Susquehanna River Basin Commission Increases Municipal Fee Discount To 44% For Next Year

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission will hold the line on most fees for the next year, and will increase the municipal discount for its Annual Compliance and Monitoring Fee to 44 percent, as a result of actions taken at its meeting on June 16.

The Commission opted to hold the line despite having the authority to increase a majority of its regulatory fee schedule to reflect the increase in the Consumer Price Index. The action averts a 0.5 percent increase across the board.

The Commission also did not change its Consumptive Use Mitigation Fee because there was no change in the index used to increase this fee during the last 12 months.

The municipal discount on the Annual Compliance and Monitoring Fee was increased to 44 percent, matching the discount on municipal groundwater application fees.

In another action regarding the monitoring fee, the Commission established a tiered fee for hydroelectric power plants so smaller facilities are subject to a lesser fee.

The only fee increase involved the standard fee for minor modifications, which increases to $1,000 from $750 based on costs incurred in the application process.

“We understand the concerns our permit holders have over fees, and we’re pleased to be able to hold the line this year on nearly all of them and increase the municipal discount for annual compliance and monitoring,” said Andrew Dehoff, Commission executive director. “Many of us are being asked to do more with less, and we’ve worked hard to hold our costs down to avoid fee increases.”

The actions on fees were among several others taken at the Commission’s quarterly business meeting. In other business, the Commission:

-- Tabled a request for waiver from Middletown Borough regarding the borough’s unapproved sources and directed staff to gather more information and work closely with the borough to seek resolution.

-- Denied a request by EOG Resources Inc., to circumvent rules regarding the development of a new water source.

-- Approved 19 applications and tabled six others.

The voting Commissioners and alternates were: Ben Grumbles, Chair and Secretary, Maryland Department of the Environment; Col. Ed Chamberlayne, Vice Chair, Commander and District Engineer, Baltimore District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Paul D’Amato, Director, Region 8, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; and Dana Aunkst, Deputy Secretary, Office of Water Programs, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Click Here for the complete announcement.

The next hearing of the SRBC will be on August 3 in Harrisburg and the next business meeting on September 7 in Elmira, New York.  

For more information on these upcoming events, visit the SRBC Public Participation Center webpage.