Virginia Law

A. On and after January 1, 2018, the amount of the annual permit program emissions fee shall be calculated as follows:

1. The amount of the annual permit program emissions fee (consistent with the need to cover reasonable costs) for each applicable source shall be the annual permit program emission fee rate (in dollars per ton of emissions) for the billing calendar year multiplied by the total actual emissions for the previous calendar year (in tons per year of emissions).

2. The annual permit program emissions fee rate shall be calculated as follows:

a. For permit program emission fees billed in calendar year 2018 (applied to 2017 emissions), the annual permit program emissions fee rate shall be $73.01 per ton of emissions.

b. For permit program emission fees billed in calendar year 2019 (applied to 2018 emissions), the annual permit program emissions fee rate shall be $83.96 per ton of emissions.

c. For permit program emissions fees billed after calendar year 2019, the annual permit program emissions fee rate shall be adjusted annually by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as specified in subdivision 3 of this subsection.

3. The annual adjustment of the permit program emissions fees shall be based upon the annual permit program emissions fee rate for the preceding calendar year and the change in the CPI value published by the U.S. Department of Labor for all-urban consumers over the 12-month period ending on August 31 of the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the annual permit program emissions fee is assessed and billed.

a. The CPI for all-urban consumers that is published by the U.S. Department of Labor may be obtained online from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cu.

b. No CPI adjustment shall be made for annual permit program emissions fees assessed and billed in calendar years 2018 and 2019.

B. The actual emissions covered by the permit program emissions fees for the preceding year shall be calculated by the owner and submitted to the department by April 15 of each year. The calculations and final amount of emissions are subject to verification and final determination by the department.

C. If the assessment of the annual permit program emissions fee calculated in accordance with subsections A and B of this section results in a total amount of fee revenue in excess of the amount necessary to fund the permit program costs, a lesser annual permit program emissions fee may instead be calculated and assessed according to the formula specified in subsection D of this section. Any adjustments made to the annual permit program emissions fee shall be within the constraints of 40 CFR 70.9.

D. The lesser annual permit program emissions fee shall be calculated according to the following formula: the lesser annual permit program emissions fee is equal to the estimated permit program costs divided by the estimated actual emissions. The estimated permit program costs and estimated actual emissions shall be determined from the data specified in subdivisions 1 and 2 of this subsection, incorporating any anticipated adjustments to the data.

1. The current permit program costs shall be determined from the most recent available annual expenditure record of the amount spent by the department on permit program costs.

2. The current actual emissions shall be determined from the most recent available annual emissions inventory of the actual emissions for each regulated pollutant subject to fees from all sources subject to the annual permit program emissions fee.