KDHE seeks legislative ratification to adopt hazardous-waste fee rules tied to $1 million threshold

To cover a growing budget shortfall in Kansas' hazardous-waste corrective-action program, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is asking the Legislature to ratify two rules so the agency can implement higher fees, KDHE officials told the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Senate Bill 407 would authorize KDHE to adopt two proposed regulations identified in the department's economic-impact statement as exceeding the statutory $1,000,000 threshold for implementation and compliance costs over the initial five-year period following adoption. Tamara Lawrence, the committee's senior assistant reviser, identified the proposed regulations as K.A.R. 28-31-10 and 28-31-10b and said the bill would take effect on publication in the Kansas Register.

KDHE deputy secretary Kate Gleason said the agency is the first to operate under the statute cited in testimony (referred to in the hearing as '26 48') and described the department as 'sort of the guinea pigs for this process.' She told legislators the agency did not file the regulations and economic-impact statement in advance of the hearing but provided copies at the committee's request.

Gleason described the hazardous-waste program as having two components: permitting and compliance (longstanding) and corrective action (delegated from EPA in 2013). KDHE reported a significant budget shortfall in the corrective-action program and said lawmakers previously approved a one-time State General Fund enhancement totaling $350,000 to help address that gap.

To stabilize the program, KDHE said it modeled fee increases to cover projected costs for roughly 10–15 years and proposed generally doubling many fees charged to permitted generators, transporters and processors. The agency also plans to put into effect two fees authorized in 2013 but not previously charged and to set corrective-action permit charges—within a statutory cap the testimony cited as $150,000—at $50,000 for new corrective-action permits and $20,000 for renewals or modifications.

Lawmakers pressed KDHE for documentation and oversight materials. Senator Titus asked whether the committee had a copy of the actual regulations and JCAR (the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules) review; the reviser said she did not have the documents on hand and the department confirmed it had not pre-filed them with the committee. Multiple senators urged staff and members to obtain the regulations, the department's economic-impact statement and any JCAR feedback before taking a final vote.

Gleason said KDHE had consulted stakeholders and compared fee structures with neighboring states, and that KDHE believes the proposed fees are competitive or lower than nearby states. She also clarified that KDHE's staff oversee remediation—sometimes collecting split samples or monitoring work—but do not perform remediation as contractor work: 'Our staff, we don't do the remediation. They do the remediation. We oversee it,' she said.

The committee recorded no opponents or neutral testimony on SB 407 and closed the hearing after questions. Committee members signaled they will request the regulations, the department's economic-impact statement and any JCAR materials before further committee action.