ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December 2, 1993

BONCOSKY OIL COMPANY,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 93—238

(Provisional Variance)

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

ORDER OF THE BOARD (by C. A. Manning):

Pursuant to Section 35(b) of the Environmental Protection

Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5/35(b)), Boncosky Oil Company has requested

that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency)

recommend that the Board grant a provisional variance to allow

Boncosky Oil Company’s gasoline dispensing operations (service

stations) to continue operating even though it did not install

operational vapor recovery equipment by November 1, 1993. Such

request for a provisional variance and the Notification of

Recommendation was filed with the Board by the Agency on Tuesday,

November 30, 1993. Pursuant to Section 35(b) of the Act, the

Board must issue the variance within two (2) days of this filing.

Specifically, the Agency recommends that we grant Boncosky

Oil Company a forty—five (45)—day provisional variance for five

(5) of its facilities located in Kane and McHenry Counties in the

Chicago metropolitan statistical area from the Stage II vapor

recovery requirements, as set forth in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 218.586,

for the period beginning November 1, 1993, and continuing for

forty-five (45) days or until the required vapor recovery

equipment is installed, whichever comes first.

The Agency’s provisional variance recommendation states that

Boncosky Oil Company has requested a provisional variance on

behalf of numerous of its service stations in the Chicago area,

located as follows:

County

Number of Stations

McHenry

4

Kane

1

The addresses of those stations are listed as follows:

County

City or Village Street Address

Kane

Elgin

1725 West Larkin

McHenry

Algonquin

609 South Main

McHenry

Crystal Lake

451 Virginia Street

---

2

McHenry

Fox River Grove 400 Northwest Highway

McHenry

Woodstock

2025 South Eastwood Drive

Upon receipt of the request, the Agency issued its

recommendation, notifying the Board that the failure to grant the

requested forty-five (45)—day provisional variance would impose

an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship on Petitioner. The Agency

recommendation states that installation of Stage II vapor

recovery equipment at the Boncosky Oil Company facilities is not

possible by the Nov~mber 1, 1993 deadline for compliance because

Tokheim is in the last stages of CARB approval for vacuum assist

vapor recovery equipment for its gasoline dispensers, and that

equipment was not available before the compliance deadline.

Further, Boncosky Oil Company is awaiting Agency approval of a

corrective action plan. Installation of Stage II vapor recovery

equipment before the corrective action would mean its removal

when corrective action is undertaken.

Provisional variances are by their very nature temporary.

The responsibilities of the Agency and the Board in these short-

term provisional variances are different from the

responsibilities in standard variances. (See 415 ILCS 5/35(b) &

(c)). In provisional variances it is the responsibility of the

Agency to make the technical determinations and finding of

arbitrary or unreasonable hardship. The Board’s responsibility

is to adopt a formal Order, to assure the formal maintenance of

the record, to assure the enforceability of the variance, and to

provide notification of the action by a press release.

Having received the Agency recommendation notifying the

Board that a denial of the requested relief would impose an

arbitrary or unreasonable hardship, the Board hereby grants

Petitioner a provisional variance from 35 Ill. Adin. Code 218.586,

subject to the following conditions:

1. The term of this provisional variance shall commence on

November 8, 1993, and it shall expire on the date the

Petitioner completes the required installation of vacuum

assist Stage II vapor recovery equipment, or after forty—

five (45) days have elapsed, whichever comes first;

2. The Petitioner shall notify the Agency of the

installation of the vapor recovery equipment, by sending

notification addressed as follows:

Mr. Terry Sweitzer, P.E.

Manager, Air Monitoring Section

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Division of Air Pollution Control

P.O. Box 19276

Springfield, Illinois 62794—9276

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3

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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

Bo~rd, do hereby certify that the above order was adopted on the

~ day of

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,

1993, by a vote of

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Dorothy N. Gtirin, Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board