ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September 13, 1973

IN THE MATTER OF:

PROPOSED

AMENDMENTS TO OPEN

)

R73—7

BURNING REGULATIONS

OPINION OF TIlE BOARD (by Mr. Henss)

On May 17, 1973 the Illinois

Environmental

Protection

Agency

submitted Proposed Amendments to Chapter 2, Part V, of the

Illinois Air Pollution Control Regulations. Board Newsletter No.

66, and local newspapers gave notice of public hearings in Rock

Island on June 25, 1973 and Quincy on June 26, 1973. The Board

adopted the proposed amendment by a vote of 4—0 on June 28, 1973.

This opinion supports our adoption of the amendment.

The Amendments will allow the Agency to issue permits for

OIDCfl burning of certain types of relatively ‘clean’ wastes re-

sulting from floods, large storms or other similar disasters. As

foundation for its proposal, the Agency stated:

~‘Cataclysmic events such as the f1ooding recently

experienced through much of Illinois produce large

amounts of landscape waste, agricultural waste,

and debris from the destruction of buildings.

Cleanur after such disasters is a monumental task.

The property losses at such times can be enormous,

and, when cleanup costs are added, the financial

burdens can be truly staggering. Additionally,

the piles of debris awaiting disposal are unsightly,

an attractive nuisance and could provide harhorage

for vermin.t’

A key element of the new amendment is the requirement that

only those areas declared a “major disaster area” pursuant to the

U. S. Disaster Relief Act of 1970, Public Law 91-606, are eligible

for a disaster burning permit. Mr. Roy Brown, Illinois Division

of Waterways, testified that flooding in 1973 resulted in a declar-

ation that 49 Illinois counties were disaster areas and therefore,

eligible for Federal assistance under Public Law 91—606.

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According to M~.Brown, the Illinois Civil Defense Agency

has assigned to the Illinois Division of Water Resource Management

all responsibility for processing damage claims resulting from

clearance of debris and wreckage not on State highway right-of-

way. Each damage claim is jointly investigated by engineers from

the Division of Water Resource Management and the U. S. Army Corps

of Engineers in at least two field inspections. Based on past

experience, Brown indicated that collection of disaster debris

and transportation to a landfill for disposal was “at least twice

as expensive” as disposal by open burning (Quincy, R-8).

There was no opposition to the basic proposal. Approval was

expressed by the City of Des Plaines, the Moline and Madison

County offices of Illinois Civil Defense, the Moline Sanitation

Officer, the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Wood River

Drainage and Levee District, and the Coal Creek Drainage and Levee

District of Schuyler County. The only dissent came from those who

would have preferred still more relaxation of the Open Burning

Regulations. The City of Wheaton and the Rock Island Park Depart-

ment felt the Regulation should be broadened to allow permits for

open burning to be issued on the local level. Both the Moline and

Rock Island Park and Recreation Departments asked that the Regu-

lation also allow for burning in any area declared a disaster area

by the Governor or any mayor. Olin Brass of East Alton felt that

restricting the burning of building debris to “clean wooden”

building debris limited the usefulness of the Amendment and would

be unrealistic.

The record clearly did not support the inclusion of the Illi-

nois Disaster Relief Act in the Agency’s proposal. In fact, Roy

Brown testified that, to his knowledge, the Illinois Disaster

Relief Act is not used unless the U. S. Disaster Relief Act is

also invoked. Therefore, broadening the Regulation in this manner

would not actually broaden the use of this open burning procedure.

The EPA stated that permission for open burning following local

storms or local calamities is best handled by the established

variance procedure. We concur with the Agency on that issue.

In adopting these Amendments, the Board unanimously agreed

with the Agency that permits for open burning should be quickly

issued where a determination can be made that open burning of

“clean debris” resulting from a major disaster would not cause a

violation of the Environmental Protection Act. We believe that in

the majority of cases the effect of such burning on ambient air

quality will be miniscule when compared to the financial burden

experienced by those reauired to properly dispose of the debris.

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In addition, these Amendments will speed the clean up thereby

reducing the health hazard from vermin and reducing the risk

to children who play in such dangerous areas.

The Illinois EPA said that applications for disaster burning

permit would receive priority consideration. Indications are

that action on such applications can be taken within one day. This

cooperative attitude of the Agency will be of real assistance in

the early elimination of hazards caused by such disasters.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

dayBoard,~

her by certify1973thebyabovea

voteOpinionof

I

wastoadopted0

this

/3~’

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