ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    August 9, 1990
    WASTE MANAGEMENT OF
    )
    ILLINOIS, INC.,
    Petitioner,
    )
    PCB 90—40
    (Permit Appeal)
    v.
    )
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONNENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    )
    Respondent.
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (J. Marlin):
    This matter comes before the Board on a motion to withdraw
    documents dated May 31, 1990 filed by Waste Management of
    Illinois, Inc. (WMII). That motion requests that the Board
    “allow the withdrawal of all documents referenced in WMII’s
    Appeal of Permit Conditions filed March 20, 1990.” The Board
    dismissed the permit appeal by its order of May 10, 1990, in
    response to WMII’s May 4, 1990 motion for withdrawal of the
    appeal.
    The documents requested include a November 16, 1989
    application for supplemental permit, a August 9, 1989 technical
    report by a consultant, the February 13, 1990 letter from the
    Agency that granted the supplemental permit with conditions, and
    a February 26, 1990 application for an operating permit. WMII
    asserts that the technical consultant’s report includes business
    information that WNII considers confidential.
    The Board notes that WNII did not request protection of any
    of this information under 35 Iii. Adm. Code 120 when it
    originally filed it with the Board. As is customary practice for
    information not properly claimed as protected pursuant to those
    rules, the Board has distributed copies of the information
    submitted to each of its members. As is also customary for such
    information not properly claimed, the Board has imposed no
    restriction on internal copying of the documents, has not imposed
    restrictions on inspection and copying by members of the public,
    and has not kept track of any copies so made.
    Upon review of WNII’s request for withdrawal of the
    information it now claims as confidential, the Board encountered
    statutory provisions that might preclude return of the requested
    information. By its order of July 3, 1990, the Board requested
    that the parties brief the Board on issues relating to the return
    of the requested documents. These issues arise under the State
    Records Act, Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 116, par. 43.4 et seq.,
    and Section 7 of the Environmental Protection Act, Ill. Rev.
    Stat. 1989, ch. 111½, par. 1007. The Board ordered the parties
    114—47
    2
    to address the general propriety of a return of the requested
    documents and address a few more specific issues:
    1. The applicability or lack of applicability of Ill. Rev.
    Stat. 1989, ch. 116, par. 43.4 et seq., and Ill. Rev. Stat.
    1989, ch. 111½, par. 1007 to the documents at issue;
    2. Whether the Board can lawfully return the documents to
    WMII as requested in light of these statutory provisions;
    3. Whether a return of the documents is tantamount to
    “dispose” for the purposes of the State Records Act;
    4. How the Board could grant protection from disclosure in
    light of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 120 and the facts briefly recited
    above; and
    5. What the Board was to do with regard to copies made and
    distributed internal to the Board.
    The Board received the Agency’s response on July 12, 1990.
    The Agency states that it “has no objection to the Board either
    granting or denying the motion.” The Board has not received a
    timely response from WMII.
    For the foregoing reasons, the Board hereby denies
    withdrawal of the documents at this time.
    As to WMII’s claims of confidentiality for these documents,
    the Board hereby denies them any special protection at this time.
    WMII has not submitted a claim for protection pursuant to either
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 120 or 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.161. Further,
    WNII has not informed the Board how any information publicly
    submitted into the docket can retain any confidential status once
    it has been subjected to public inspection and copying.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board.~do hereby certify that the above Order was adopted on the
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    day of
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    ,
    1990, by a vote of
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    71.
    Dorothy M. GUnn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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