ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April
1, 1982
AMERICAN FLY ASH CO., et al.,
)
Petitioners,
v.
)
PCB 81—1.88
)
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by J.
Anderson):
On January 21, 1982 the Board dismissed this permit
appeal,
The Board
found that there was no valid permit over which the
l3oard could exercise jurisdiction, given the retroactive
application of SB 172
(P.A.
82—0682) to a permit granted
October 27,
1981 for what “the parties have impliedly assumed
without
briefing
is
a ‘new regional pollution control facility’”
as defined in SB 172
(Order,
p.
1).
On February 23,
1981.
petitioners filed a Motion for Rehearing,
which was supplemented
March 17, 1982.
The Agency has filed no response.
The Board
hereby grants petitioners’ motion, which it construes as a motion
for reconsideration.
Upon reconsideration, the Board vacates its
Order of January 21,
1982,
with the result that this action is
reinstated.
The Board need not reach the estoppel issue which was the
basis of petitioners’ original Motion,
as the new argument
contained in the Supplement that the site
is not a “new regional
pollution control facility” raises the dispositive issue.
The
Board had anticipated that the threshold question of whether the
site was a regional or non-regional one would be addressed in
the parties’ briefs in response to the Board’s December 17,
1981.
Order.
It was not.
The Board therefore accepted at face
value
the parties’
implied agreement that the site was a “regional
pollution control facility” as defined by SB
172.
The current motion for the first time argues that the site
is not regional.
It states that disposal site is located in an
unincorporated area of Tazewell County,
and is intended to serve
only one customer, the Commonwealth Edison Powerton Plant,
also
located in an unincorporated area of Tazewell County.
SubsectiOn
3(t) of the Act,
as amended by SB 172 provides in pertinent part
that a
46—21
2
“‘Regional Pollution Control Facility’
is any... waste
disposal site... that accepts waste from or extends
over the boundaries of any local general purpose unit
of government
...“
(emphasis added).
The Board notes that this action is one of three permit
appeals which were the subject of special Board consideration in
December, 1981 in the light of the enactment of
SB 172 with its
significantly altered permitting requirements, and the Board’s
90 day decision deadline.
On December 22,
1981 the Board made a
request to the Attorney General for an Opinion construing some
of the language contained in SB 172.
The Board’s request stated
its concern that
“Misclassification or conflicting classification of
affected facilities as “regional” or “not—regional”
by those involved in approval, permitting and appeals
during the siting process could lead to chaos,
especially considering the differences in the
entities and individuals involved in each process
and the statutory time limits
for decisionmaking by
the.entities involved with “regional” facilities.”
In his Opinion of February 18,
1982
(File No.
82—003), the
Attorney General states his conclusion that “local general pur-
pose unit of government’
includes only counties and municipalities”
(A.G. Opinion at 10).
Based on petitioners’ new argument and on this recent
statutory construction, the Board finds that the instant site
does not serve or extend over the boundaries of Tazewell County,
and further does not serve
a municipality within the borders of
thal
county (see A.G.
Opinion at 13).
Therefore, the site is not
a
“regional pollution control facility”,
and is not subject to
the dictates of SB 172 which became effective as to permits
concerning non—regional facilities November 12,
1981,
16 days
after the issuance of the permit whose condition is the subject
of this appeal.
This case was dismissed on the 52nd day after its filing.
As petitioners had waived the 90-day decision period for the 14
day period of a continuance
in a briefing schedule, upon
reinstatement there are 52 days remaining in the decision period.
Hearing shall therefore be scheduled and held as expeditiously as
is practicable.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify that the above Order was adopted on
the
)~
day of
~
,
1982 by a vote of
~/-o.
(I
34\ ~1.L_~±~4~
d
Christan L.
Moffeti
,
erk
Illinois Pollution
rol Board
46—22