ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    October 16, 1997
    CITY OF LOCKPORT,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 98-53
    (Provisional Variance - Water)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by C.A. Manning):
    Pursuant to Section 35(b) of the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5/35(b)
    (1996)), the City of Lockport (petitioner) located in Will County requests that the Board grant
    a provisional variance from 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.212 and 304.141(a), included in National
    Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES) No. IL0029611. Such request for a
    provisional variance and the notification of recommendation was filed with the Board by the
    Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) on October 16, 1997. Pursuant to Section
    35(b) of the Act, the Board must issue the variance within two days of this filing.
    The Agency, by and through its Director, Mary A. Gade, seeks a provisional variance
    pursuant to Section 35(b) of the Act (415 ILCS 5/35(b) (1996)) to allow petitioner to continue
    to operate its wastewater treatment facility while repair work is conducted on petitioner’s
    clarifier. The Agency recommends that the Board grant the requested provisional variance
    with specified conditions. The Agency agrees that the repairs are necessary. The Agency
    anticipates that the requested provisional variance would have minimal environmental impact
    on the receiving stream. The Agency is unaware of any public water supplies that the
    requested provisional variance would adversely impact. The Agency maintains that a grant of
    a provisional variance would violate no federal laws. The Agency believes that a denial of the
    requested provisional variance would create an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship on the
    petitioner.
    Specifically, the Agency recommends that the Board grant petitioner a 45-day
    provisional variance for its Will County facility from the ammonia nitrogen effluent discharge
    requirements, as set forth in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.212 and 304.141(a), included in NPDES
    Permit No. IL0029611. This variance period is recommended to commence on October 13,
    1997, and to continue for 45 days, or until repairs on the wastewater treatment plant are
    completed, whichever occurs first.
    Provisional variances are by their very nature temporary. The responsibilities of the
    Agency and the Board in these short-term provisional variances are different from the
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    responsibilities in standard variances. See 415 ILCS 5/35(b), 36(c) (1996). 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 that a denial of the requested relief would
    impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship, the Board hereby grants the petitioner a
    provisional variance from 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.212 and 304.141(a), included in NPDES
    No. IL0029611, subject to the following conditions:
    1.
    The term of this provisional variance shall commence on October
    13, 1997, and shall continue for 45 days, or until repairs on the
    wastewater treatment facility are completed, whichever occurs
    first.
    2.
    During the variance period, petitioner shall meet monthly average
    effluent concentration limits of 30 milligrams per Liter (mg/L)
    and daily maximum concentration limits of 45 mg/L for ammonia
    nitrogen. Petitioner shall also continue to meet the additional
    effluent limits as addressed in its NPDES Permit No. IL0029611.
    3.
    Petitioner shall operate its wastewater treatment facility during
    the term of this provisional variance in a manner that assures the
    best effluent practicable.
    4.
    The petitioner shall notify Al Gonzalez at the Agency’s Maywood
    regional office by telephone, at (708) 338-7900, when repairs and
    maintenance of the wastewater treatment facility have been
    completed. Petitioner shall confirm this notice in writing within
    five (5) days, addressed as follows:
    Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    Bureau of Water, Compliance Assurance Section
    Attn: Susan Davison
    1021 N. Grand Avenue East
    Springfield, IL 62702
    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 the
    above condition; the petitioner shall forward that copy within ten (10) days of the date of this
    order, and the certificate of acceptance shall take the following form:
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    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 98-53, October 16, 1997.
    ___________________________
    Petitioner
    ___________________________
    Authorized Agent
    ___________________________
    Title
    ___________________________
    Date
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    Board Member K.M. Hennessey abstained.
    Section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act (415 ILCS 5/41 (1996)) provides for
    the appeal of final Board orders to the Illinois Appellate Court within 35 days of service of this
    order. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 335 establishes such filing requirements. See 145 Ill. 2d
    R. 335; see also 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.246, Motions for Reconsideration.
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, hereby certify that
    the above order was adopted on the 16th day of October 1997, by a vote of 6-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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