Senate Bill 2482

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TO ESTABLISH FEES NECESSARY TO DEFRAY THE COSTS OF OPERATION OF THE COMMISSION AND THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY; TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY PROGRAM FUND; TO AMEND SECTIONS 51-3-31, 51-5-1, 53-7-21, 53-7-25, 53-7-69 AND 49-31-25, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE COMMISSION TO SET PROGRAM FEES AND TO DIRECT FEES TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY PROGRAM FUND; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 53-7-43, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THE MODIFICATION, TRANSFER OR REISSUANCE OF ANY SURFACE MINING PERMIT, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) The Commission on Environmental Quality may establish and collect fees sufficient to cover all reasonable direct and indirect costs associated with the development and administration of all permitting and permitting-related programs and activities within the jurisdiction of the commission or the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. These fees shall be set by the commission at an amount not to exceed the expenses borne by the state, exclusive of federal funding, in carrying out the permitting and permitting-related duties of the commission and department. The commission shall review and, if necessary, revise its fees at least once each year. The commission may establish fees by order or by regulation.

(2) Any person required to pay fees established by the commission may petition the commission for a hearing as provided under Section 49-17-35.

(3) The commission shall file a report by July 31 of each year with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House describing the type and amount of fees collected and the ratio of general fund appropriations to environmental fees for the preceding fiscal year.

(4) The commission shall deposit all fees collected under this section into the "Department of Environmental Quality Program Fund."

SECTION 2. (1) There is created in the State Treasury a special trust fund to be designated as the "Department of Environmental Quality Program Fund," hereinafter referred to in this section as the "fund." Interest earned on the principal therein shall be credited by the Treasurer to the fund. Monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall be retained in the fund for use in the next succeeding fiscal year. The fund may receive monies from any available public or private source, including, but not limited to, collection of fees, interest, grants, public and private donations, and judicial actions.

(2) The commission and the department shall administer the fund as provided in Section 7-7-3.

(3) The commission is authorized to utilize any monies in the fund to support the exercise of the powers and duties of the commission and the department and its executive director as set forth in statute. The commission may delegate to the executive director the authority to make expenditures of the fund.

SECTION 3. The commission may take any administrative or legal action necessary to collect any fee owed to the commission and to collect attorney's fees and costs related to the collection of any fee. The commission may, by regulation or order, impose a late fee for any fee not paid to the commission in a timely fashion and may issue an order directing the holder of a permit who has not paid its fees within ninety (90) days of the fee due date to cease and desist its operations under the permit. The commission may adopt regulations allowing the Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board to revoke any permit for which fees due under commission regulations have not been paid within ninety (90) days of the due date.

SECTION 4. Section 51-3-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

51-3-31. Any person desiring to use water for a beneficial purpose shall apply to the board for a permit for such use on a form prescribed by the board for such purpose. The application shall * * * provide such information as deemed appropriate by the board to its decision to issue such permit.

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SECTION 5. Section 51-5-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

51-5-1. (1) Every person, firm and corporation desiring to engage in the business of drilling and developing wells for underground water, including drilling any wells or boreholes that may penetrate water-bearing formations, in the State of Mississippi, shall file an application with the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (commission) for a water well contractor's license, using forms prepared by the commission, setting out qualifications * * *~~therefor~~ for the license and providing * * *~~such~~ any other information, including test scores from any examination, oral or written, as may be required by the commission. * * *

(2) All licenses shall expire on June 30 of each year. Licenses shall not be transferable or assignable. A license may be renewed and shall be renewable without examination for the ensuing year by making an application not later than the expiration date, providing certification that the required continuing education units have been completed, and paying the applicable fee. Such application shall have the effect of extending the validity of the current license until the new license is issued or until the applicant is notified by the commission that the request for renewal has been denied. If an application has not been received by the commission by the expiration date, the license will expire and the licensee will be prohibited from performing any work for which the license is required until such time as the license has been reinstated. On application made after June 30 of each year, the license may be reinstated only upon compliance with all requirements for renewal, including payment of the applicable fee, plus a penalty of Ten Dollars ($10.00) for each month or fraction thereof the application is delinquent. Failure to request reinstatement within one (1) year after a license has expired may, in the discretion of the commission, be deemed a waiver of the licensee's right to reinstatement without examination; and if he should request reinstatement thereafter, the commission may require that he be considered a new applicant subject to all requirements for initial licensing including the requirement for examination.

