ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    April
    6,
    1995
    IN THE MATTER OF:
    )
    )
    PETITION OF WASTE MANAGEMENT
    )
    OF ILLINOIS,
    INC. FOR AN
    ADJUSTED STANDARD FROM 35
    )
    AS 94-12
    Ill. Adm. Code Sections
    )
    (Adjusted Standard)
    807.665(b)
    and 811.714(b).
    )
    DISSENTING OPINION
    (by J. Theodore Meyer):
    I respectfully dissent from the majority’s order.
    The Board
    granted Waste Management of Illinois
    (WMI)an adjusted standard to
    the Board’s rule of general applicability for financial assurance
    found at 35
    Ill.
    adm. code 807.665(b)
    and 811.714(b).
    I believe
    that
    WMI
    has not established their position that allowing
    National Guaranty to provide its closure/post—closure insurance
    coverage will place the state of Illinois
    in
    a more secure
    financial position.
    National Guaranty
    is not licensed in Illinois and is only
    three years old, a fairly young company by insurance industry
    standards.
    In addition, National Guaranty is a subsidiary of
    WMI’s parent company,
    WMX
    Technologies,
    Inc.
    In effect,
    WMI
    is
    providing self—insurance,
    a situation which does not provide for
    proper checks and balances.
    Finally,
    in its response to the
    Petition for Adjusted Standard, the Illinois Environmental
    Protection Agency noted that some states where National Guaranty
    is licensed have notoriously lax licensing requirements for
    insurance companies.
    This statement indicates some degree of
    concern on the Agency’s part.
    Recent catastrophes in the financial world—-the failure of
    Britain’s Barings Bank,
    the default of California’s Orange County
    bonds, the collapse of the Mexican peso and the U.S. dollar’s own
    decline--all point to a lack of stability.
    Now is the time to
    err on the side of caution and avoid risks with citizens’ money,
    for it is the Illinois taxpayer who will suffer
    in the event
    National Guaranty fails to remain solvent.
    For the above reasons,
    I respectfully dissent.
    J.\~heodoreM~yer
    Boa’iJd Member
    2
    I, Dorothy M.
    Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board,
    hereby certify that the above dissenting opinion was filed
    on the
    7~-~
    day of
    ~
    ,
    1995.
    7/i
    ~
    ~U.
    ~
    Dorothy M. $nn,
    Clerk
    Illinois Poi/lution Control Board

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