Nathalie Weinstein//April 27, 2010//
Developers seeking water quality permits for projects in Oregon will have to shake out a little extra change this coming September.
Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality plans to increase its water quality permit fees by 3 percent beginning Sept. 1. According to Chris Clipper, permit program analyst with the DEQ, the increase will pay for increased program costs predicted between July and June 2011.
“There are two main areas where we expect an increase,” Clipper said. “One is ongoing inflation of services and supplies. The other is a staff salary increase negotiated in 2007.”
The salary increase would also begin on Sept. 1, Clipper said. Fees will increase for all national pollutant discharge elimination systems, water pollution control facilities and water pollution control facilities-on-site septic system permits. Depending on the type of permit, application fees will increase by $6 to $1,408 and annual fees will increase by $1 to $2,612.
Any comments on the proposed increases must be received by the DEQ by June 7.