UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION IX 

75 Hawthorne Street 

San Francisco, CA 94105 

November 16, 2011

Memorandum

Subject: Annualized Section 185 Fee Rate for 2011

From: Lily Wong, Rules Office, Air Division, Region IX, USEPA

To: Administrative Record for Docket No. EPA-R09-OAR-2011- 0876

My estimate of the Clean Air Act Section 185 fee rate for the 2011 calendar year is $8,967.33. My 

calculations are based on the following:

1. The methodology found in the now vacated guidance in a memorandum from Stephen D. Page, 

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, to Air Division Directors, “Guidance on 

Developing Fee Programs Required by Clean Air Act Section 185 for the 1-hour Ozone 

NAAQS,” January 5, 2010 (“Section 185 Guidance Memo”).

2. The table provided by OAQPS on Section 185 fee rate based on Part 70 permit fee rate (see 

Attachment A).

From Attachment A, Section 185 fee rates:

Sept 2010 to Aug 2011 rate = $8,896.00

Sept 2011–Aug 2012 rate = $9,110.00

To get the annualized rate for 2011 calendar year, I used the following formula:

[(8/12) x $8,896] + [(4/12) x $9,110] = 

[(2/3) x $8,896] + [(1/3) x $9,110] = 

[$17,792 / 3] + [$3,036.66] =

[$5,930.66] + [$3,036.66] = $8,967.33

As a cross check, I calculated the 2009 fee rate and my calculations matches the fee rate in Table 2 of the 

Section 185 Guidance Memo. 

Sept 2008–Aug 2009 rate = $8,750.00

Sept 2009–Aug 2010 rate = $8,766.00

To get the annualized rate for 2009 calendar year,

[(8/12) x $8,750.00] + [(4/12) x $8,766.00] =

[(2/3) x $8,750.00] + [(1/3) x $8,766.00] =

[$17,500 / 3] + [$2,922] = 

[$5,833.33] + [$2,922] = $8755.33
ATTACHMENT A

Inflation adjustment for section 185 penalty fees

Section 185 cross-references the methodology in section 502(b)(3)(B)(v) of the CAA. This method has 

been interpreted for use in determining permit fees in a 1992 EPA memorandum.1 EPA has used that 

method to calculate the Part 70 permit fee rate since 1990, and will continue to update the rate every year 

in September, when the August values are available. The adjusted section 185 fee, then, would simply 

be prorated to that adjusted permit fee, as shown in the table below (by multiplying the Part 70 permit 

fee rate by 200 ($5000/$25):

A B C D

Effective Part 70 Permit Fee Rate* Sect. 185 fee rate ratio C/B

Sept 1989–Aug 1990 $25.00 $5,000.00 200

Sept 1990–Aug 1991 $26.21 $5,242.00

Sept 1991–Aug 1992 $27.59 $5,518.00

Sept 1992–Aug 1993 $28.43 $5,686.00

Sept 1993–Aug 1994 $29.30 $5,860.00

Sept 1994–Aug 1995 $30.07 $6,014.00

Sept 1995–Aug 1996 $30.93 $6,186.00

Sept 1996–Aug 1997 $31.78 $6,356.00

Sept 1997–Aug 1998 $32.65 $6,530.00

Sept 1998–Aug 1999 $33.21 $6,642.00

Sept 1999–Aug 2000 $33.82 $6,764.00

Sept 2000–Aug 2001 $34.87 $6,974.00

Sept 2001–Aug 2002 $36.03 $7,206.00

Sept 2002–Aug 2003 $36.60 $7,320.00

Sept 2003–Aug 2004 $37.43 $7,486.00

Sept 2004–Aug 2005 $38.29 $7,658.00

Sept 2005–Aug 2006 $39.48 $7,896.00

Sept 2006–Aug 2007 $41.02 $8,204.00

Sept 2007–Aug 2008 $41.96 $8,392.00

Sept 2008–Aug 2009 $43.75 $8,750.00

Sept 2009–Aug 2010 $43.83 $8,766.00

Sept 2010–Aug 2011 $44.48 $8,896.00

Sept 2011–Aug 2012 $45.55 $9,110.00

* from www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/permits/historicalrates.html

 

1 Memorandum of October 15, 1992, from Frank Bunyard, “Calculating Fees for Operating Permits.”