The Air Pollution Control Division is exploring updates to Air Quality Control Commission Regulation Number 3 related to potential fee increases for:
- Air pollutant emission notice (APEN) filing.
- Permit processing.
- Annual criteria pollutant and hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions.
The division occasionally updates fees to adjust for inflation or account for new statutory requirements. These fees fund Air Pollution Control Division programs and services to improve and protect air quality in Colorado. This includes the division’s ongoing work developing and administering Colorado Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act requirements. Enhanced state statutory and federal requirements to protect clean air in recent years go beyond what current fees assessed and collected can support.
The division is hosting an online meeting for permittees and regulated entities to learn about potential fee increases. The online meeting will be from 2-3 p.m. on Nov. 18, 2024.
The division is also hosting an online meeting focused on sharing an overview of these proposed updates with Colorado community members on Dec. 11, 2024 from 10 - 11 a.m.
Air Pollutant Emission Notice (APEN) filing fee
- APENs received on or after July 1, 2021:
- $242.00
- This fee applies for each APEN submitted, including those submitted for administrative changes (e.g., changes in ownership, change in location).
- Your APEN will be rejected if it is filled out incorrectly, is missing information, or lacks payment for the filing fee. The re-submittal will require a new filing fee. See our Application Rejection Frequently Asked Questions page for more information.
Fees may be paid by:
- Submitting a check with the mailed in application
- As of October 1, 2022, the Air Division no longer accepts Credit Card Authorizations through standard mail, email, or over the phone. If you need to pay APEN filing fee(s) and General Permit fee(s) with a credit card, you may use the Division’s online payment portal. If this is your first time using the payment portal, please follow the instructions in this guidance document.
-
On or after July 1, 2021:
-
$36.00 per ton of criteria pollutant.
-
$239.00 per ton of hazardous air pollutant.
-
-
On or after August 2020 (estimated):
-
$32.00 per ton of criteria pollutant.
-
$216.00 per ton of hazardous air pollutant.
-
-
Prior to August 2020:
-
$28.63 per ton of criteria pollutant.
-
$191.13 per ton of hazardous air pollutant.
-
-
If your source is required to file an Air Pollutant Emission Notice, you must pay an annual fee.
-
The fee is based on the total annual emissions as reported on the most current Air Pollutant Emission Notice we have on file. Invoices for these fees will be mailed in May or June of each year.
- Beginning July 1, 2021, the hourly fee for processing construction permit and Title V operating permit applications is $119.00 per hour
- Colorado Regulation No. 3, Part A Section VI.A.1 requires the division to charge fees to “…recover the direct and indirect costs incurred by the Division in processing permit applications, issuing permits, and in conducting a compliance monitoring and enforcement program. Such fees shall apply without regards to whether a permit is issued, denied, withdrawn, or revoked.” With respect to processing applications and issuing permits, fees will be charged for time spent reviewing the application and drafting the permit and associated basis document, including researching regulatory and technical issues related to the application and permit draft as applicable. Chargeable time also includes peer and supervisor review of drafts, as well as time spent by permit engineers and division management in meetings, phone calls, and responding to emails, as well as support from permit engineers for division efforts that are not directly permit related but are site-specific (e.g., development of site-specific regulatory requirements, etc). Other fees, if applicable, can include the cost to publish the draft permit for public notice, and technical review of air quality modeling results. The permit processing invoice for construction permits will be generated once the permit is issued, or the application withdrawn/denied. Title V Operating Permit processing invoices are generated on a quarterly basis.
- For construction permits, the final approval fee includes the total of all costs associated with enforcement of the construction permit, compliance testing and other costs for processing the permit.
- For construction permits, processing fees are charged for both initial and final approval permits, modifications, requested administrative changes and transfer of ownership.
- For operating permits, processing fees are charged for all application types and other permit-related work as described in Colorado Regulation No. 3, Part A Section VI.A.1 (as noted above).
- By law, we must notify you in writing if total processing time (initial plus final) is anticipated to exceed 30 hours. In such cases, we must provide you with an estimate of the projected processing time. You can choose to waive this notice requirement in writing when submitting your application.
Appeals and invoicing questions
If you want to appeal an invoiced amount, you must submit the appeal in writing within 30 days of the invoice date to stop the deadline process and eventual collections activity. You can submit questions about the invoice in a letter.
Period of coverage
Generally, the invoice is for emissions generated during the previous calendar year.
If the facility was sold during the invoiced year
The sale of a facility requires the submission of a revised Air Pollutant Emission Notice (including filing fees) documenting the transfer of ownership. The previous and new owners can decide between themselves how to prorate the fee, or each can submit a revised Air Pollutant Emission Notice (including filing fees) documenting emissions for their period of responsibility.
If the facility closed before the invoiced year
An annual fee invoice may be canceled if no operation occurred that year if you request in writing to cancel the APEN. More information about source closure procedures is provided below.
What pollutant numbers on your invoice mean
Hazardous air pollutants are designated on the invoice by their Chemical Abstract Service number. The list of the chargeable pollutants in Appendix C of Regulation 3 contains these numbers. These also can be identified in numerous chemical references or by calling us.
Source closure processing
If you’re closing down an air pollution emissions source, you may wish to have it removed from the inventory. This will avoid further annual fees for those emissions.
-
If the source is to be permanently closed (i.e., dismantled), you must notify us in writing to have it removed and have all associated permits canceled.
-
Please be specific about the equipment and permits to be canceled.
-
There’s no filing fee to cancel a source, if the source is ever reopened it will require all new Air Pollutant Emission Notices.
-
If the permit was canceled, it will require permits just as if it had never been permitted before.
If a source is to be closed temporarily, you can cancel the APEN and keep the permit. However, you must file a new APEN (including filing fees) before it restarts, showing expected emissions for the coming year.