(3) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a person who has not obtained a license pursuant thereto from constructing a water well on his own or leased property intended for use only in a single family house which is his permanent residence, or intended for use only for watering livestock on his farm, and where the waters to be produced are not intended for use by the public or any residence other than his own. However, such person shall comply with all rules and regulations as to the construction of wells as set out by the provisions of this chapter.

(4) (a) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a person who has not obtained a license pursuant thereto from constructing a water well on his own or leased property intended for use only for irrigating crops on his farm. However, such person shall comply with all rules and regulations as to the construction of wells as set out by the provisions of this chapter.

(b) This subsection shall repeal on July 1, 2014.

(5) This section shall not apply to any person who performs labor or services at the direction and under the personal supervision of a licensed well contractor.

(6) Any person whose license has been revoked may, upon application for a new license, be required, in the discretion of the board, to take the examination and in all other ways be considered as a new applicant.

(7) As used in this chapter, the terms "State Board of Water Commissioners," "board" and "commission" mean the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality.

SECTION 6. Section 53-7-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

53-7-21. (1) Unless exempted under Section 53-7-7, no operator shall engage in surface mining without having first obtained coverage under a general permit or having obtained from the Permit Board a permit for each operation. The permit or coverage under a general permit shall authorize the operator to engage in surface mining upon the area of land described in the application for a period of either five (5) years or longer period of time as deemed appropriate by the Permit Board from the date of issuance or until reclamation of the affected area is completed and the reclamation bond is finally released, whichever comes first.

(2) Each operator holding a permit shall annually, before the anniversary date of the permit, file with the department a certificate of compliance in which the operator, under oath, shall declare that the operator is following the approved mining and reclamation plan and is abiding by this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted under this chapter. The commission may establish a fee for filing the certificate of compliance.

SECTION 7. Section 53-7-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

53-7-25. * * *~~(1)~~ Each application for a surface mining permit and for coverage under a general permit shall be accompanied by an application fee * * * established by the commission. * * * The commission, in considering regulations on the fee schedule, * * *~~shall~~ may recognize the difference in the various materials, taking into consideration the commercial value of the material and the nature and size of operation necessary to extract it.

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SECTION 8. Section 53-7-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

53-7-69. (1) There is created in the State Treasury a fund to be designated as the "Surface Mining and Reclamation Fund," referred to hereinafter as the "fund." There is created in the fund an account designated as the "Land Reclamation Account" and an account designated as the "Surface Mining Program Operations Account."

(2) The fund shall be treated as a special trust fund. Interest earned on the principal therein shall be credited by the Treasurer to the fund.

(3) The fund may receive monies from any available public or private sources, including, but not limited to, collection of fees, interest, grants, taxes, public and private donations, judicial actions, penalties and forfeited performance bonds. Any monies received from penalties, forfeited performance bonds, judicial actions and the interest thereon, less enforcement and collection costs, shall be credited to the Land Reclamation Account. Any monies received from the collection of * * *~~fees,~~ grants, taxes, public or private donations and the interest thereon shall be credited to the Surface Mining Program Operations Account. All fees collected shall be deposited in the Department of Environmental Quality Program Fund.

(4) The commission shall expend or utilize monies in the fund by an annual appropriation by the Legislature as provided herein. Monies in the Land Reclamation Account may be used to defray any costs of reclamation of land affected by mining operations. Monies in the Surface Mining Program Operations Account may be used to defray the reasonable direct and indirect costs associated with the administration and enforcement of this chapter.

