average Discharge Volume (gallons per day)	Volume Fee
Less than 1,000	$50
1,000-----5,000	100
5,001-----50,000	150
50,001-----100,000	200
100,001-----250,000	500
250,001-----1,000,000	1,000
Greater than 1,000,000	2,000

(b) Volume fees for permit modifications are based only on the discharge volume associated with those operations affected by the modification.

(6) Industry Factors.

(a) The industry factors are determined as follows:

Industry Type	Industry Factor
Primary industry as listed in 40 CFR Part 122, Appendix A, which is incorporated by reference	5
Non-primary industry but on the Department's major facility list	5
All others	1

(b) Facilities which wash cars, trucks, or other vehicles are not considered to be primary industries for the purposes of §C(6).

(7) Water Use Factor.

(a) The water use factor is determined as follows:

Water Use	Water Use Factor
Process use	2.0
Cooling
Once-through-----no additives	0.5
Once-through-----with additives	1.0
Contact	1.5
Other (includes but is not limited to boiler blowdown, cooling tower blowdown, steam condensate, sewage, and stormwater runoff)	1.0

(b) When a facility has more than one type of water use, the highest of the applicable water use factors should be used.

(8) The Department will calculate the application fee upon receipt of an application for a new permit, permit renewal, or permit modification and will bill the applicant. The application fee shall be paid within 30 days of receipt of the bill, unless the permittee questions the calculations or assumptions, or both, used to arrive at the fee. In which case, the Department shall be notified in writing within 15 days of receipt of the bill, and a meeting shall be scheduled, if necessary, within 10 days to resolve the dispute.

(9) The Department may refuse to complete processing on any new or renewed permit or on any permit modification if the applicant fails or refuses to pay the application fee.

(10) In addition to the application fee calculated in accordance with §C(4) of this regulation, the Department shall assess the applicant for any cost associated with evaluating or reviewing mixing zone studies, variance petitions, site-specific criteria studies, chemical or biological translator studies, or any other studies submitted as part of an application to determine discharge permit requirements. For the purposes of this assessment:

(a) The minimum fee for each component (for example, mixing zone, variance, etc.) will be established at $5,000; and

(b) The Department shall:

(i) Obtain and provide to the applicant an estimate for any additional costs incurred as part of the evaluation or review,

(ii) Obtain the applicant's concurrence, and

(iii) Bill the applicant before the beginning of the evaluation or review.

D. Calculation of Stormwater Runoff Volume. Stormwater runoff volume shall be determined by the following method:

(1) Annual stormwater runoff volume = Annual rainfall (feet) x drainage area (square feet) x 7.48 x runoff coefficient;

(2) Average stormwater runoff volume = Annual stormwater runoff volume divided by 365;

(3) As an alternative to this method, the permittee may submit a report to the Department which contains calculations of the average daily stormwater runoff from the permitted facility.

E. For storm water discharges eligible for coverage under Regulation .09 of this chapter, the portion of the permit fee calculated in Regulation .11 of this chapter may not exceed $100 per year.