(1) The commission may delegate to the Department of Environmental Quality the responsibility for the collection of the Title V program fees.

(2) The air operating permit fee shall be due September 1 of each year. Any facility which proposes to use actual emissions as the basis for the fee calculation shall submit by July 1 of each year an inventory of emissions for the previous calendar year. For facilities using actual emissions as the basis of the fee, the fee shall be calculated based upon emissions during the previous calendar year. For facilities using allowable emissions as the basis for the fee, the fee shall be calculated based upon the allowable emissions contained in the permit on the date of the invoice. A permit holder may elect a quarterly payment method of four (4) equal payments with the payments due September 1, December 1, March 1, and June 1. The permit holder shall notify the Department of Environmental Quality that the quarterly payment method will be used by September 1.

(3) If any part of the air operating permit fee imposed is not paid within thirty (30) days after the due date, a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount due shall at once accrue and be added thereto, unless the permittee demonstrates to the commission that the failure to make timely payment was unavoidable due to financial hardship or otherwise beyond the permittee’s control. If the fee is not paid in full, including any penalty within sixty (60) days of the due date, the Environmental Quality Permit Board may revoke the permit upon proper notice and hearing as required by law. Any penalty collected under this section shall be deposited into the “Air Operating Permit Program Fee Trust Fund.”

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that fees collected pursuant to Sections 49-17-1 through 49-17-45 shall not supplant or reduce in any way the General Fund appropriation to the Department of Environmental Quality.