C~

FR~’S

~

J44N 13 2003

Su~fg

OF

~LLW~UI~

Pre-filed Testimony ofCynthia Skrukrud, Ph.D.

Pollution Control Board

Myname

is

Cindy Skrukrud. I am employed as the

Clean Water

Advocate forthe illinois

Chapter ofthe Sierra Club. I have reviewed

and

commented on

NPDES

permits for the Club

since

2000.

I firstbegan to study NPDES permits issued

in the Fox

and Kishwaukee

watersheds in 1996

while

employed by the McHeniy County Defenders, a county-based environmental organization.

I have participated in

commenting

on a number of

draft permits and

participatedin a

number

of

heirings ondraft

NPDES permits. This

is

true

although McHeniy County Defenders

and

the.

Sierra Club comment on

only a

small fraction ofthe

draft pennits that arenoticed, andhearings

on draft

NPDES permits are

fairly rare.

The Sierra Club, illinois Chapter, along

with

Prairie

Rivers

Network, isproposing amendments

to

Part

309

subpart

A ofthe

illinois

Administrative

Code

Title

35

EnvironmentalProtection Act

in

order to

better

ensure

full

public participation in the issuance of

NPDES pennits

in Illinois.

The

process

ofthe

issuance

ofNPDES permits

necessitates that

the illinois

EPA and

the

discharger

hold lengthy

discUssions

about the nature ofthe

proposed

discharge

in order

to

develop a draft

permit.

Consequently, a lot of

information

hasbeen exchangedbetween the

Agency

and

the

discharger

by

thetime

the public

receives

notice ofthe

proposal

to

issue

anew,

modified or reissuedpermit. In order to allow the public the

opportunity

to be

fullyengaged

in

the decision onwhether or not to issue a permit fora

given

discharge, the public

needs an

informativepublic

notice

ofthe draft permit

and access

to the complete

administrative

record

(“permit

file”

using

current illinois EPA terminology). The public should also

be

kept

informed

of

any

proposed changes inthe

draft

permit that develop prior to the Agency’sfinal decision to

issue

or deny the permit

Because the impact ofthe proposed discharge onthe

receiving waterbody

is

usually

the public’s

utmost concern, our

proposed

amendments require

that more

infonnation.aboutth~eceiving

watersbe

included

in

the

fact

sheet It

is

vitalthat the public.know the information about-the

receiving

waterthe Agency is

using

to

base its decision. Because members

ofthe public may

have more intimate knowledge ofa water

body than

the Agency does,.they

may

be able to

provide information aboutthe

waterbody and its uses, whichtheAgency lacks.This inforñ~ation

could

include

sitespecific

knowledge ofthe

use

of

the

water

body

by

children

(a

factor important

to

the

Agency1s consideration of

disinfection

requirements

in

the

pennit)or bLy endangeredand

threatened species

of

aquatic and

other

terrestrial

life.

The public needs to be able to fully

understand

the

conditions~f the

permit. That

the

public

has

the

opportunity

to

review and

comment onthe conditions that

will appear in

the

final

permit is

critical.

The public

must

be able to know about

and

comment

on

what will be

~discharge&the

limits

on the

discharge, and

how those

limits are to

be monitored. Over the

time period

forwhich

a

NPDES permit

is

issued

(typically

5

years),

the monitoring

requirements are

the only

means

by

which the public (and

the

Agency)

can

gauge the

impact

which the

discharge

ishaving on the~

I

---

receiving waterbody. A special condition that is not properly monitored under the permit is

just

a hollow promise.

The public shouldbe able to understand from the administrative

record

how

the

conditions inthe

draft permit were

derivedand how they will be monitored for compliance.

Any

significant

changes made in the draft permit after it

has

gone out for public review should

result

ina new

public

notice

ofthe modified permit detailing the changes which have

bçen

made.

The Illinois

Chapter

ofthe Sierra Club believes that the

amendmentsthat

we haveput forward

will allow the public to better

understand and

morefully participate in the review of

NPDES

peniiit issuance in

the

State ofIllinois. The proposed

amendments,

if

adopted, will

improve the

Illinois process, improve the public’s ability to participate in the process, improve illinois

permits

and

improve water quality.

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