ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June
22, 1989
VILLAGE OF SAtJGET,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB
89—86
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by R.
C.
Fleinal):
On May 16, 1989, Village of Sauget filed
a petition for
extension
of prior
variance.
In addition,
the Board
received
objections
to grant
of variance on June
8,
9,
and 13,
1989.
On
June
16, 1989,
the Agency filed
a Motion
for Additional
Information Order.
Also
in its motion,
the Agency
in the
alternative
requests that this matter
be dismissed.
The portion of
the Agency’s motion requesting dismissal
is
denied.
The facts
and issues involving
a compliance plan which
the Agency
alleges constitute grounds
for dismissal
are
inextricably interwoven with issues
to
be examined
with
the
merits
of this petition.
However,
the Board
reserves ruling
on
the portion
of the Agency’s motion requesting additional
information until
a timely response
is
received or
the response
time has expired.
Due
to the strict time deadlines within which
the Board must
operate,
this matter
is accepted for hearing,
subject
to
cancellation depending
upon future action
on
the pending motion.
The Board’s procedural
rules
at
35 Ill. Adm Code
104.200
apply
in this
circumstance.
Section 104.200 states,
in part:
Section
104.200
Notice
of
Hearing
a)
The
Hearing
Officer,
after
appropriate
consultation
with
the parties,
shall
set
a
time
and
place
for
hearing
to
be
held
within
60 days
of the filing of the petition.
b)
The
Hearing
Officer
shall
give
notice
of
the
hearing
in
accordance
with
Section
103.123(b),
at
least
21
days
before
the
hearing
to
the
petitioner,
the
Agency,
and
anyone
who
has
filed
an
objection
to
the
petition.
100—269
—2—
Therefore,
the hearing officer must give notice of hearing
to the objectors.
Hearing must be scheduled within
14 days of
the date of this
Order and completed within 60 days of the date
of this Order.
The hearing officer shall
inform the Clerk of
the Board of
the
time and location of
the hearing at least 40 days in advance of
hearing so that public notice of hearing may be published.
After
hearing,
the hearing officer
shall submit an exhibit list and
all
actual exhibits
to
the Board within
5 days
of the hearing.
Any
briefing schedule shall
provide for
final filings
as
expeditiously
as possible and
in no event
later than 70 days from
the date
of this Order.
If after appropriate consultation with the parties,
the
parties fail to provide an acceptable hearing date or
if
after
an
attempt the hearing officer
is unable
to consult with the
parties,
the
hearing officer shall unilaterally set
a hearing
date
in conformance with the schedule above.
This schedule will
only provide the Board
a very short time period
to deliberate and
reach a decision before
the due date.
The hearing officer and
the parties are encouraged
to expedite this proceeding
as much
as
possible.
Within
10 days of accepting this case,
the Hearing
Officer
shall
enter
a Hearing Officer Scheduling Order governing
completion of the record.
That Order
shall
set
a date certain
for each aspect of the case including:
briefing schedule,
hearing date(s), completion
of discovery
(if necessary)
and pre—
hearing conference
(if necessary).
The Hearing Officer
Scheduling Order may be modified by entry of
a complete new
scheduling order
conforming with the
time requirements below.
The hearing officer may extend this schedule only on
a
waiver
of
the decision deadline by the petitioner
and only for
the equivalent
or
fewer number of days
that the decision deadline
is waived.
Such waivers must
be
provided
in writing
to
trie
Cloth
of
the Board.
Any waiver must be an
“open waiver” or
a
waiver
ot
deadline
of Section
104.180 regarding
filing
the Agency
recommendation by the equivalent number
of days,
but
in
any
circumstance
the recommendation must be filed
at least
20
d~~ys
before the hearing.
Because
of requirements regarding the publication of
notice
of hearing,
no scheduled hearing may be
cancelled unless
the
petitioner provides an open waiver
or
a waiver
to
a date
at iea~t
75 days beyond
the date of
the motion to cancel hearing.
This
should
allow ample time for
the Board
to republish notice
of
hearing
and receive transcripts
from the hearing before
tIie
ciu~?
date.
Any order
by the hearing officer
granting cancel~~itionof
hearing shall
include a complete new scheduling
order witn
a
flc?.~i
hearing date
at least
40 days
in the future
and
at least
30 days
100—270
—3—
prior
to the new due date and the Clerk of the Board
shall
be
promptly informed of the new schedule.
Because
this proceeding
is the type
for
which the Illinois
Environmental Protection Act sets
a very short statutory deadline
for decisionmaking,
absent a waiver,
the Board
will grant
extensions or modifications only
in unusual circumstances.
Any
such motion must set forth
an alternataive schedule for notice,
hearing,
and final
submissions,
as well as the deadline for
decision,
including response time
to
such
a motion.
However,
no
such motion shall negate
the obligation of
the hearing otficer
to
set
a date pursuant
to the fourth paragraph of this Order,
and
to
adhere
to that Order
until modified.
IT
IS
SO ORDERED.
I,
Dorothy
M.
Gunn,
Clerk
of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby certify that
the above Order
was adopted on
the
~~?!
day of _______________________,
1989,
by
a vote
of
7~
.
~
Dorotriy
Gunn,
Clerk’
Illinois Pollution Control
Board
100—271