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Regulations & Permits > Closed rulemaking > WAC 173-224

Chapter 173-224 WAC

The Department of Ecology adopted amendments to Chapter 173-224 WAC, Water Quality Permit Fees on June 26, 2019.

This rule amendment allows Ecology to continue recovering expenses in operating and managing the permit programs.

Ecology is increasing fees for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 in order to collect the revenue needed to recover the costs of administering the wastewater and stormwater programs next biennium and move closer to payment equity between fee categories.

We also proposed changes to the structure of specific permit fee categories, beginning with creating the Winery General Permit fee category.

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Rulemaking timeline

Timeline

Announcement phase (CR-101)

Filing date:
June 21, 2018


Announcement documents

Rule development phase

Summer 2018 – Spring 2019



Public input & involvement

We held a stakeholder meeting at Ecology HQ and via phone on Jan. 8, 2019.  We had 13 people attend. 

Rule proposal phase (CR-102)

Filing date:
March 7, 2019

Rule proposal documents:

Comment period

A comment period was held from March 7 to April 30, 2019.
We held a hearing in person and via webinar on April 23, 2019 at 10 a.m. We had a presentation of proposed changes to the permit fees, answered any questions, then held a formal hearing to recieve oral comments.  

Fee discount during innovation process testing

Ecology is implementing reducing fees for permittees who want to research and test new manufacturing technologies and processes that reduce wastewater pollutants. We’ve adopted a three-year, 75 percent discount in associated water quality permit fees when innovative projects result in less permit oversight and pollution. See our focus sheet for more information. 

Rule adoption phase (CR-103)

Adoption date:
June 26, 2019


Rule effective date:
July 27, 2019


Rule implementation information:

Additional languages

Español (Spanish) 中文 (Chinese) Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese) 한국어 (Korean)

Related links

Contact information

Charles Gilman 
Rulemaking Lead
wqfee_unit@ecy.wa.gov
800-633-6193 Option 2

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Accessibility

To request ADA accommodation for disabilities, or printed materials in a format for the visually impaired, contact Ecology's ADA Coordinator by email at ecyadacoordinator@ecy.wa.gov, or call 360-407-6831. People with impaired hearing may call Washington Relay Service at 711. People with speech disability may call TTY at 877-833-6341.