ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April 12,
1990
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
PETITION OF LACLEDE STEEL
)
COMPANY FOR ADJUSTED STANDARDS
FROM 35
ILL. ADM. CODE 302201
)
AS 90—3
302.208, 302.210, AND SUBPART
)
(Adjusted Standard)
F,
PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING
WATER QUALITY CRITERIA
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by R.
C.
Flemal):
This matter comes before the Board upon a motion to dismiss
Petitioner’s adjusted standard petition filed March 26,
1990 by
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (“Agency”).
On
April
2,
1990,
Petitioner filed
its reply
requesting that the
Agency’s motion be denied.
On March
5,
1990 Petitioner filed a petition for adjusted
standard with the Board
for relief
from Board regulations
governing mixing zones;
numeric standards for cyanide, cadium,
lead, chromium (hexavalent),
silver, and total dissolved solids;
and narrative standards and whole effluent toxicity standards,
as
those
rules were amended by the Board in
t:he Toxics Control
Regulatory Proceeding,
R88—2l(A)
(January 25, 1990,
effective
February 13, 1990).
In its motion,
the Agency requests the Board dismiss this
petition as “unripe, untimely,
and inadequate under
the
requirements of
35
Ill. Adm. Code 106.705.”
In support
of its
motion,
the Agency discusses several areas
in which it believes
the petition contains insufficient information,
including alleged
lack of information on compliance alternatives and corresponding
costs and efforts necessary
to achieve the proposed adjusted
standard and corresponding costs
as required by Section 106.705
(e) and
(f).
Petitioner challenges
the Agency’s contentions,
stating that
its
petition meets all regulatory requirements for petition
contents.
Petitioner points
to Section 106.705(1), which allows
that
for initially filed petitions,
a petitioner need not
fullfill an informational requirement which
it believes is not
applicable or unduly burdensome, provided that an explanation is
given
in the petition.
Petitioner then admits
that
it
did not
present any information regarding the cost of compliance
alternatives nor any costs of compliance with a proposed adjusted
standard, due
to
its desire
to
file the petition within the
statutory time frame for a stay of the effective date of the R88—
21(A)
rules, as provided by
Ill. Rev. Stat. lll~,par.
110—95
—2—
1028.1(e).
Petitioner submits that
it may develop the
information required under Section 106.705(e) and
(f)
in
conjunction with
its variance proceeding involving these same
regulations
(PCB 90—29),
and can provide information as
it
is
developed.
Laclede also states that since some of
the
requirements of
the new rules include actions
to be completed
in
the future,
such as determinations of mixing zones,
that
information can also be submitted as
it becomes available.
Laclede also recites some information that
it can currently
supply,
if so desired.
Lastly,
Laclede asks
in the alternative
that should the Board believe
that more
information
is
required,
that the Board
issue an order seeking more information
rather
than dismissal,
consistent with Section 106.705.
Upon review of the alleged deficiencies and response by
Petitioner,
the Board finds
the filing
of the petition
in this
instance
is indeed premature.
The Board
finds
it
is
riot
appropriate to order more information on this petition since
Petitioner admits that
it
does not presently have basic
information on costs and compliance alternatives and may not have
such information for some time
to come,
perhaps even after
studies are completed in September 1990
in conjunction with its
pending variance petition
(PCB 90—29).
Therefore,
were the Board
to request additional information,
there
is no date certain which
the Board could order and be assured of receiving the information
sought.
Lastly,
the impetus behind the filing of
this petition
without the information was apparently
to file within
20 days of
the effective date of the toxics control
rules
to achieve the
benefit of the automatic stay provided
in Section 28.1(e) of the
Act.
The Board notes that Section 28.1(e) provides for an
automatic stay of some newly effective rules
if
a petition for
adjusted standard
is filed within
20 days of the effective date
of the rules, but specifically excludes rules implementing
an
NPDES program.
The toxic control
rules implement an NPDES
program,
and can accordingly be stayed only by Order
of court.
The Board
finds
rio reason to keep this docket open indefinitely.
The Agency’s motion to dismiss
is accordingly granted.
The
Petition for Adjusted Standard filed March
5,
1990
by Laclede
Steel Company
is hereby dismissed.
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
Board Member J.D. Dumelle dissented.
~10—06
—3—
I, Dorothy M. Gunn,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby certify
that
the above Order was adopted on the
~
day of
~
~
,
1990,
by
a vote of
~
:~\
~
/
Dorothy M. ,,~unn,Clerk
Illinois pollution Control Board
110—97