Major source permit to operate fees

1. The owner or operator of each installation that meets the applicability requirements of subsection 2 of section 33.1-15-14-06 shall pay an annual fee. The fee is determined by the actual annual emissions of regulated contaminants. Fugitive emissions will be included in the fee calculation for sources that are required to count them when determining applicability under section 33.1-15-14-06. 2. Effective January 1, 2005, the annual fee shall be assessed at a rate of twenty-five dollars per ton of emissions of each regulated contaminant identified in section 112(b) of the federal Clean Air Act. All other regulated contaminants will be assessed a fee at a rate of twelve dollars per ton. The minimum fee will be five hundred dollars per source. 3. In determining the amount due, that portion of any regulated contaminant which is emitted in excess of four thousand tons [3,628.74 metric tons] per year will be exempt from the fee calculation. 4. Each boiler with a heat input greater than two hundred fifty million British thermal units per hour will be assessed fees on an individual basis and independent of the fees associated with the rest of the installation. The four thousand ton [3,628.74 metric ton] per year cap referenced in subsection 3 is applied to each boiler. 5. Any state-owned or local government-owned facility is exempt from the fee. 6. The fee calculation must be based upon actual annual emissions from the previous calendar year. 7. The fee must be calculated independently for each installation, facility, source, or unit which has been issued a separate permit to operate. 8. The fee rates and the limits established under subsection 2 may be adjusted on an annual basis to account for any increase in the consumer price index published by the department of labor, as of the close of the twelve-month period ending on August thirty-first of each calendar year. 9. Any source that qualifies as a "small business" under section 507 of the federal Clean Air Act may petition the department to reduce or exempt any fee required under this section. Sufficient documentation of the petitioner's financial status must be submitted with the request to allow the department to evaluate the request. 10. The department shall send a notice, identifying the amount of the annual permit fee, to the owner or operator of each affected source. The fee is due within sixty days following the date of such notice. 11. Greenhouse gases are exempt from the fees in this section.