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Board raises and restructures air construction permit fees to stabilize program funding
Summary
The Natural Resources Board adopted board order AM-10-23 to raise most construction-permit fees by about 20%, add new fees for activities now unpriced, and add an automatic adjustment tied to wages; the department said the change should generate about $300,000 in FY27 to support roughly two FTE.
The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board on Oct. 22 adopted board order AM-10-23, a rule revision that increases fees tied to the state's pre-construction air permitting program and adjusts how those fees will be updated in future years.
The rule, presented by Ron Binsley, Permits and Stationary Source Modeling Section Manager for the Air Management Program, increases most construction-permit fees by roughly 20% to reflect inflation and program costs since fee levels were last revised in 2011. It also adds fees for activities that previously had no fee, including incorporating consent-decree terms into permits, and establishes an automatic fee-adjustment factor tied to general wage adjustments every four years.
Why it matters: Binsley said fees collected have not been sufficient to maintain staffing and meet statutory permit-review timelines. The department estimates the revised fees will generate roughly $300,000 in fiscal year 2027, enough to support about two full-time equivalents. The changes follow stakeholder discussions and statutory budget shifts intended to reduce the program's fee burden.
Key changes and context: the department said Act 19 allowed it to shift funding for about 10 FTE supporting permitting to the environmental management account of the segregated environmental fund, which reduced the fee increase the agency otherwise would have proposed. The department also plans two new reporting requirements tied to the construction-permit program: an annual financial report on the permit program account and a one-time report describing permit streamlining measures supported by the fees.
Board action: Doug Cox moved approval of AM-10-23; Deb Dassell seconded. The board adopted the rule by voice vote; the meeting record shows the motion carried with all members present voting in favor.
Stakeholder outreach: Binsley described stakeholder engagement that included public information sessions, a technical advisory group, meetings with trade organizations and an economic impact solicitation; written comments were received from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the Wisconsin Paper Council, and others during multiple stages of the rulemaking.
Next steps: with board adoption the rule will proceed through the standard promulgation process and the department said it will convene a permit-streamlining work group to continue identifying efficiency gains.
