ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
February 4,
1988
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 86—108
JOLIET SAND AND GRAVEL COMPANY,
Respondent.
DISSENTING OPINION (by J. Theodore Meyer):
I dissent
from the majority’s acceptance of
the settlement
stipulation and respondent Joliet Sand and Gravel’s “commitment
to make contribution
to the Illinois Environmental Trust Fund.”
No standards have been promulgated by the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency (Agency),
the Attorney General,
or this Board as
to what factors should be considered when
negotiating and accepting
a penalty
(in this case,
a
“contribution”)
to be
imposed pursuant to a settlement
agreement.
If this enforcement action had been brought by a
State’s Attorney or
by the Attorney General
in the name
of the
people of the State
of Illinois, respondent could have been
assessed costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
llll/2,
par 1042(f).
I am concerned that the instant
“contribution” may not even cover
the Agency’s costs
and
fees.
Additionally,
the proposed settlement included no
information on the amount of money respondent may have saved
by
not complying with the Act and the Board’s regulations.
I must
point out that Section 33(c)
of
the Environmental Protection Act
was recently amended
to provide that
in making
an order or
determination, the Board shall consider
“any economic benefits
accrued by a noncomplying pollution source because of its delay
in compliance with pollution control requirements.”
P.A. 85—
0358.
That amendment was effective on September
11,
1987
—
well
before
the date of
the instant settlement.
Finally,
I am not comfortable with the characterjzation of
the payment
in this case
as
a “contribution”.
I
realize that the
settlement agreement makes no finding of violation of the Act,
but
I do not feel that the word “contribution”,
with its
connotations of a voluntary gift,
is
a proper part of
a
settlement agreement
of
a case which alleges the operation of
a
facility without a permit.
86—67
—2—
For these reasons,
I dissent.
Theodore ~eyer
Board Member
I, Dorothy M.
Gunn, Clerk
of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby certify tha
the above Dissenting Opinion was filed
on the
/~~—
day of
~
1988.
Dorothy
M.
Gurin, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control
Board
86—68