Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan Fees
Texas Commission on Environmental Qualify Amends Texas Water Code to Raise Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan Fees
Any entity conducting construction activity in the Edwards Aquifer regulated zones must submit an Edwards Aquifer protection plan to either the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Austin Regional office or the TCEQ San Antonio Regional office for review and approval. The fees charged are capped by state law, and are applied to water pollution abatement plans, sewage collection systems plans, Underground Storage Tank (UST) plans, and Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) plans.
In spring of 2007, the Texas Legislature passed a law, House Bill 3098, allowing that cap to be raised. The law went into effect on September 1, 2007, and the TCEQ is in the process of amending the rules in the Texas Water Code to allow for a new fee structure.
The proposed rule changes will increase the number of acreage categories from nine to thirteen and apply them to both the recharge zone and the contributing zone. The minimum fee will increase from $250 to $650, while the maximum fee will increase two-fold from $5,000 to $10,000. The rules also change the fee structure for plans in the contributing zone from a flat fee to a tiered-fee structure identical to the one for plans in the recharge zone. Therefore, a more significant fiscal impact can be expected for entities planning to develop in the contributing zone.
The money raised by the higher fees will be used to pay for four more employees, two in the San Antonio Regional office and two in the Austin Regional office, to review plans and monitor the structures, primarily sedimentation ponds, for compliance. The agency will also conduct more monitoring of surface water, storm water, and groundwater quality, and develop geographic information system (GIS) data layers for the Edwards Aquifer Program.
Fees assessed for the agency's Edwards Aquifer Program currently total about $1 million a year.
The public comment period ended January 2, 2008.
On April 2, 2008, TCEQ adopted the amendment. The new rules go into effect 20 days after they are filed with the Secretary of State's Office.
