ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December 14,

1994

IN THE MATTER OF:

)

)

LANDFILLS, WASTE TREATMENT

)

R94—34

AND

TRANSFER FACILITIES

)

(Rulemaking)

LOCATED WITHIN

100-YEAR

)

FLOODPLAINS

ORDER

OF

THE

BOARD

(by

C.

A.

Manning):

On

December

2,

1994,

the

Illinois

Environmental

Protection

Agency

(Agency) requested that the Board hold an inquiry hearing

on whether “landfills and other waste treatment and transfer

facilities should be located within a 100—year floodplain”.1

In

support of its motion, the Agency recites that:

1.

Currently in Illinois, hazardous and non—hazardous

landfills,

incinerators, surface impoundments, waste

treatment plants, waste transfer stations and several

other types of facilities can be located within 100—

year floodplains.

2.

Over 14

of Illinois’ total land,

or 7,400 square

miles,

is subject to flooding.

3.

It is estimated that over 250,000 building are located

in floodplains across the state.

4.

Floods are by far the most connnon natural disaster in

Illinois, accounting for well over 90

of declared

disasters.

5.

The current permitting process for landfills and

similarly situated facilities requires that the

facilities receive permits or sign-offs from the Corp

of Engineers,

the Illinois Department of Conservation,

and the Illinois Department of Transportation,

before

receiving a permit from the Agency.

6.

The Illinois Department of Transportation has found

there to be a higher risk of damage to facilities and

contamination to the environment when a facility is

located in the floodway portion of the floodplain as

opposed tothe flood fringe.

1

These facilities are currently regulated at 35 Ill.

Adm.

Code Subtitle G.

See e.g.

35 Ill.

Athu.

Code 811.102 “Location

Standards”.

---

2

7.

A floodway is the channel of a river or stream and the

overbank areas which during a flood carries the bulk of

flood waters downstream and where the water velocities

and forces are the greatest and most destructive.

8.

The Agency is concerned that the public health and the

environment could be threatened during a 100—year flood

from flooding of such facilities.2

The Agency requests that the Board hold a public hearing and

solicit public comment concerning four specific issues.

The

issues identified by the Agency are:

A.

What type of facilities need to be regulated or

prohibited from location within the floodplain?

B.

Should the entire floodplain be regulated or just the

floodway?

C.

Should just the 100-year floodplain be regulated or

also the 500—year floodplain?

D.

If the Board decides that facilities should be

regulated or prohibited from location within the

floodplain, then should the new regulation affect

currently permitted facilities or just new facilities

and expansions?

In response to the Agency’s motion, the Board today opens

this docket, and will assign a hearing officer to this matter.

While the Board will hold at least one hearing as requested, the

Board leaves to its hearing officer the establishment of a list

of issues to be addressed in written comments and a schedule for

submission of written comments in advance of hearing.

The Board

further leaves to its hearing officer the scheduling of pre-

hearing conferences and hearings as necessary.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

2

The affidavit of Assistant Counsel Melanie A. Jarvis

which accompanied the motion states that Assertion

1 of the

Agency’s motion is found in 35 Ill.

Adm. Code 700 ~

seq. and

that Assertions 2 through

7 are taken from FloodDlain Management:

Local Floodplain Administrator’s Manual, March 1993,

Illinois

Department of Transportation Division of Water Resources.

---

3

I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Boarc3~_herebycert~ythat the above order was adopted on the

~

day

of

__________________,

1994,

by

a

vote

of

/

I

Ac.

Dorothy M. G)4~n, Clerk

Illinois Poljfution Control Board