ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    September 4, 2003
     
    LOWE TRANSFER, INC. and MARSHALL
    LOWE,
     
    Petitioners,
     
    v.
     
    COUNTY BOARD OF MCHENRY
    COUNTY, ILLINOIS,
     
    Respondent.
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    PCB 03-221
    (Pollution Control Facility
    Siting Appeal)
     
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
     
    On August 18, 2003, petitioners filed a motion asking the Board to schedule a visit to the
    proposed Northwest Highway Transfer Facility location, pursuant to 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.632.
    Petitioners assert that the ability of the Board to observe the site will assist the Board in
    understanding the testimony in the record. Mot. at 1. On August 22, 2003, McHenry County
    Board filed a response in opposition to the motion.
     
    In the response, McHenry County Board asks that the Board deny the motion for three
    reasons. First, McHenry County Board asserts that any site visit would constitute an improper
    de
    novo
    review of the decision by the McHenry County Board. Resp. at 1. Second, McHenry
    County Board argues that even though the Board’s rules allow for site visits, any such site visit is
    inappropriate, if not expressly prohibited in a proceeding, where the Board’s review is based on
    the manifest weight of the evidence.
    Id
    . Third, given time constraints in this decision deadline
    case, the request for a site visit should be waived as untimely. Resp. at 2.
     
    This case is before the Board on petitioners’ appeal of a denial of siting by the McHenry
    County Board for a waste transfer station. Section 101.632 allows the Board to make a site visit
    to establish a more comprehensive record. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.632. However, when
    reviewing a decision by a governing body to deny siting of a pollution control facility, the
    Board’s decision is based exclusively on the record before the McHenry County Board. 415
    ILCS 5/40.1(a) (2002). Only if there is a question regarding jurisdiction or fundamental fairness
    does the Board look outside the record before the governing body. In this petition for review, the
    petitioners only raise issues concerning the denial by McHenry County Board based on the
    criterion of Section 39.2 of the Act (415 ILCS 5/39.2 (2002)); therefore, the Board finds that a
    site visit would be inappropriate in this proceeding, and the motion is denied.
     
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    IT IS SO ORDERED.
     
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
    adopted the above order on September 4, 2003, by a vote of 5-0.
     
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
     

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