ECEVED

CLERK’S

OFFICE

ILLINOIS

POLLUTION

CONTROL

BOARD

December

23, 2008

STATE

OF

ILUNOIS

IN

THE

MATTER OF:

)

Pollution

Control

Board

)

SECTION

27

PROPOSED

RULES

FOR

)

R07-19

NITROGEN

OXIDE

(NOw)

EMISSIONS

)

(Rulemaking

- Air)

FROM STATIONARY

RECIPROCATING

)

INTERNAL

COMBUSTION

ENGINES AND)

TURBINES:

AMENDMENTS

TO

35 ILL.

)

ADM.

CODE

PARTS 211

AND 217

)

HEARING

OFFICER

ORDER

In an

opinion and

order dated September

16, 2008,

the

Board

proposed amendments

to

its

regulations

governing emission

of nitrogen

oxides

(NOr)

(35 Ill.

Adm.

Code

201, 211, 217)

for

first-notice

publication

in the Illinois

Register.

The first-notice

proposal was based

on an

amended proposal

filed by the

Illinois

Environmental

Protection

Agency

(Agency)

on December

20, 2007.

The

proposal appeared

in the Illinois

Register

on

October

31, 2008. See

32

Iii. Reg.

17035-17104.

Under the Illinois

Administrative

Procedure Act,

publication

of

the proposed

amendments

began

a public

comment

of at least

45

days. 5

ILCS 100/5-40(b) (2006);

35 Ill.

Adm.

Code

102.604.

On December

12, 2008, the

Illinois Municipal Electric

Agency

(IMEA) and the Illinois

Environmental

Regulatory

Group (IERG)

filed an “Agreed

Motion for Extension

of Time”

to file

comments on the Board’s

first-notice

proposal

(Mot.). After noting that

the

45-day

comment

period

could end

as early as Monday,

December 15,

2008, IMEA

and IERG state that

they

have

been consulting

with the Agency and

the pipeline

participants in this

proceeding

in

order to

resolve issues relating

to the Board’s

proposal for first

notice.

See

Mot. at 1. The motion

indicates that

they

hope to

be

able

to reach agreement

on these

issues so that they

may file a joint

comment.

The Parties have

made significant

progress to

that end, but require

additional time

to finalize agreed-upon

language

and prepare

a joint

comment.

Id.

Specifically, the motion

requests

that

the First

Notice

comment period

be

extended

to January

31, 2009. Id. at 2.

In addition, the

motion states that

counsel

for

the Agency and the

pipeline

participants

“have

reviewed and consented

to the

contents of this

Motion.” Id. Finally,

the

motion also states

that the

Agency

and

the

pipeline

participants

waive

any

response.

See id.

Section

101.500(d) of

the

Board’s procedural

rules

provide

that,

[w]ithin

14 days

after service of

a motion, a party

may file a response

to the

motion. If no response

is

filed,

the party will be

deemed

to have waived

objection

to

the granting

of the motion,

but the waiver of objection

does

not bind the Board

or the hearing officer

in its disposition

of the motion.

Unless undue

delay

or

---

2

material

prejudice would result, neither

the Board nor the hearing officer will

grant any motion

before expiration of the 14 day

response period except in

deadline driven proceedings

where no waiver has been

filed. Parties may request

that the Board grant

more time to respond by filing a motion

for

extension

of

time.

The

45-day

First

Notice comment period in this

proceeding could conclude as soon as December

15, 2008. The

motion for extension filed by IMEA and

IERG indicates that the Agency and

the

pipeline

participants agree that

the comment period should be extended

to January 31, 2008.

Mot.

at 2.

The motion also notes that the Agency

and pipeline participants waive any response.

Id. Accordingly, allowing

the 14-day response period to

run would result in undue delay.

The motion

for

extension

filed by IMEA and IERG

is granted. Because January 31, 2009

falls

on

a Saturday, the first notice comment period

in this proceeding is extended to Monday,

February 2, 2009.

IT IS

SO

ORDERED.

Timothy

J.

Fox

Hearing Officer

Illinois

Pollution Control Board

100W.

Randolph St., Suite 11-500

Chicago,

Illinois

60601

312-814-6085

foxt@ipcb.state.il.us