ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
February 25, 1993
ILLINOIS POWER COMPANY,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 93—36
)
(Provisional Variance)
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by J. C. Marlin):
This matter comes before the Board on receipt of an Agency
Recommendation dated February 23, 1993. The recommendation
refers to a request from Petitioner, Illinois Power Company for a
45-day provisional variance for its Randolph County facility from
opacity standard and mass emission limit, as set forth in 35 Ill.
Adm. Code 212.123 and 212.203, for the period from when
Petitioner begins the loading of medium sulfur coal into the Unit
1 coal bunker, and continuing for 45 days.
Illinois Power wants to burn Illinois medium—sulfur coal on
a trial basis. Illinois Power cannot estimate the emissions that
will result, so it has requested, and the Agency has recommended,
that the Board grant this provisional variance during the trial.
Upon receipt of the request, the Agency issued its
recommendation, finding that the failure to grant the requested
45—day provisional variance would impose an arbitrary or
unreasonable hardship on Petitioner.
The responsibilities of the Agency and the Board in these
short—term provisional variances are different from the
responsibilities in standard variances. See Ill. Rev. Stat.
1991, ch. 111½, pars. 1035(b) & (c). In provisional variances it
is the responsibility of the Agency to make the technical
determinations and finding of arbitrary or unreasonable hardship.
The Board’s responsibility is to adopt a formal Order, to assure
the formal maintenance of the record, to assure the
enforceability of the variance, and to provide notification of
the action by a press release.
Having received the Agency recommendation finding that a
denial of the requested relief would impose an arbitrary or
unreasonable hardship, the Board hereby grants Petitioner a
provisional variance from 35 Ill. Adm. Code 212.123 and 212.203,
subject to the following conditions:
0139-0635
2
1. The term of this provisional variance shall commence
when the Petitioner, Illinois Power Company, initiates
loading Illinois medium—sulfur coal at its Baldwin Unit 1
plant, and it shall expire after 45 days have elapsed;
2. The Petitioner shall notify the Agency when it begins
loading Illinois medium—sulfur coal at its Baldwin Unit 1 in
writing, addressed as follows:
Mr. Donald E. Sutton, P.E.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Air Pollution Control
2200 Churchill Road
P.O. Box 19276
Springfield, Illinois 62794—9276
3. Illinois Power shall submit a stack test protocol to
the Agency for Agency approval. The protocols should be
sent to the Agency’s permit section at the address provided
in paragraph 2 and the Agency’s offices in Collinsville. and
Maywood at the following addresses:
Mr. John Justice
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Air Pollution Control
2009 Mall Street
Collinsville, IL 62234
Mr. Fred Smith
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
1701 S. First Avenue
Sixth Floor
Maywood, IL 60153
4. Illinois Power shall submit copies of all stack test
data acquired during the test burn period. A copy of this
data should be sent to the Agency’s permit section at the
address provided in paragraph 2 and the Agency’s offices in
Collinsville and Maywood at the addresses provided in
paragraph 3;
5. Illinois Power shall conduct nitrogen oxides emission
testing following the guidelines of LJSEPA Method 7;
6. Illinois Power shall update the regional office in
Collinsville at the address provided in paragraph B on a
weekly basis concerning the progress of the sulfur coal
burning. If tests at full load indicate noncompliance,
Petitioner shall explore all possibilities, including
derating the unit and testing at a reduced load, during the
45-day period.
0 I 39-0636
3
7. The Petitioner shall execute a copy of a Certificate of
Acceptance of this provisional variance and forward that
copy to the Agency addressed as is the written notice
required in above condition 2; the Petitioner shall forward
that copy within 10 days of the date of this Order of the
Board, and the Certificate of Acceptance shall take the
following form:
CERTIFICATION
I (We),
hereby accept and agree to be bound by all terms
and conditions of the Order of the Pollution
Control Board in PCB 93-36, February 25, 1993.
Petitioner
Authorized Agent
Title
Date
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, do hereby certify that the~above order was adopted by the
Board on the ~
day of ~
~
,
1993,
by a vote of
~7~)
Dorothy M. nn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
0139-0637