ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March 29,
1979
JOHN
M. BOAST,
INC.,
)
Petitioner,
)
v.
)
PCB 78—181
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION
AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Goodman):
On July
6,
1978, John
M.
Boast,
Inc.
(Boast)
an Iowa
Corporation,
filed its Petition for Variance before the
Board requesting relief from the Board’s rules and regula-
tions, Chapter
8,
Noise Regulations, Rules 203,
206,
and
207,
No hearing has been held in this matter,
and the Board
has received no public comments.
The subject of this Petition is Boast’s wood pallet
recycling facility located in the City of Champaign,
Champaign County,
Illinois.
The facility has an annual
payroll of $500,000 and employs 18 workers, most of whom are
unskilled
laborers residing in the neighborhood.
The area
surrounding the facility
is a mixed residential commercial
area.
During the pallet recycling procedure,
a number of
sources in the process create various types of noise which
result in violation of the allowable db(A)
sound levels.
In
its original recommendation,
the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency
(Agency) stated that
it had made efforts
to ascertain the views
of persons
in the area who might be
affected by the proposed variance and found reactions
to be
mixed.
On March
16, 1979,
the Agency requested leave to
withdraw its recommendation previously filed and requested
the Board’s
leave to substitute
in its place the stipulation
and proposal for settlement filed
in a companion enforcement
case, PCB 78-170 which was attached to the motion.
In
addition,
the Agency withdrew its request for hearing and
indicated that interested members
of the public have commented
on the compliance plan at the hearing
in the aforementioned
enforcement action,
The Board hereby grants the Agency
motion to withdraw its recommendation and cancel
the hearing.
The Board will consider the Stipulation and Proposal for
Settlement filed in PCB 78-470
in its deliberations
in this
case.
33—195
2
The Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement (Stipula-
tion)
indicates that the Agency filed
a complaint before the
Board in PCB 78-170 alleging certain
violations
of the
Board’s Noise Regulations.
In the Stipulation Boast admits
that
it has emitted noise from its pallet manufacturing in
excess
of the emissions allowed by Noise Rules
203,
206 and
207,
As a result of discussions between the parties, there
was agreement that the interests of the public and the
parties would be best served by resolution of the proceeding
without further litigation and under the terms and condi-
tions
of the proposed stipulation.
In the proposed settlement, Boast agrees that within
30
days
of the Board Order approving the settlement proposal
the company execute a repair and work rules program designed
to diminish sound emissions from the plant, particularly
after 10:00 p.m.
By May 15,
1979,
Boast proposes
to
install
sound baffling and automatic door openers
in the main building,
an
8’
high wood barrier on the north boundary of the property,
coverings between the building and trucks being unloaded,
and governors on the motors of the fork—lifts used
at the
facility.
By May 15, 1980 Boast proposes to seal the main
building and to install
an operative ventilation system
approved by the Agency.
The Board accepts
the Stipulation as the Agency’s
amended recommendation and agrees that the proposed com-
pliance plan is reasonable and will adequately protect the
public.
The Board finds
it would be an arbitrary and
unreasonable hardship on Boast to deny the variance and will
therefore grant Boast variance from Rules 203,
206 and 207
of the Board’s Noise Regulations until Julyl,
1980, under
certain conditions.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and
conclusions of
law of the Board in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that
John M,
Boast,
Inc. be granted variance from Rules
203,
206
and 207
of the Board’s Noise Regulations for its facility
located in Champaign,
Illinois until July
1, 1980 under the
following conditions:
(A)
John
M. Boast,
Inc.
shall execute the compliance
program set forth in paragraphs
9,
10,
11 and 12
of the settlement agreement filed in PCB 78—170
and included herein as the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency’s amended recommendation except:
any
extension of the term of this variance shall be by
grant of variance by this Board only.
33—196
3
(B)
Within
45 days of the adoption of this Order, John
Boast,
Inc.
shall
execute and forward to the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
2200
Churchill Road,
Springfield,
Illinois
62706
a
Certification of Acceptance and Agreement to be
bound to all terms and conditions
of this Order.
The 45 day period shall be held in abeyance during
any period this matter
is being appealed.
The
form of said certification shall he
as follows:
CERTIFICATION
I
(We),
____________________,
having read and fully
understanding the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board in PCB 78—181,
hereby accept said Order and agree to
be bound by all
of the terms and conditions thereof.
SIGNED_____
_____________
TITLE
_________________________
DATE_________________________
I,
Christan L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board,
hereby certify the above Opinion and Order
were adopted on the
c~&4’~”
day of
,
1979 by a
vote of.S—~
Christan L. Moffe~)~ler1c
Illinois Pollution Control Board
33—197