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Urge County Council to make polluting facilities cover air permit program costs

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) needs a fully funded and staffed Air Program to protect communities from large polluting facilities, several of which habitually violate their air pollution permits. However, the staff is hampered by a chronic staffing shortage and a $1.8 million deficit for this year alone. The operators profiting from emitting harmful pollutants need to pay permitting fees sufficient to cover the costs of establishing and enforcing the air pollution permits.

The Allegheny County Council will be voting on a proposed necessary increase in air permit fees for major and minor air pollution sources in Allegheny County. These permits contain conditions that ensure the industrial facilities comply with applicable Clean Air Act and local air pollution regulations that ACHD is tasked with enforcing. The fees for permit applications and renewals help to fund ACHD’s operations.

Poor air quality has plagued Allegheny County for generations, contributing to high rates of respiratory and cardiac health conditions, cancer, and premature mortality. Air quality has improved in recent years, and County Council’s vote could determine whether that trend continues or is reversed.

U.S. Steel, Allegheny County’s largest polluter, is lobbying hard against the increased fees not because they can’t afford to pay them—the total is minuscule compared to its profits. Rather, it does not want to see ACHD able to better enforce the law once the Air Program is fully funded and the staff is no longer as overworked.

ACHD recently disclosed an operational budget shortfall of $1,840,920. Raising permit fees to match the amount of staff and other resources necessary to review and enforce these permits is a major part of ACHD’s strategy to close that budget shortfall. Time is short to ensure that ACHD receives the resources it needs at no cost to the community.

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PA Senate

Subject: Please adopt the proposed permit fees

Message:

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD)'s operational budget shortfall of $1,840,920 threatens the health of our county’s residents. ACHD’s work is essential to ensuring that heavily polluting projects are properly reviewed, and that our county's polluters comply with county and federal air quality regulations. When ACHD’s capacity is reduced or it lacks crucial resources, the likelihood of an increase in hazardous air pollution along with the associated health injuries increases, including in communities that have endured such damages for generations. This includes premature deaths from needless additional pollution, along with other often irreversible health harms. Additionally, heavily polluting facilities also drive economic divestment in surrounding communities. A fully-funded health department is critical to preventing these harms. ACHD is proposing a solution to the budget deficit that includes raising permit fees and restructuring staff positions. I’m supportive of increasing permit fees to properly reflect the cost of review and enforcement. The staff working to protect Allegheny County’s air quality should not continue to be under-resourced and overworked. A properly functioning ACHD must be fully staffed and given necessary resources to fill open positions. ACHD's proposal to raise permit fees is well justified based on the full accounting of the work that goes into enforcing those permits. They are not arbitrary changes and would close most of the operating budget shortfall while ensuring that ACHD is run in a more sustainable and fiscally responsible manner. Enacting this part of the proposal is important to ensuring that ACHD’s operations can continue. Facility operators arguing against the permit fee increases can easily afford them, but likely prefer ACHD to be hamstrung in its ability to adequately enforce the Clean Air Act and local air quality regulations that some operators have habitually violated. The most vocal opponent is U.S. Steel, the county’s largest polluter, which would not be meaningfully impacted by the fee increases. The total amount it would pay every five years for Title V permit fees for all three of its facilities is less than the average amount it pays each of its 13 Board members every year. I urge County Council to support ACHD by voting YES on this reasonable permit fee rate increase that requires those that profit from polluting facilities to cover the cost of ACHD protecting our communities by ensuring the operators comply with the law. Thank you for your meaningful consideration of these comments.

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Urge County Council to make polluting facilities cover air permit program costs

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