ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
December 20, 2001
AUX SABLE LIQUID PRODUCTS (Property
Identification Numbers 03-22-100-003, 03-22-
100-009, 03-22-300-011),
Petitioner,
v.
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
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PCB 02-72
(Tax Certification)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by C.A. Manning):
On December 10, 2001, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency)
recommended that the Board certify certain facilities of Aux Sable Liquid Products (Aux Sable)
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). In this order, the Board describes the legal
framework for tax certifications, discusses the Agency’s recommendation, and certifies that Aux
Sable’s facilities are 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 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).
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AGENCY RECOMMENDATION
The Agency states that it received a tax certification application from Aux Sable on June
14, 2001. Agency Recommendation (Agency Rec.) at 1. On December 10, 2001, the Agency
filed a recommendation on the application with the Board. The Agency’s recommendation
identifies the facilities at issue:
An in-line pH controller with automatic acid and caustic feed system, a 773,000
gallon retention pond with 2 feet of compacted clay liner covered by a 60 mil
HDPE liner with a working volume of 523,000 gallons, a baffled coalescing
oil/water separator rated at 400 gallons per minute with oil removal by vacuum
truck, a dechlorination unit consisting of chemical feed to the effluent lift station
sump and all necessary piping, pumps and appurtenances to treat an average of
450,000 gallons per day (gpd) and a maximum of 518,400 gpd of cooling tower
blowdown, water softener regenerant, cooling tower sidestream filter backwash
and cooling tower pumphouse floor drains tributary to the Illinois River, a
sanitary treatment system consisting of a package RBC unit which includes a
primary clarifier, final clarifier, chlorine contact tank, and the RBC with 3,704
square feet of filter media to treat an average of 2,000 gpd and a maximum of
4,000 gpd of sanitary waste water tributary to the Illinois River and a stormwater
treatment system consisting of collection system, bag filter, dual carbon filters
detention pond and oil water separator designed to detain a 10 year-24 hour storm
event with discharge to the Illinois River. Agency Rec
.
at 1-2.
The Agency’s recommendation further states that the water pollution control facilities
“treat process waste water prior to discharge.” Agency Rec. at 3. The Agency’s
recommendation also identifies the location of the facilities: Quarter Section 22, Township 34N,
Range 8E, Grundy County.
Id.
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 “eliminating, preventing, or reducing
water pollution.” Agency Rec. at 3.
TAX CERTIFICATE
The Board finds and certifies that Aux Sable’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 Aux Sable and the Agency with a copy of this order.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Section 41(a) of the Environmental Protection Act provides that final Board orders may
be appealed directly to the Illinois Appellate Court within 35 days after the Board serves the
order. 415 ILCS 5/41(a) (2000);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.300(d)(2), 101.906, 102.706.
Illinois Supreme Court Rule 335 establishes filing requirements that apply when the Illinois
Appellate Court, by statute, directly reviews administrative orders. 172 Ill. 2d R. 335. The
Board’s procedural rules provide that motions for the Board to reconsider or modify its final
orders may be filed with the Board within 35 days after the order is received. 35 Ill. Adm. Code
101.520;
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.902, 102.700, 102.702.
I Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
adopted the above order on December 20, 2001, by a vote of 7-0.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
