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June
9, 2006
The Southland’s clean air agency today adopted a $119 million budget for
the coming fiscal year and adjusted its fees for the next three years to
achieve a structurally balanced budget for the first time in 15 years.
“This budget and fee adjustment will put AQMD on a sound financial
footing by recovering the costs of regulating air pollution from more than
26,000 businesses and industrial facilities across the region,” said William
Burke, Ed.D., Governing Board Chairman of the South Coast Air Quality
Management District.
At today’s meeting, the AQMD Board adopted a $119 million budget for
fiscal year 2006-07 along with a cost-recovery fee increase of 30 percent
phased in over three years – 10 percent annually – for permit processing,
annual permit renewal and emissions fees. In addition, a 3.65 percent
consumer price index (CPI) increase was adopted for all other fees (source
testing, lab analyses, etc.) for fiscal year 2006-07 only.
The 30 percent cost-recovery fee increase is estimated to generate
approximately $12.8 million in additional revenues, mostly offsetting a
current $13.2 million shortfall in program costs over the three-year
period. This increase, combined with a debt-reduction proposal using
one-time penalty monies, will provide for a long-term balance between the
cost of AQMD’s stationary source programs and the revenues that support
them.
Over the past 15 years, AQMD has kept fee increases at or below the
cumulative change in CPI and reduced its staffing by 31 percent (41 percent
in its stationary source programs) while maintaining progress toward meeting
federal and state air quality standards. AQMD will continue to streamline
its operations by developing innovative programs and promoting new emission
reduction rules and technology.
In other action today, AQMD’s Board amended Rule 1113 – Architectural
Coatings – to reflect the findings of the latest technology assessment and
to further reduce emission limits for volatile organic compounds from
certain types of paint and coating products.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
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