Residents and environmental groups press council to approve ACHD air-permit fee increase to fully fund Title V program

Residents, public-health advocates and environmental groups urged Allegheny County Council to act on a proposed increase in air quality permit fees, saying the change is necessary to fully fund the Allegheny County Health Department’s Title V permitting program and to keep the county’s clean air fund focused on community projects.

Speakers at the public-comment period included Patrick Campbell, executive director of the Group Against Smog and Pollution, who told council the proposal has been pending since June 2024 and that delay was depriving vulnerable communities of nearly a half-million dollars from the clean air fund. “Now it’s again languishing in committee despite all of the pleas to move it to the agenda for a discussion and possible vote,” Campbell said.

Jayton Walker, a community organizer with the Clean Air Council, said the fee increases were “not arbitrary” and were recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency in its recent audit of the county’s Title V program. Walker told council the EPA recommended increasing staffing and ensuring fees are sufficient to fund the Title V program; the fee schedule, Walker said, reflects those recommendations and was considered by the board of health with public testimony.

Kat Marquez, Allegheny County civic engagement mobilizer for PennFuture, and other residents described personal health impacts from poor air quality and urged the council to fully fund ACHD’s air-permit program by adopting the department’s proposed fee schedule. Matt Nemeth, a lifelong county resident, asked the Human and Health Services Committee, chaired by Council member Paul Klein, to take a vote so the full council can consider the measure.

Speakers described the practical work ACHD staff perform — modeling air quality, preparing risk assessments and reviewing complex Title V permits — and argued that permit fees should cover the cost of administering those services rather than diverting community funds. No formal council vote on the fee schedule occurred during the meeting; the proposal was noted to be referred to the Health and Human Services Committee and remains pending.

Specific details cited by speakers: the county has 23 sources subject to Title V operating permits; the EPA audit recommended increased staffing and fee sufficiency; speakers said delays have reduced annual withdrawals from the clean air fund and forced administrative costs to be covered by that fund instead of community projects. No dollar figure for the proposed fee schedule was presented in the public comment record at this meeting; advocates said roughly "nearly a half-million dollars" of community funding was affected by current practice.

Council did not take a final vote on ACHD’s fee schedule during the meeting; advocates urged the Human and Health Services Committee to schedule the item for committee action and then a council vote.