ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

June 17, 1993

ILLINOIS POWER COMPANY,    

)

Petitioner,

)

v.

)

PCB 93—36

)

(Provisional Variance)

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL    

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,       

)

Respondent.

ORDER OF THE BOARD (by C.A. Manning):

This matter comes before the Board on receipt of an Agency

Motion to Amend Board Order dated June 16, 1993. In the context of

a provisional variance, the Board construes this as an amended

Agency recoiamendation.

The Agency seeks to change the effective dates of the

provisional variance granted February 25, 1993. That order granted

the petitioner, Illinois Power Company 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 the 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. The Agency now asserts that it recently discovered that

the petitioner may not be able to burn as requested. The Agency

recommends that the Board grant the provisional variance

(presumably otherwise on the terms previously granted) so that it

expires on October 15, l993~if has not already been performed.

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. For this reason, the Board granted the provisional

The main body of the Agency’s filing twice states October

15, 1993. The prayer at the end states October 1, 1993. We

construe the October 1 date as a typographic error.

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2

variance on February 25, 1993, as recommended by the Agency,

despite the fact that the grant appeared open-ended on its face.

Also for this reason, we vacate that prior grant and grant another

provisional variance as recommended in the more recent amended

Agency recommendation of June 16, 1993.

Having received the amended Agency recommendation finding that

a denial of the requested relief would impose an arbitrary or

unreasonable hardship, the Board hereby vacates the provisional

variance granted the petitioner on February 25, 1993, and the Board

hereby grants the petitioner a provisional variance from 35 Ill.

Adm. Code 212.123 and 212.203, subject to the following conditions:

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, but in no

case later than October 15, 1993;

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 Nail 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

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in Collinsville and Maywood at the addresses provided in

paragraph 3;

5.  Illinois Power shall conduct nitrogen oxides emission

testing following the guidelines of USEPA 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,

the petitioner shall explore all possibilities, including

derating the unit and testing at a reduced load, during

the 45-day period.

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, June 17, 1993.

Petitioner

Authorized Agent

Title

Date

L~.3. — (1 1 9 5

4

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, do hereby certify that the 

aboV~

order was adopted by the

Board on the 

J7~1—~

day of ___________________________, 1993,

byavoteof 

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Dorothy M. Gur~i, Clerk

Illinois Po~./.1tion Control Board

01 L. 3 — UI 96