Water Quality Fees 2022

Filed: Sept. 6, 2022

Effective: Nov. 1, 2022

See Oregon Bulletin, October 2022

DEQ adopted rule amendments to Chapter 340 of Oregon Administrative Rules. The proposed rule amendments are to increase water quality fees in 2022 for fiscal year 2023 provided in ORS 468B.051. These fees apply to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits and Water Pollution Control Facility permits.

The Water Quality Program's mission is to protect and improve Oregon's water quality. Protecting Oregon's rivers, lakes, streams, and groundwater quality keeps these waters safe so they can be used for drinking water, fish habitat, recreation, and irrigation. DEQ accomplishes this by developing and implementing water quality standards and clean water plans, issuing water quality permits, regulating sewage treatment systems and industrial dischargers, collecting, and evaluating water quality data, providing grants and technical assistance to reduce nonpoint pollution sources, and giving loans to communities to build treatment facilities.

DEQ needs the fee increase to help account for the anticipated increase in the cost of administering the permit program. This increase will also help DEQ achieve its objective for a sustainable water quality permitting program that issues timely, high quality permits, and to ensure compliance with permit conditions through inspections, enforcement, and reporting to the Environmental Protection Agency.

In October each year, DEQ publishes a permit issuance work plan to identify the individual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits DEQ intends to issue in the coming year. DEQ identified 57 permits for development in the 2022 federal fiscal year (Oct. 1- Sept. 30). Permit issuance updates are provided quarterly online.