ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

February

3,

1994

TED HORTON CHEVROLET,

Petitioner,

)

 PCB 94—49

(UST Fund)

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

ORDER OF THE BOARD

 (by C.A. Manning):

On February 1,

 1994, Ted Horton Chevrolet (“Horton”)

 filed a

petition for review of an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

(“Agency”)

 final

 reimbursement

 determination

to

 access

the

Underground Storage Tank Fund. The Agency issued an invoice voucher

on December 21, 1993 accompanied by Attachment A which contains the

stated reasons for deductions,

 and the final reimbursement check

was

 issued

by

the

 Comptroller

 thereafter..1

The

 reimbursement

determination concerns Horton’s site located at

129

 East

 147th

Street,

 Harvey,

 Cook

 County,

 Illinois.

 This

 matter

is

 hereby

accepted for hearing.

The hearing

 must

be

 scheduled

and

 completed

in

a

 timely

manner,

 consistent

 with

 Board

 practices

and

the

 applicable

statutory decision deadline or the waiver provisions of

35

 111.

Adm.

 Code

 101.105.

The

 Chief

 Hearing

 Officer

 shall

 assign

a

hearing officer to conduct hearings.

 The Clerk of the Board shall

promptly

 issue

 appropriate

 directions

to

the

 assigned

 hearing

officer consistent with this order.

The assigned hearing officer shall

 inform the Clerk of the

Board of the time and location of the hearing at least 40 days in

advance of hearing so that public notice may be published.

 After

hearing,

 the hearing

 officer

 shall

 submit

an

 exhibit

 list,

a

1The

 Board

 must

 state

its

 reservations

 about

 the Agency’s

statement,

 on its invoice voucher, that “for purposes of appeal,

this voucher constitutes the Agency’s final decision as of the date

the check was issued by the Comptroller.”

 Given the past history

of the UST Fund,

 in which there have been long delays in payment

because

the

 Fund

was

 exhausted,

the

 Board

is

 concerned

by

a

scenario in which the Agency’s obligation to make a final decision,

which

 cannot

be

 amended

 (see

 Illinois

 Environmental

 Protection

Agency

v.

 Pollution Control Board

 (November 23,

 1993),

No.

 5—92—

0468), is extended while the invoice voucher is awaiting payment by

the Comptroller.

 also Guether v.

 IEPA,

 (February 3, 1994) PCB

93—232.)

2

statement

 regarding

 credibility

of

 witnesses

and

all

 actual

exhibits

to

 the Board

 within

 five

 days

of

 the hearing.

Any

briefing schedule shall provide for final filings as expeditiously

as possible and, in time—limited cases, no later than 30 days prior

to the decision due date,

 which is the final regularly scheduled

Board meeting date on or before the statutory or deferred decision

deadline.

 In this case, pursuant to Section 40(a) (2) of the Act,

the statutory decision deadline

 is June

1,

 1994;

 therefore,

the

decision due date is May 19,

 1994.

If

 after

 appropriate

 consultation

 with

the

 parties,

the

parties

 fail to provide an acceptable hearing date

or

if

 after

attempting to do so, the hearing officer is unable to consult with

 the parties, the hearing officer shall unilaterally set a hearing

date in conformance with the above schedule.

 The hearing officer

and the parties are encouraged to expedite this proceeding to the

extent possible.

This order will not appear in the Board’s opinion volumes.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I,

 Dorothy N.

 Gunn,

 Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Boar

 hereby cert

 y that the above order was adopted on the

day of

 1994,

 by a vote of

_‘7

—c~

/L~

Dorothy M. Gr~n,

 Clerk

Illinois PolMition Control Board