Amendment #754 to H3400

DEP- Compliance and Permitting Fee Retained Revenue

Representatives Dykema of Holliston, Gobi of Spencer, Smizik of Brookline, Ehrlich of Marblehead, Rogers of Cambridge and Walsh of Framingham move to amend the bill, in section 2, by inserting after line item 2200-0109 the following line item:--

“2200-0112 Compliance and Permitting Fee Retained Revenue

Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, the department of environmental protection shall adopt emergency regulations to increase existing permit or compliance fees adopted under section 18 of chapter 21A and section 3B of chapter 21E of the General Laws to reflect the increase in the consumer price index since 2004; provided, that this fee increase shall take effect during fiscal year 2014 as soon as emergency regulations are promulgated and shall terminate in the event that: 1) this line item is abolished or reduced in fiscal year 2014, or 2) operational funding for the department falls below the level authorized in the General Appropriations Act of 2014; provided further, that revenue from said fee shall be used for the sole purpose of ensuring sufficient staff for timely permit decisions and compliance assurance; and provided further, that for the purpose of accommodating timing discrepancies between the receipt of revenues and related expenditures, the department may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify for payment the amounts not to exceed the lower of this authorization or the most recent revenue estimate, as reported in the state accounting system…………………………………………………………….$2,500,000”