ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    October
    6,
    1988
    IN THE MATTER OF:
    REVISION OF THE FLUORIDE
    )
    R88-13
    DRINKING WATER STANDARD;
    AMENDMENTS TO
    35
    ILL.
    ADM.
    )
    CODE 604.202
    AND
    604.203
    )
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by 3.
    Anderson):
    On April
    21, 1988,
    the Board opened this Docket for the
    purpose of modifying
    the public water
    supply regulations
    to
    establish
    a maximum contaminant level
    of 4.0 mg/i
    for fluoride,
    to achieve consistency with United States Environmental
    Protection Agency
    (USEPA) amendments
    at
    51
    Fed.
    Reg.
    11396.
    On
    August
    4,
    1988,
    the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    (Agency) filed
    a public comment which contained
    a draft of
    a
    proposal
    to modify the fluoride standard
    to achieve consistency
    with USEPA.
    This effort made apparent
    the difficulty
    of
    attempting
    to do this prior
    to adopting
    a comprehensive set
    of
    “identical
    in substance” regulations for the entire drinking
    water program.
    The reason
    is the interrelation between the
    standards
    and various sampling and notice requirements.
    P.A.
    85—1048
    (SB 1834), effective January 1,
    1989,
    requires
    the Board to adopt
    a set
    of regulations which are “identical
    in
    substance” with USEPA regulations adopted pursuant
    to the Safe
    Drinking Water Act.
    These will
    include the fluoride
    regulations.
    This rulemaking should be completed at least as
    quickly as would
    a rulemaking
    addressing only fluoride,
    because
    of the difficulties
    noted above.
    On September
    22,
    1988,
    the
    Board reserved
    a docket number,
    R88—26,
    for the Safe Drinking
    Water
    Act rules.
    Also, PA.
    85—1330
    (HB 4009), effective August 31,
    1988,
    mandates that the public water supply standard
    for fluoride shall
    be identical
    to the “enforceable maximum concentration limits”
    established by USEPA regulation.*
    The
    4 mg/i limit now
    *
    The relevant statutory language is:
    Sec.
    17.6.
    The maximum allowable concentration of barium,
    radium and fluoride in Illinois public water supplies shall
    be the enforceable maximum concentration limits promulgated
    from time
    to time by the Administrator
    of the U.S.
    Environmental Protection Agency
    to implement Sections 1401
    and
    1412 of the
    federal Safe Drinking Water
    Act,
    as amended.
    The Board notes
    that
    its barium and radium regulatory limits
    are compatible with the USEPA limits and will continue to be
    enforceable until and unless the USEPA promulgates
    regulations changing federal limits.
    —2—
    supersedes
    the Board’s existing more stringent fluoride
    regulatory limits of 1.8/2.0 mg/i
    (35 Iii. Adm. Code 604.202 and
    604.203(a))
    by operation of
    law.
    Thus,
    as of August
    31,
    1988,
    and assuming that fluoride is
    the water supply’s only contaminant
    at
    issue,
    and as long as
    fluoride is not above
    4 mg/i, variance relief
    is
    no longer needed
    from the Board’s standards or from 35 Ill. Adm. Code 602.105(a)
    Standard for Issuance
    (of an Agency permit).
    The Board also wishes
    to note that P.A.
    85—1330 also affects
    the Board’s “Restricted Status”
    rule,
    35 Ill.
    Adm. Code
    602.106.
    Section 602.106(a) defines restricted status as an
    Agency determination that construction permits may not be issued
    “without causing
    a violation of the Act or this Chapter”.
    As
    imposition of
    restricted
    status
    is linked to violation of the
    applicable “maximum concentration limits”, P.A.
    85—1330 has
    effectively raised
    the “restricted status limit”
    to 4.0 mg/l
    for
    fluoride.
    *
    For these reasons,
    R88—l3
    is dismissed.
    IT
    IS SO ORDERED.
    I,
    Dorothy M.
    Gunn, Clerk
    of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board,
    hereby certif
    that the above Order was
    adopted on
    the
    ‘Z day of
    ______________,
    1988,
    by a vote
    of
    7—’-’
    ~..
    /~
    Dorothy ~
    Clerk
    Illinois Pel.lution Control Board
    *
    The Board
    notes that this was one of the Agency’s goals
    in
    submitting
    its proposal
    in R85—i4,
    a predecessor docket which was
    dismissed when this docket was opened,
    relating solely to the
    restricted status rule as
    it pertains
    to fluoride and radium.
    93—110

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