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DEQ consolidates environmental fees and proposes recycled‑water permit fees to raise $200,000 annually
Summary
DEQ presented consolidation of environmental fee chapters and proposed a new fee schedule for recycled water (reuse) permits intended to generate about $200,000 annually to sustain the growing recycled water program; the committee approved the docket after DEQ said public comment was minimal and stakeholders were engaged in negotiated rulemaking.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality presented a rulemaking to consolidate environmental fee schedules into a single chapter (IDAPA 58.01.114) and to add a fee schedule for recycled water (reuse) permits. The Senate Environment and Energy Committee approved the docket after DEQ described the program’s funding needs.
DEQ said the recycled water program, established in 1985, has grown significantly and permit numbers roughly doubled from about 75 active permits in 2005 to nearly 150 in 2023. Historically the program relied on Clean Water Act Section 106 grants and state general fund matching. DEQ said federal contributions have been effectively shrinking when adjusted for inflation and that the program needs a stable funding source to sustain timely permit reviews, inspections and annual report reviews.
DEQ presented three fee scenarios and, following stakeholder input, selected a fixed annual fee approach intended to generate approximately $200,000 per year. The fixed annual fee was chosen over (a) an application‑fee‑only approach and (b) a hybrid application/annual fee approach, with DEQ saying the fixed annual fee distributes costs equitably across facility types.
DEQ also consolidated fees for subsurface sewage disposal permits, pumper permits, and installer registrations; the rulemaking creates a single chapter to make fee schedules easier to find and requires each health district to maintain an accessible online fee schedule. DEQ said minimum fees in the proposed table were drawn from existing health‑district fee schedules and that the program is self‑funded.
DEQ presented the docket to its board and said no public comments were received during the administrative bulletin comment period. The DEQ board approved the rule on Nov. 14, 2024. Senator Taylor moved to approve the docket in committee and Senator Cook seconded; the committee approved the docket by voice vote. The transcript records Senator Harris asking to be recorded as voting no when the record was taken.
