Allegheny County Council’s Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday afternoon voted to recommend for final approval proposed air quality permit fee schedule changes expected to help put the air quality program on sound financial footing.
Council is expected to take a final vote on the measure later this month.
Until then, GASP is getting the word out about the fee schedule changes, which we strongly support. Here are five reasons you should join us in urging council to approve the updated fee schedule without delay:
The updated fee schedule mirrors those approved by the state that became effective in January. It’s worth noting that all counties in Pennsylvania except Allegheny already adopted the fees.
The Clean Air Act requires that fees imposed on major sources of air pollution in Allegheny County be ‘sufficient to cover all reasonable (direct and indirect) costs required to develop and administer’ the health department’s Title V permit program. The health department’s Air Quality Program receives little to no funding from Allegheny County itself, which means the fees paid by non-Title V sources in the county must also generate sufficient revenue to fund the non-Title V side of the program.
The new fee schedule increases application fees for plan approvals, operation permits, and the annual administration fees charged to operating permit holders that were based on a schedule set all the way back in the 1990s and last updated nearly 15 years ago.
It sets the cost for 14 new fees related to the permitting process – fees that will pay for services the Allegheny County Health Department currently provides, absorbing the costs at a time when the Air Quality Program needed to hire seven new staffers in the past two years because of a high volume of work.
The changes are expected to help ensure more robust Air Quality Program enforcement and compliance efforts that directly impact public health.
Join the hundreds of Allegheny County residents have already signed our petition and add your name now:
Editor's Note: The petition is now closed. Thank you to all who have signed!