ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    February 2, 2006
     
    WESLEY BRAZAS, JR.,
     
    Petitioner,
     
    v.
     
    MR. JEFF MAGNUSSEN, president,
    VILLAGE OF HAMPSHIRE, and THE
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
     
    Respondents.
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    PCB 06-131
    (Third-Party NPDES Permit Appeal –
    Water)
     
          
     
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by N.J. Melas):
     
    On January 13, 2006, Mr. Wesley Brazas, Jr. filed a petition asking the Board to review a
    December 9, 2005 determination of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency).
    The Agency granted National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit No. IL
    0020281 to the Village of Hampshire for its wastewater treatment plant in Kane County. Mr.
    Brazas appeals on the grounds that the permit is “not sufficiently protective of the environment
    and not in accord with the law.” Pet. at 8. For the reasons set forth below, the Board finds the
    petition deficient, and requests more information from the petitioner before the Board can
    consider whether the petition is duplicative or frivolous or accept the matter for hearing.
     
    THIRD-PARTY APPEAL
     
    Section 40(e)(1) of the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5/40(e)(1) (2004))
    allows certain third parties to appeal Agency determinations to grant NPDES permits. The third
    party’s petition to the Board must contain:
     
    a demonstration that the petitioner raised the issues contained within the petition
    during the public notice period or during the public hearing on the NPDES permit
    application, if a public hearing was held; and
     
    a demonstration that the petitioner is so situated as to be affected by the
    permitted facility. 415 ILCS 5/40(e)(2) (2004);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code
    105.210(d).
     
    The petition also must satisfy the requirements of the Board’s procedural rules for service and
    filing under Part 101.Subpart C as well a the content requreiments of Section 105.210. Among
    other things, the petition must specify the grounds for appeal and include a copy of the issued
    permit. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.210(a), (c). The third party must file the petition within 35 days
    after the “date of issuance of the Agency’s decision.” 415 ILCS 5/40(e)(1) (2004);
    see also
    35
     
    2
    Ill. Adm. Code 105.206(b). If the Board determines that the third party’s petition for review is
    not “duplicative or frivolous,” the Board will hear the petition. 415 ILCS 5/40(e)(3) (2004);
    see
    also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.214(d).
     
    An action before the Board is duplicitous if it is “identical or substantially similar to one
    brought before the Board or another forum.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.202. An action before the
    Board is frivolous if it is “a request for relief that the Board does not have the authority to grant”
    or “fails to state a cause of action upon which the Board can grant relief.”
    Id.
       
     
    Only the Village of Hampshire, the permit applicant, may extend by waiver (
    see
    35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 101.308). If the Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline, the Village
    of Hampshire “shall be entitled to an Appellate Court order pursuant to subsection (d) of Section
    41 [415 ILCS 5/41(d) (2004)].” 415 ILCS 5/40(a)(3) (2004).
     
    THIS PETITION
     
    Mr. Brazas’ petition is clearly deficient because it does not include a copy of the issued
    permit. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.210(a). Accordingly, the Board cannot determine whether the
    petition was timely filed. Further, the petition does not include a certificate of service pursuant
    to Section 101.304(d). 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.304(d). As a result, the Board cannot determine
    whether both respondents, the Agency and the Village of Hampshire, were properly served. For
    these reasons, the Board cannot make a duplicative or frivolous determination until it receives
    the additional information identified above.
     
    The Board orders Mr. Brazas to file and properly serve an amended petition in
    accordance with the Board’s procedural rules including, the issued permit as well as the
    certificate of service. This amended petition must be postmarked no later than February 17,
    2006, or this matter will be subject to dismissal. The Board requires Mr. Brazas to act promptly
    to cure the deficiencies of the petition because a 120-day deadline applies to the Board’s decision
    should the Board accept the petition for hearing. Assuming Mr. Brazas’ original petition was
    timely filed on January 13, 2006, the Board’s decision deadline would be May 13, 2006, the
    120th day after January 13, 2006.
     
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
     
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
    adopted the above order on February 2, 2006, by a vote of 4-0.
     
     
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
     

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