Bill Text - HB507 (2013)

Relative to the maximum permit application fee for certain municipal dredging projects.


Revision: March 12, 2013, midnight

HB 507-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

20Feb2013… 0241h

2013 SESSION

13-0200

06/01

HOUSE BILL 507-FN

AN ACT relative to the maximum permit application fee for certain municipal dredging projects.

SPONSORS: Rep. Daniels, Hills 40; Rep. S. Sweeney, Hills 23; Sen. Bragdon, Dist 11

COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development

ANALYSIS

This bill limits the maximum permit application fee for certain municipal dredging projects.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

20Feb2013… 0241h

13-0200

06/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen

AN ACT relative to the maximum permit application fee for certain municipal dredging projects.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Subparagraph; Excavating and Dredging Permit; Maximum Application Fee. Amend RSA 482-A:3, X by inserting after subparagraph (b) the following new subparagraph:

(c) For municipal dredging projects with the primary purpose to restore or reclaim a lake or pond, the maximum application fee for a municipality shall be $10,000 per application plus provisions for technical or consulting services or a combination of such services as necessary to meet the needs of the department. The department may enter into a memorandum of agreement with a municipality to accept equivalent technical or consulting services or a combination of such services in lieu of a portion of the standard application fees.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.

LBAO

13-0200

Amended 03/07/13

HB 507 FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to the maximum permit application fee for certain municipal dredging projects.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Department of Environmental Services states this bill, as amended by the House (Amendment #2013-0241h), will decrease state restricted revenue and local expenditures by $77,120 in FY 2014. There will be no fiscal impact on state and county expenditures, or county and local revenue.

METHODOLOGY:

    This bill establishes a maximum permit application fee of $10,000 plus technical or consulting costs for municipal dredging projects with the primary purpose to restore or reclaim a lake or pond. The Department of Environmental Services states it receives very few applications for large scale municipal dredge projects, typically no more than one every four to ten years. For the purposes of this fiscal note, the Department assumes it will receive one application during FY 2014, and no applications in FY 2015 – 2017. The Department also assumes the number of municipal dredge permit applications will be unchanged by the new application fee, and that the level of effort exerted by the Department will be the same regardless of the application fee, so agency costs for processing permit applications will remain unchanged.

    RSA 482:A-3, I(c) currently establishes a permit application fee of $0.20 per square foot of the proposed project’s impact. Revenue from the fee is deposited into a nonlapsing wetlands and shorelands review fund. Assuming a ten-acre dredge, which the Department describes as typical for a project of this type, state restricted revenue would be $87,120 under the existing fee structure ($0.20 * 43,560 square feet per acre * 10 acres). Under the bill, state restricted revenue would be $10,000, resulting in a revenue decrease of $77,120. Municipal expenditures would decrease by the same amount. The Department states the actual cost to review, permit, and monitor large dredge projects varies depending on project complexity, but costs are typically in the range of $15,000 to $20,000, meaning the maximum fee proposed by the bill will likely be insufficient to cover review costs.