ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November 16, 1995
    PEOPLE OF THE STATE
    )
    OF ILLINOIS,
    )
    )
    Complainant,
    )
    )
    v.
    ) PCB 96-80
    ) (Enforcement-Air)
    BEHR PRECIOUS METALS, INC.,
    )
    an Illinois corporation,
    )
    )
    Respondents.
    )
    DISSENTING OPINION (by J. Theodore Meyer):
    I dissent from the majority's acceptance of the stipulation
    and settlement in this case because I continue to be troubled by
    the absence of any mention of attorney's fees and costs in these
    settlement agreements.
    Section 42(f) of the Environmental Protection Act (Act)
    provides that the Board may award costs and reasonable attorney's
    fees in cases brought on behalf of the citizens of Illinois.
    (415 ILCS 5/42(f) (1992)). This section should be construed
    broadly, and a violator of the Act should reimburse the Illinois
    taxpayer for all costs incurred by the Attorney General,
    including indirect expenses such as travel time, administrative
    support, printing, copying and overhead. In addition, attorney's
    fees should include the indirect costs of health and life
    insurance. After all, the time spent by complainant's attorney
    in prosecuting this matter certainly could have been used to
    handle other cases.
    In this case, the complaint requests that the Board impose
    such costs and fees; however, the stipulation and settlement does
    not refer to this request, nor explain whether some percentage of
    costs and fees was figured into the penalty. Costs and fees
    should be pursued on behalf of the Illinois taxpayer, and I urge
    the parties to bear this in mind in future negotiations in this
    case.
    In addition, the now common practice by state and local
    governments of charging a "user fee" to those who use a service
    (such as paying for photocopies) is certainly a cost that should
    be imposed on a party who has violated the Act. This case
    presented an opportunity to order the complainant to submit an
    affidavit of all costs, and I believe that the Board should have
    taken this opportunity.
    ___________________________________
    J. Theodore Meyer
    Board Member
    2
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certify that the above concurring opinion was filed
    on the _______ day of ________________, 1995.
    ___________________________________
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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