(a) A district board may adopt, by regulation, a schedule of annual fees for the evaluation, issuance, and renewal of permits to cover the cost of district programs related to permitted stationary sources authorized or required under this division that are not otherwise funded. The fees assessed under this section shall not exceed, for any fiscal year, the actual costs for district programs for the immediately preceding fiscal year with an adjustment not greater than the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index, as determined pursuant to Section 2212 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, for the preceding year. Any revenues received by the district pursuant to the fees, which exceed the cost of the programs, shall be carried over for expenditure in the subsequent fiscal year, and the schedule of fees shall be changed to reflect that carryover. Every person applying for a permit, notwithstanding Section 6103 of the Government Code, shall pay the fees required by the schedule. Nothing in this subdivision precludes the district from recovering, through its schedule of annual fees, the estimated reasonable costs of district programs related to permitted stationary sources.
(b) The district board may require an applicant to deposit a fee in accord with the schedule adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) prior to evaluating a permit application, if the district accounts for the costs of its services and refunds to the applicant any significant portion of the deposit which exceeds the actual, reasonable cost of evaluating the application.
(c) Except as provided in Section 42313, all the fees shall be paid to the district treasurer to the credit of the district.
(d) This section does not apply to the south coast district board which is governed by Section 40510.
(e) In addition to providing notice as otherwise required, before adopting a regulation establishing fees pursuant to this section, the district board shall hold at least one public meeting, at which oral or written presentations can be made, as part of a regularly scheduled meeting. Notice of the time and place of the meeting, including a general explanation of the matter to be considered, and a statement that the information required by this section is available, shall be mailed at least 14 days prior to the meeting to any interested party who files a written request with the district board. Any written request for the mailed notices shall be valid for one year from the date on which it is filed unless a renewal request is filed. Renewal requests for the mailed notices shall be filed on or before April 1 of each year. The district board may establish a reasonable annual charge for sending the notices based on the estimated cost of providing that service. At least 10 days prior to the meeting, the district board shall make available to the public information indicating the amount of cost, or estimated cost, required to provide the service for which the fee is charged and the revenue sources anticipated to provide the service. Any costs incurred by the district board in conducting the required meeting may be recovered from fees charged for the programs which were the subject of the meeting.
(f) In addition to any other fees authorized by this section, a district board may adopt, by regulation, a schedule of annual fees to be assessed against permitted nonvehicular sources emitting toxic air contaminants identified pursuant to the procedure set forth in Sections 39660, 39661, and 39662. A district board shall demonstrate that the fees assessed under this subdivision do not exceed the reasonable, anticipated costs of funding district activities mandated by Section 39666 related to nonvehicular source emissions. In making the demonstration, the district shall account for all direct and indirect costs of district activities related to each toxic air contaminant. If the district does not make this demonstration, it shall make reimbursement for that portion of the fee not determined to be reasonable.
(g) A district may adopt, by regulation, a schedule of fees to be assessed on areawide or indirect sources of emissions which are regulated, but for which permits are not issued, by the district to recover the costs of district programs related to these sources.
(h) A district board may adopt, by regulation, a schedule of fees to cover the reasonable costs of the hearing board incurred as a result of appeals from district decisions on the issuance of permits. However, the hearing board may waive all or part of these fees if it determines that circumstances warrant that waiver.
(i) Nothing in the amendments to this section enacted in 1988 limits or abridges any previously existing authority of a district to vary fees according to quantity of emissions, nor affects any pending litigation which might affect that previous authority.
(Amended by Stats. 1988, Ch. 1568, Sec. 29.)