(5) Proceeds from the forfeiture of performance bonds or deposits and penalties recovered shall be available to be expended to reclaim, in accordance with this chapter, lands with respect to which the performance bonds or deposits were provided and penalties assessed. If the commission expends monies from the fund for which the cost of reclamation exceeded the proceeds from the forfeiture of performance bonds or deposits, the commission may seek to recover any monies expended from the fund from any responsible party.

SECTION 9. Section 53-7-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

53-7-43. (1) Applications for the modification, transfer or reissuance of any surface mining permit issued under this chapter may be filed with the department. The Permit Board may modify any surface mining permit to increase or decrease the permit area and shall require an increase in the performance bond and a modified reclamation plan for any expanded area.

(2) Any permit issued under this chapter shall carry with it the right of successive reissuance upon expiration for areas within the boundaries of the existing permit. The operator may apply for reissuance and that permit shall be reissued, except as provided in this subsection. On application for reissuance the burden of proving that the permit should not be reissued shall be on the opponents of reissuance or the department. If the opponents to reissuance or the department establish and the Permit Board finds, in writing, that the operator is not satisfactorily meeting the terms and conditions of the existing permit or the present surface mining and reclamation operation is not in compliance with this chapter and the rules and regulations issued under this chapter, the Permit Board shall not reissue the permit.

(3) Any permit reissuance shall be for a term not to exceed the term of the original permit established by this chapter. Application for permit reissuance shall be filed with the Permit Board at least sixty (60) days before the expiration of the permit. If an application for reissuance is timely filed, the operator may continue surface mining operations under the existing permit until the Permit Board takes action on the reissuance application.

SECTION 10. Section 49-31-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-31-25. (1) There is imposed upon each large quantity generator and each small quantity generator that is regulated under the Mississippi hazardous waste management regulations and each facility operator, a pollution prevention fee. The fee upon each large quantity generator and each small quantity generator shall be measured by the quantity of hazardous waste which that generator generates annually. The fee upon each facility operator shall be measured by the quantity of chemicals which each facility releases annually and reports pursuant to Section 313 of EPCRA. For a fee payer that is both a large quantity hazardous waste generator and a facility operator, the fee shall be measured by adding the quantity of fugitive and stack air emissions reported under Section 313 of EPCRA plus the quantity of hazardous waste generated annually. For a fee payer that is both a small quantity hazardous waste generator and a facility operator, the fee shall be measured by the quantity of chemicals released as reported pursuant to Section 313 of EPCRA. The fee shall be assessed * * * by the commission.

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The fee shall be due and payable to the department not later than September 1 of each year, or not later than a date specified by the department in the invoice which shall be no less than thirty (30) days following receipt of an invoice from the department, whichever is later. The fee shall be based on the quantity of hazardous waste generated and/or chemicals released during the preceding calendar year. The department shall annually prepare an invoice for the amount of the pollution prevention fee due from each generator or facility operator and furnish it to each generator or facility operator. The proceeds of the fee shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Trust Fund created in Section 17-17-217.

(2) * * *~~From and after July 1, 1995,~~ The department shall exclude from the calculation of the pollution prevention fee any hazardous waste recycled on-site or shipped off-site for recycling as reported on the Mississippi Annual Hazardous Waste Report or its equivalent and any chemicals recycled on-site or shipped off-site for recycling as reported under Section 313 of EPCRA. The hazardous waste generator or the facility operator shall submit any information the department deems necessary to substantiate that the hazardous waste or chemicals were recycled.

(3) At the discretion of the commission, a generator or facility operator shall be liable for a penalty not to exceed three (3) times the amount of the fee due and payable for failure to pay the fee on or before the due date, plus the amount necessary to reimburse the cost of collection.

(4) * * *~~From and after July 1, 1995,~~ The department shall exclude from any calculation of pollution prevention fee any hazardous waste or chemical for which a Title V permit fee is assessed to the same generator or facility operator.

SECTION 11. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.