ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 2, 2002
UAP RICHTER COMPANY (McDonough
County) (Property Identification Number 08-
000-071-00),
Petitioner,
v.
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
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PCB 02-182
(Tax Certification)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by C.A. Manning):
On April 22, 2002, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) fled a
recommendation on whether the Board should certify certain facilities of UAP Richter
Company (UAP) as “pollution control facilities” for preferential tax treatment under the
Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-5
et seq.
(2000)). The Agency filed the recommendation
under Part 125 of the Board’s procedural rules (35 Ill. Adm. Code 125). The Agency
recommended that the Board issue a tax certificate for certain agrichemical containment
structures where the primary purpose is the elimination, prevention, and reduction of water
pollution. However, the Agency recommended that the Board deny a tax certificate for the
portion of the building over the minibulk and package agrichemical secondary containment
structure, stating that its primary purpose is to warehouse products for future use.
The Board is not ruling today on whether the portion of the building over the minibulk
and package agrichemical secondary containment structure is a pollution control facility under
the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-10 (2000)). Instead, in a separate order, the Board is
opening docket PCB 02-184 to address the Agency’s recommendation on this structure.
In this order, the Board first describes the legal framework for tax certifications,
discusses the Agency’s recommendation on the non-sanitary waste-related facilities, and
certifies them as pollution control facilities.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Under the Property Tax Code, “[i]t is the policy of this State that pollution control
facilities should be valued, at 33 1/3% of the fair cash value of their economic productivity to
their owners.” 35 ILCS 200/11-5 (2000);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.200(a)(2). “For tax
purposes, pollution control facilities shall be certified as such by the Pollution Control Board
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and shall be assessed by the Department [of Revenue].” 35 ILCS 200/11-20 (2000);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.200(a).
Under Section 125.202 of the Board’s procedural rules, a person may submit an
application for tax certification to the Agency. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.202. If the Agency
receives a tax certification application, the Agency must file with the Board a recommendation
on the application, unless the applicant withdraws the application. 35 Ill. Adm. Code
125.204(a). Among other things, the Agency’s filing must recommend that the Board issue or
deny tax certification. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.204(a)(4). If the Board finds “that the claimed
facility or relevant portion thereof is a pollution control facility . . ., the Pollution Control
Board . . . shall enter a finding and issue a certificate to that effect.” 35 ILCS 200/11-25
(2000);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.216(a).
AGENCY RECOMMENDATION
The Agency states that it received a tax certification application from UAP on April 9,
2001. Agency Recommendation (Agency Rec.) at 1. On April 22, 2002, the Agency filed a
recommendation on the application with the Board. The Agency’s recommendation identifies
the facilities at issue:
Two liquid agrichemical operational area containment structures;
Two bulk liquid agrichemical secondary containment structures;
One minibulk/package agrichemical secondary containment structure;
The portion of the building over one liquid agrichemical operational area containment
structure; and
One bulk liquid agrichemical secondary containment structure and associated collection
and recovery systems as approved under the Agency endorsed Agrichemical Facility
Permit No. 91120912 (Log No. 97014600). Agency Rec. at 1-2.
The Agency recommendation also identifies the location of the facilities: NE 1/4 of
Section 5, T6N, Range 4W of the 4th Principal Meridian, McDonough County. Agency Rec.
at 1.
The Agency recommends that the Board certify that the identified facilities are pollution
control facilities as defined in Section 11-10 of the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-10
(2000)) because the primary purpose of the facilities is the elimination, prevention, or
reduction of water pollution. Agency Rec. at 3.
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TAX CERTIFICATE
The Board finds and certifies that UAP’s facilities identified in this order are pollution
control facilities under the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-10 (2000)). Under Section 11-
25 of the Property Tax Code, the effective date of this certificate is “the date of application for
the certificate or the date of the construction of the facility, which ever is later.” 35 ILCS
200/11-25 (2000);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.216(a). Section 125.216(d) of the Board’s
procedural rules states that the Clerk “will provide the applicant and the Agency with a copy of
the Board’s order setting forth
the Board’s findings and certificate, if any
.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code
125.216(d) (quoting in italics 35 ILCS 200/11-30 (2000)). The Clerk therefore will provide
UAC, the Agency, and the Illinois Department of Revenue with a copy of this order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the
Board adopted the above order on May 2, 2002, by a vote of 7-0.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
