ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June
9
,
1977
VILLAGE OF
KANSAS,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 77—109
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
This matter comes before the Board on the variance petition
filed on April
15,
1977,
by the Village of Kansas seeking relief
from Rules
203(c)
and 402 of the Water Pollution Regulations as
regards phosphorus.
An Agency Recommendation favorable to the
grant of the variance was filed on May ii,
1977.
The Board has previously dealt with many petitions in which
relief was sought from the requirement of meeting the phosphorus
water quality standard.
Village of Argenta and Village of Cerro
Gordo, PCB 75-182, PCB 75—183,
18 PCB 152; Village of Strasburg,
PCB 76-28;
Old Ben Coal Company, PCB 76-21; City of Hoopeston,
PCB 76-234.
Although the Village of Kansas, with
a population
of 779 persons,
does not presently have either a sewage collection
system or sewage treatment facilities,
the Village proposes to
install such facilities with the help of State/Federal funds.
The
Village seeks
this variance to qualify for a lagoon exemption and
for
funding
assistance.
While
the
Village
could
qualify
for
both
the
exemption
and
grant
funds by providing the required phosphorus
removal,
the
Village
states that this requirement would impose an
arbitrary or unreasonable hardship on the Village.
The
Agency
subnii.t~
that requiring
phOsphOrUS
removal
to the
0.05 mg/i level
is
technically
feasible
but
economically
unreasonable
(Rec.
2, par.
3)
.
Consistent with this belief,
the Agency has filed
a Petition for Regulatory Change
(R76-l) with the Board which would
amend the regulations by requiring only point sources which have 1500
or more population equivalent and which discharge into impoundments
of greater than twenty acres
to treat the wastewater to a level not
to exceed 1 mg/i prior to discharge.
Because the Village’s expected
waste load is only 779 population equivalent,
the Village will not be
required to provide any phosphorus removal
if the regulation
is
adopted as proposed.
25
—
767
—2--
As in the earlier cited cases,
the
Board finds here that the
Village would suffer an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship if
required
to meet the 0.05
mci/i
phosphorus water quality standard
and will
therefore grant the requested relief.
This Opinion constitutes
the
Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of
law in this matter.
ORDER
The Village of Kansas
is granted a variance for its sewage
treatment facilities
from Rules 203(c)
and 402 of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution Control Regulations as regards phosphorus until June
1,
1982, subject to the following conditions:
1.
Thi~variance will terminate upon adoption by the Board
of any modification of the existing phosphorus water quality
standards
and effluent limitations
and
the
Village shall comply
with such revised regulations when adopted by the Board.
2.
Within 35 days of the date of this Order,
the Petitioner
shall submit to the Manager, Variance Section, Division of Water
Pollution Control, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
2200
Churchill Road, Springfield,
Illinois,
62706,
an executed Certifica-
tion of Acceptance and agreement
to be bound
to all terms and con-
ditions of the variance.
The form of said certification shall be a~
follows:
CERTIFICATION
I,
(We), _____________________________
having read
the Order of the Pollution Control Board in PCB 77—109,
understand and accept said Order,
realizing that such
acceptance renders all terms and conditions thereto
binding and enforceable.
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
IT IS SO ORDERED.
25
—
768
—3—
I, Christan L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify
the above Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
_______
day of
~
,
1977 by
a vote
of ~
Q~L~1ffl~I~etL
Christan
L.
offet4~~~lerk
Illinois
Poliution’~~ntrol
Board
25
—
769