State Water Resources Control Board proposes point‑based fee system for 401 water quality certifications

The State Water Resources Control Board on Monday presented a conceptual, point‑based fee methodology intended to reshape how fees are calculated for Clean Water Act section 401 water quality certifications for dredge and fill activities.

Samantha Parker, of the Board’s Wetland Permitting and Enforcement Unit, said the proposal would assign projects points across multiple factors — including permit type, permanent versus temporary aquatic impacts and the level of alternatives analysis — then bucket point totals into five fee tiers. "The goal of this alternate methodology is to improve the predictability of our program fees, ensure sufficient resources to cover program costs, reduce the fee barrier to permitting, and more accurately scale fees based on required staff resources," Parker said.

Why it matters: Board staff said the current fee structure relies primarily on impact size and has not kept pace with program workload. Parker told stakeholders the program has seen permit fee growth averaging…