ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
January
5,
1989
RIVERSIDE LABORATORIES,
INC.,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 87—62
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
DISSENTING OPINION
(by
B.
Forcade):
The majority holds that Riverside Laboratories,
Inc.
(“Riverside~) is not subject
to the Board’s paper coating
regulations.
I disagree.
First,
I believe
that many of the arguments raised
in this
proceeding
are completely tangential
to the issue necessarily
before the Board.
The only issue
in this proceeding
is whether
Riverside’s
operation may properly be deemed paper coating.
If
it can, then Riverside’s application did not demonstrate
compliance with the relevant regulations and the
permit should be
denied.
If
Riverside’s operations are not paper coating then
a
permit denial premised on those regulations
is clearly
inappropriate.
The exclusive question
is whether Riverside meets
the
definition of a paper coater.
Whether Riverside was informed by
the Agency of its regulatory status in 1985
is irrelevant
to
whether Riverside meets the definition of
a paper coater.
Whether
Riverside provided accurate emissions data
to
the Agency
is
irrelevant
to whether
Riverside meets
the definition of
a
paper coater.
Whether
it
is technically feasible for Riverside
to meet
a specific
numerical emission limitation
is irrelevant
to
whether Riverside meets
the definition of
a paper coater.(
See
Navistar International Transportation Cor~.
V.
EPA
,
28 ERC 1533
(CA 6,
September 23,1988))
And,
whether the Agency should have
asked
for
more information
in lieu of permit denial
is
irrelevant
to whether
Riverside meets the definition of
a
paper coater.
These ancillary matters obscure rather than clarify the central
issue.
One issue that is on point, however,
is Riverside’s
assertion that
it cannot be regulated
as
a paper
coater because
it was not specifically identified
as an affected
facility in the
regulatory proceeding that adopted the paper coating
rules.
Further, Riverside asserts that several documents were introduced
95—19
—2—
in that proceeding which did identify named affected facilities
and Riverside was not one of them.
The Agency counters that the
failure
to identify Riverside derived from incorrect emissions
data submitted by Riverside.
I believe that the Board can effectively regulate
a facility
by providing
a proper description of the activities conducted,
even
if the name of the facility
is never specifically mentioned.
Regulation,
by its nature,
affects classes and categories of
facilities and activities.
If there
is an additional requirement
that the regulated entity be
identified by name within the record
of the rulemaking,
then the definition of the regulated activity
becomes superfluous and the list of named
facilities becomes
controlling.
Further,
such
a requirement would place undo burden
on the quality, veracity and clarity of
information supplied
to
the Agency by regulated entities.
I believe
the regulation
should properly describe what is regulated,
and anything which
meets that definition should
be subject
to regulation even
if not
identified by name
in the regulatory docket.
That leaves
the central issue of whether Riverside’s
activities meet
the definition of a paper coater.
Board
regulations governing paper coaters
are found
at
35
Ill. Adm.
Code
215.204
(c).
Paper coating
is defined at
35
Ill.
Adm.
Code
211.121:
“Paper Coating”:
the application of
a coating
material
to paper or pressure sensitive tapes,
regardless
of
substrate,
including
web
coatings
on
plastic
fibers
and
decorative
coatings on metal
foil.
Riverside
itself describes the material substrate
as
a
paper,
in
fact,
a “theromosetting
laminating paper”.
(R.
30—33).
Indeed, the “paper”
of papercoating covers paper, pressure
sensitive tapes, plastic fibers, and metal
foil. There
is no
question that
the “Paper” part of paper coating
is satisfied.
The question
is what kind of coating does Riverside do.
Riverside argues that it
is not
a surface coater
and
therefore
it does not meet the definition of
“coating
line”
in 35
Ill. Adm.
Code 211.122, and therefore
it
cannot be
a paper
coater.
(Pet.
Br.,
p.
28)
Riverside argues that
it certainly
is
subject to
the Generic Rule Parts
PP and QO
(35 111.
Adm.
Code
215.920—215.943)
which were adopted on
April
7,1988.
(Pet.
Br.,
p.
47—56)
Those regulations establish
a
3.5
lb/gal
limit for
“coating lines”
(35
Ill.
Adm. Code 215.926 (a)(2)
and
an 81
control system efficiency for other
sources.
Since Riverside
argues
that
it
is not a “coating line”,
and therefore
not subject
to the 3.5
lb,/gal limitation,
it must be some other
type of
process that would be subject
to the
81
limit.
Riverside never
95—20
—3—
explains what “other” type of facility it might
be.
Certainly,
Riverside cannot
argue that
it does not meet the regulatory
definition of “coating
line” when discussing paper coaters but
that
it does meet the definition of “coating
line” when
discussing
the generic rule.
I think Riverside’s operation is paper coating.
The
activity
in question
involves the application of
a material
to
a
paper
substrate.
Riverside admits that in
its activities,
a
substrate which
is properly characterized as “paper”
is being
processed
in
a fashion that can fairly be called
“coating”.
(Pet.
Br., p.54;
P.
208).
The simple
facts are that Riverside
is
a major source of
hydrocarbon emissions
in an ozone non—attainment area.
Since the
Clean
Air Act requires all such sources to be controlled by
a
RACT regulation,
there are only three options.
First,
Riverside
is covered
by the paper coating rules.
Alternatively, Riverside
is covered by some other Board RACT regulation.
Or, finally,
Riverside
is not covered
by any Board
PACT regulation and
the
Illinois Ozone SIP
is defective for this reason.
Not even
Riverside argues
the last option to be
true.
I find the
rationale
for calling Riverside
a paper coater has superior logic
to
a determination that Riverside
is somehow covered by other
regulations.
For these
reasons,
I dissent.
I,
Dorothy
1.
Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the
abp-ye Dissenting Opinion was
submitted on the
~
day of
~
,
1989.
,~
~
~/2•)~
~
Dorothy
M~.’1”Gunn,Clerk
Illinois ‘P’ollution Control Board
95—21