ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
January 5, 2006
MARATHON ASHLAND PETROLEUM,
LLC
(Wastewater Treatment Plant And Benzene
NESHAP Air Controls (Property
Identification Number 51-34-1-21)),
Petitioner,
v.
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
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PCB 06-110
(Tax Certification - Air)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
On December 22, 2005, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency)
recommended that the Board certify certain facilities of Marathon Ashland Petroleum, LLC
(Marathon Ashland Petroleum) as “pollution control facilities” for preferential tax treatment
under the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-5
et seq.
(2004)). The facilities are wastewater
treatment plant and benzene NESHAP air controls at Marathon Ashland Petroleum’s petroleum
refinery in Robinson, Crawford County. The Agency filed the recommendation under Part 125
of the Board’s procedural rules (35 Ill. Adm. Code 125). In this order, the Board describes the
legal framework for tax certifications, discusses the Agency’s recommendation, and certifies that
Marathon Ashland Petroleum’s facilities are pollution control facilities.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Under the Property Tax Code, “[i]t is the policy of this State that pollution control
facilities should be valued, at 33 1/3% of the fair cash value of their economic productivity to
their owners.” 35 ILCS 200/11-5 (2004);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.200(a)(2). “For tax
purposes, pollution control facilities shall be certified as such by the Pollution Control Board and
shall be assessed by the Department [of Revenue].” 35 ILCS 200/11-20 (2004);
see also
35 Ill.
Adm. Code 125.200(a).
Under Section 125.202 of the Board’s procedural rules, a person may submit an
application for tax certification to the Agency. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.202. If the Agency
receives a tax certification application, the Agency must file with the Board a recommendation
on the application, unless the applicant withdraws the application. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.204(a).
Among other things, the Agency’s filing must recommend that the Board issue or deny tax
certification. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.204(a)(4). If the Board finds “that the claimed facility or
relevant portion thereof is a pollution control facility . . ., the Pollution Control Board . . . shall
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enter a finding and issue a certificate to that effect.” 35 ILCS 200/11-25 (2004);
see also
35 Ill.
Adm. Code 125.216(a).
AGENCY RECOMMENDATION
The Agency states that it received a tax certification application from Marathon Ashland
Petroleum for its wastewater treatment plant and benzene NESHAP air controls facilities at
Marathon Ashland Petroleum’s petroleum refinery on December 30, 2004. Agency Rec. at 1.
On December 22, 2005, the Agency filed a recommendation on the application with the Board.
The Agency’s recommendation identifies the facilities at issue:
The wastewater treatment plant and benzene NESHAP air controls, consisting of
modifications to the existing oily water sewer system, affecting various controls
on approximately 1,140 oily sewer components (catch basisn, manholes, and hub
drains) throughout the refinery, with the purpose of reducing volatile organic
material and/or benzene emissions that might otherwise escape the wastewater
treatment system through vapor loss, but only that component of the overall
wastewater treatment process that involves a reduction in emissions of air
contaminants, which are the oily sewer vapor controls, vapor controls at the
wastewater treatment plant, and vapor controls for the slop oil tankage. Agency
Rec. at 2-4.
The Agency’s recommendation also identifies the location of the facilities: 100 Marathon
Avenue, Robinson, in Crawford County.
Id.
at 1.
The Agency recommends that the Board certify that the identified facilities are pollution
control facilities as defined in Section 11-10 of the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-10
(2004)) because the primary purpose of the facilities is eliminating, preventing, or reducing air
pollution. Agency Rec. at 4.
TAX CERTIFICATE
The Board finds and certifies that Marathon Ashland Petroleum’s facilities identified in
this order are pollution control facilities under the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-10
(2004)). Under Section 11-25 of the Property Tax Code, the effective date of this certificate is
“the date of application for the certificate or the date of the construction of the facility, which
ever is later.” 35 ILCS 200/11-25 (2004);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.216(a). Section
125.216(d) of the Board’s procedural rules states that the Clerk “will provide the applicant and
the Agency with a copy of the Board’s order setting forth
the Board’s findings and certificate, if
any
.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.216(d) (quoting in italics 35 ILCS 200/11-30 (2004)). The Clerk
therefore will provide Marathon Ashland Petroleum and the Agency with a copy of this order.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Section 41(a) of the Environmental Protection Act provides that final Board orders may
be appealed directly to the Illinois Appellate Court within 35 days after the Board serves the
order. 415 ILCS 5/41(a) (2004);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.300(d)(2), 101.906, 102.706.
Illinois Supreme Court Rule 335 establishes filing requirements that apply when the Illinois
Appellate Court, by statute, directly reviews administrative orders. 172 Ill. 2d R. 335. The
Board’s procedural rules provide that motions for the Board to reconsider or modify its final
orders may be filed with the Board within 35 days after the order is received. 35 Ill. Adm. Code
101.520;
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.902, 102.700, 102.702.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
adopted the above order on January 5, 2006, by a vote of 4-0.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
