ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
    BOARD
    February 17,
    1994
    GRAHAM
    C-STORES COMPANY,
    )
    )
    Petitioner,
    )
    v.
    )
    PCB 94—68
    )
    (Provisional Variance)
    ILLINOIS
    ENVIRONMENTAL
    )
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    )
    )
    Respondent.
    ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by C.
    A. Manning):
    Pursuant to Section 35(b)
    of the Environmental Protection
    Act
    (Act)
    (415 ILCS 5/35(b)), Graham C-Stores Company has
    requested that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    (Agency) recommend that the Board grant a provisional variance to
    allow several of Graham C—Stores Company’s gasoline dispensing
    operations (service stations)
    to continue operating even though
    they did not install operational vapor recovery equipment by
    November 1,
    1993.
    Such request for a provisional variance and
    the Notification of Recommendation was filed with the Board by
    the Agency on Tuesday, February 15,
    1994.
    Pursuant to Section
    35(b)
    of the Act, the Board must issue the variance within two
    (2) days of this filing.
    Specifically, the Agency recommends that we grant Graham C-
    Stores Company a forty—five (45)—day provisional variance for
    five
    (5)
    of its facilities located in two
    (2) counties in the
    Chicago metropolitan statistical area from the Stage II vapor
    recovery requirements, as set forth in 35 Ill.
    Adju. Code 218.586,
    for the period beginning January 24,
    1994, and continuing for
    forty—five
    (45) days or until the required vapor recovery
    equipment is installed,
    whichever comes first.
    This recommendation is essentially that the Board extend a
    previously—granted provisional variance that expired December 15,
    1993.
    The docket number of the previous provisional variance was
    PCB 93-237, granted on December 2,
    1993.
    The Agency’s provisional variance recommendation states that
    Graham C—Stores Company has reqi’ested.a provisional variance on
    behalf of numerous of its service stations in the Chicago area,
    located as follows:
    CountY
    Number of Stations
    Lake
    3
    Cook
    2
    The addresses of those stations are listed as follows:
    2
    County
    City or Village
    Street Address
    Cook
    Niles
    7662 North Milwaukee Avenue
    Cook
    Niles
    8120 Oakton Street
    Lake
    Gages Lake
    33978 North Highway 45
    Lake
    Lake Zurich
    1 North Rand Road
    Lake
    Mundelein
    26951 North Highway 83
    Upon receipt of the request, the Agency issued its
    recommendation, notifying the Board that the failure to grant the
    requested forty—five
    (45)—day provisional variance would impose
    an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship on the petitioner.
    The
    Agency recommendation states that installation of Stage II vapor
    recovery equipment at the Graham C-Stores Company facilities is
    not possible by the November 1,
    1993 deadline for compliance
    because vapor recovery equipment and the crews necessary to
    install it were not available before the compliance deadline.
    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
    responsibilities in standard variances.
    ~
    415 ILCS 5/35(b)
    &
    36(c)).
    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 notifying the
    Board 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 218.586,
    subject to the following conditions:
    1.
    The term of this provisional variance shall commence on
    January 24,
    1994, and it shall expire on the date the
    petitioner completes the required installation of vacuum
    assist Stage II vapor recovery equipment, or after forty—
    five
    (45) days have elapsed, whichever comes first;
    2.
    The petitioner shall notify the Agency of the
    installation of the vapor recovery equipment,
    by sending
    notification addressed as follows:
    Mr. Terry Sweitzer, P.E.
    Manager, Air Monitoring Section
    Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    Division of Air Pollution Control
    P.O. Box 19276
    Springfield,
    Illinois
    62794—9276
    3
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Dorothy N.
    Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board
    do hereby certify
    the above order was adopted on the
    ,7zt
    day of _________________________,
    1994, by a vote of
    ~.
    Dorothy N. ~
    Clerk
    Illinois PoUution Control Board

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