ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    January 7, 2010
    FREEDOM OIL COMPANY,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 10-46
    (UST Appeal)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard)
    On December 28, 2009, Freedom Oil Company (petitioner) timely filed a petition asking
    the Board to review a November 23, 2009 determination of the Illinois Environmental Protection
    Agency (Agency).
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2008); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.300(b), 105.402,
    105.404. The Agency’s determination concerns petitioner’s underground storage tank (UST) site
    at 712 El Dorado Road, Bloomington, McLean County. For reasons below, the Board accepts
    petitioner’s petition for hearing.
    Under the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5 (2008))
    1
    , the Agency decides
    whether to approve proposed cleanup plans and budgets for leaking UST sites, as well as
    requests for cleanup cost reimbursement from the State’s UST Fund, which consists of UST fees
    and motor fuel taxes. If the Agency disapproves or modifies a submittal, the UST owner or
    operator may appeal the decision to the Board.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1), 57-57.17 (2008); 35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 105.Subpart D. In this case, the Agency denied reimbursement for certain costs
    because the request lacked sufficient supporting documentation and exceeded minimum
    requirements for activities at the Bloomington UST site. Petitioner appeals on the grounds that
    the requested reimbursement was “reasonably [sic], customary and necessary for the proper
    completion of site closure”. The petition meets the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    105.408.
    The Board accepts the petition for hearing. Petitioner has the burden of proof.
    See
    35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 105.112(a). Hearings will be based exclusively on the record before the Agency at
    the time the Agency issued its determination.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.412. Accordingly,
    though the Board hearing affords petitioner the opportunity to challenge the Agency’s reasons
    for its decision, information developed after the Agency’s decision typically is not admitted at
    hearing or considered by the Board.
    See
    Alton Packaging Corp. v. PCB, 162 Ill. App. 3d 731,
    738, 516 N.E.2d 275, 280 (5th Dist. 1987); Community Landfill Co. & City of Morris v. IEPA,
    1
    All citations to the Act will be to the 2008 compiled statutes, unless the provision at issue has
    been substantively amended in the 2008 compiled statutes.
    2
    PCB 01-170 (Dec. 6, 2001),
    aff’d sub nom.
    Community Landfill Co. & City of Morris v. PCB &
    IEPA, 331 Ill. App. 3d 1056, 772 N.E.2d 231 (3rd Dist. 2002).
    Hearings will be scheduled and completed in a timely manner, consistent with the
    decision deadline (
    see
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2008)), which only petitioner may extend by waiver
    (
    see
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.308). If the Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline,
    petitioner may deem its request granted.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2008). Currently, the
    decision deadline is April 27, 2010, which is the 120th day after the date on which the Board
    received the petition, December 28, 2009.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.114. The Board meeting
    immediately before the decision deadline is scheduled for April 15, 2010.
    Unless the Board or the hearing officer orders otherwise, the Agency must file the entire
    record of its determination by January 27, 2010, which is 30 days after the Board received the
    petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.410(a). If the Agency wishes to seek additional time to file
    the record, it must file a request for extension before the date on which the record is due to be
    filed.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.116. The record must comply with the content requirements of
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.410(b).
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, John Therriault, Assistant Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the
    Board adopted the above order on January 7, 2010, by a vote of 5-0.
    ___________________________________
    John Therriault, Assistant Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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