35-11-211. Fees.

(a) The department shall implement a permit fee system and schedule of fees adequate to cover all reasonable direct and indirect costs of reviewing and acting upon any construction and modification permits under this article and developing, implementing and administering the operating permit program including the small business technical assistance program.

(b) Permit fees shall be assessed against operators of sources applying for any permit under this article and annually thereafter for the duration of the permit. The fee for operating sources shall be based on the emissions of each regulated pollutant, as defined in section 502(b)(3)(B)(ii) of the Clean Air Act. The department shall exclude any amount of regulated pollutant emitted by any source in excess of four thousand (4,000) tons per year in determining the amount of fee required for any operating source. A fee shall be assessed upon applicants for construction and modification permits based on costs to the department in reviewing and acting upon those permit applications. The department shall develop a fee structure which equitably assesses the fees based on emissions for operating sources and projected costs of reviewing and acting upon construction and modification permits sufficient to recover the amount reviewed by the joint appropriations committee and appropriated by the legislature for implementing the operating permit program. The fee structure and appropriation shall be based upon measurable goals and approved by the joint appropriations committee prior to implementation. The department shall prepare a biennium report for review by the joint minerals, business and economic development committee by October 31 of the year prior to the Wyoming legislative budget session. Permit fees shall cover all reasonable direct and indirect costs including the costs of:

(i) Reviewing and acting upon any permit application including construction and modification permit applications;

(ii) Implementing and enforcing permits;

(iii) Emissions and ambient monitoring;

(iv) Preparing regulations and guidance;

(v) Modeling analyses and demonstrations;

(vi) Preparing emission and source inventories and tracking emissions;

(vii) Permit-related functions performed by the department;

(viii) Development and administration of the state small business assistance program; and

(ix) Information management activities.

(c) The fees collected by the department pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a separate account, and shall be subject to appropriation by the legislature to the department solely for permitting construction and modification and for the development and administration of the construction, modification and operating permit programs.

(d) The department shall give written notice of the amount of the fee to be assessed and the basis for the assessment to the operator of the source. The operator may appeal the assessment to the council within twenty (20) days after receipt of the written notice. The appeal shall be based only upon the allegation that the particular assessment is erroneous or excessive and may not be based upon the entire fee schedule adopted to fund the permitting programs. The contested case procedures of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act shall apply to any appeal under this subsection.

(e) If any part of the assessment is not appealed it shall be paid to the department upon receipt of the written notice.

(f) The department may reduce any fee required under the operating permit program to take into account the financial resources of small business stationary sources.

(g) There shall be no double counting of the regulated emissions for the purpose of fee determination.

(h) Fees under this section, for sources subject to the operating permit program as enumerated in W.S. 35-11-203(a), shall not be assessed for tailpipe emissions from any nonroad vehicle as defined under section 201 of the Clean Air Act.