Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hazardous Materials Fee topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Homeland Security seeks authority to adjust hazardous‑chemical fee, raise facility cap
Summary
Homeland Security Division Director Darren Hanson told the committee the bill would remove a fixed $25 hazardous‑chemical fee from statute, authorize the director to set the fee with notice, raise the per‑facility cap and permit penalties for certain non‑reporting government facilities.
Darren Hanson, director of the Homeland Security Division at the Department of Emergency Services, appeared before the Government Operations Division Committee to explain Senate Bill 2,082, a proposal to revise the state’s hazardous‑chemical fee structure.
Hanson told the committee the current statutory fee—$25 per the Century Code—was set in 1991 and has not been updated. The bill would allow the Homeland Security Division director to set the fee with notice and raise the statutory cap on facility payments (testimony cited a proposed cap of $1,250). Hanson said the change is intended to give the division flexibility to adjust for inflation without returning to the Legislature for each change.
The fiscal estimate presented at the hearing used a hypothetical $50 fee and the proposed cap to project roughly $582,000 in annual revenue; testimony said roughly half of that revenue is distributed to counties for local hazardous materials response and the other half remains with the Department of Emergency Services to operate the statewide hazardous‑chemicals reporting and response program. Hanson also described the bill’s provision to add enforcement tools for large public entities that currently must report locations and inventories but sometimes do not timely provide required reports.
Committee members asked for examples and clarifications about the kinds of facilities and exemptions; Hanson said many agricultural operators are exempted at the individual farm level and that the bill would generally preserve statutory authorities while updating fee mechanics. No committee vote was taken at the hearing; the director and staff answered questions and the hearing was adjourned for the day.
