NPDES and WQM Permit Fees

Chapters 91 and 92a establish fees for Water Quality Management (WQM) and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits, respectively. On August 28, 2021, the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) published a final-form rulemaking that revised the fee requirements for WQM and NPDES Permits. The rulemaking included modifications to fee amounts; elimination of Individual NPDES Permit application renewal fees; changes to the payment schedule for NPDES annual fees; a fee exemption for financially distressed municipalities; an update to the “cap” for General NPDES Permit Notice of Intent (NOI) fees; and new fee requirements for WQM permit applications, including the creation of new categories of fees for WQM permits.

NPDES Permits

Application fees for NPDES Permits are specified at 25 Pa. Code § 92a.26. Application fees are no longer required for Individual NPDES Permit renewal applications (with the exception of renewal applications for construction stormwater and mining activities). Applications for new permits, permit amendments, and permit transfers still require a fee. Application forms can be found on DEP’s NPDES and WQM Permitting Programs site. At this time NPDES Permit application fees cannot be paid online.

Annual fees for Individual NPDES Permits are available at 25 Pa. Code § 92a.62. Annual fees are due on the same date until the NPDES Permit is terminated. For existing Individual NPDES Permits, the due date for annual fees is based on the anniversary of the effective date of the latest new or renewed permit as of August 28, 2021. For new permits issued after August 28, 2021, the due date is the anniversary of the effective date of the new permit. If a permit is renewed, amended, or transferred during the permit term, the due date does not change. Fees will be invoiced three months before the due date; however, the fee is due regardless of whether the invoice was received. If you receive an invoice for an NPDES Annual Fee you may pay online at the following website: www.depgreenport.state.pa.us/NPDESpay.

NOI fees for coverage under General NPDES Permits may not exceed $5,000 (see Chapter 92a.26(g)). Refer to the appropriate General NPDES Permit instructions document to determine the NOI fees associated with each General NPDES Permit.

For additional information about Chapter 92a Fees, please visit the webpage.

WQM Permits

Application fees for WQM Permits can be found at 25 Pa. Code § 91.22. There are application fees associated with all new, renewal, amendment, and transfer applications for Individual WQM Permits. WQM application fee amounts are based on facility or activity types. Major and minor treatment facility categories, for both sewage and industrial facilities, will be dependent on the NPDES fee category. If the treatment facility does not have an associated NPDES permit it will fall into the non-NPDES category. At this time WQM application fees cannot be paid online. WQM permits do not have annual fees.

Contact the DEP regional office where the permit application will be submitted with questions regarding permit application fees. Contact DEP’s annual fee resource account, RA-annualfee@pa.gov, with questions regarding NPDES annual fees.