Contrary to a press release from County Commissioner Wes Cormier, the Olympic Regional Clean Air Agency will continue collecting fees for any and all demolition or removal of structures or building materials, be it flood related or otherwise.
“While ORCAA empathizes with residents hit with financial burdens, the agency can not legally waive fees,” ORCAA public information officer Dan Nelson said in a press release on Thursday. “Any fee change legally requires thorough public processes that can’t be curtailed. Despite some reports, the ORCAA Board of Directors did not vote to waive fees — they voted to explore the possibility of creating a method by which fees could be legally waived in future emergency situations.”
Last week, Cormier had sent a press release saying the ORCAA board approved a proposal to waive fees for flood victims, however, that wasn’t the case.
“I assumed a verbal motion was good enough, but it wasn’t,” Cormier said on Thursday. “I should have made sure it was clear that ORCAA staff were not going to be charging fees before I sent out the press release.”
Cormier said he was contacted earlier in the week by a builder who was charged a demolition fee by ORCAA, the initial indication that he hadn’t put out accurate information.
During the ORCAA board meeting on Jan. 14, Cormier, a committee member, had suggested a policy to waive fees for disaster victims during staff reports. Later in the meeting, Port Angeles Mayor Dan Di Guilio, also a committee member, moved to put forward policy changes waiving fees for disaster victims. That motion unanimously was approved, and Cormier took it to mean the fees were waived and then issued the press release. ORCAA issued a correction the next week.
“There was some disagreement of if a verbal motion was good enough,” Cormier said on Thursday. “After listening to the audio of the meeting, I stand corrected. The proposal was to approve that language be brought forth to waive fees. It is my understanding that ORCAA will still charge for permits until language for the proposal is passed.”
Specific language will be brought forward during the next ORCAA meeting at 10 a.m. on Feb. 11 at 2940 Limited Lane, Suite B, in Olympia, Cormier said.
“It was a communication error and it will be rectified next month,” he said.
And while the specific language will help bring about change, it doesn’t mean residents will see fee waivers any time in the near future, however, ORCAA was still reviewing its policy on fee waivers as of Thursday.
“We’ll need to talk to our attorney about getting a fee waiver in place, because that’s not a fee change,” ORCAA Executive Director Fran McNair said Thursday. “We’re doing our homework right now.”
In addition to exploring the possibility of fee waivers, ORCAA currently is undergoing a process to remove fees from agency regulation, allowing fees to be altered by the board as necessary without having to revise regulation. As it stands, that process will see a public hearing in March, and the earliest a fee could be changed directly by the board would be sometime in April. The entire process takes 90-100 days.
In general, cost impacts of a demolition permit from ORCAA would be minimal, McNair said. The residential permit fee is $35, while other structures require a $60 fee. Those are in addition to costs charged by Asbestos surveys provided through private contractors and demolition contracts.
“There are a variety of costs outside of our permits,” McNair said. “Our permits are pretty inexpensive.”
ORCAA is a local government agency charged with regulatory and enforcement authority for air-quality issues in Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties. ORCAA is one of seven regional air pollution control agencies in the state.
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