ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    June
    1,
    1995
    PEOPLE OF THE STATE
    OF ILLINOIS,
    Complainant,
    v.
    )
    PCB 94—201
    (Enforcement-Air)
    BECKER BROS.,
    INC.,
    a DELAWARE
    )
    corporation,
    and G. RAYMOND
    )
    BECKER,
    JR.,
    )
    )
    Respondents.
    CONCURRING OPINION (by J. Theodore Meyer):
    I concur with the majority’s acceptance of the stipulation
    and settlement in this case.
    However,
    I continue to be troubled
    by the absence of any mention of attorney’s fees and costs
    in
    these settlement agreements.
    Section 42(f)
    of the Environmental Protection Act
    (Act)
    provides that the Board may award costs and reasonable attorney’s
    fees in cases brought on behalf of the citizens of Illinois.
    (415 ILCS 5/42(f)
    (1992)).
    This section should be construed
    broadly,
    and penalties imposed pursuant to the Act should include
    reimbursement of all costs incurred by the Attorney General,
    including indirect expenses such as travel time, administrative
    support,
    printing, copying and overhead.
    After all, the time
    spent by complainant’s attorney in prosecuting this matter
    certainly could have been used to handle other matters.
    In this case, the complaint requests that the Board impose
    such costs and fees; however, the stipulation and settlement does
    not refer to this request,
    nor explain whether some percentage of
    costs and fees
    was
    figured
    into
    the
    penalty.
    I continue to
    believe that costs and fees should be pursued on behalf of the
    Illinois taxpayer, and urge the parties to bear this in mind in
    future negotiations in this case.
    In addition,
    the now common practice by state and local
    governments of charging a
    ‘user fee” to those who use
    a service
    (such as paying for photocopies)
    is certainly a cost that should
    be imposed on a party who has violated the Act.
    This case
    presented an opportunity to order the complainant to submit an
    affidavit of all costs,
    and
    I believe that the Board should have
    taken this opportunity.
    J.\
    ~heodore
    Meyer
    BoM~dMember
    2
    I, Dorothy N.
    Gunn,
    Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certify that
    e above concurring opinion was filed
    on the
    ~
    day of
    _______________,
    1995.
    Dorothy N.
    ,~/rnn,
    Clerk
    Illinois
    P16 lution Control Board

    Back to top