ILLINOIS POLLUTION
CONTROL BOARD
April 21,
1994
IN
THE MATTER
OF:
)
)
PETITION OF ACME STEEL
COMPANY
)
AS 94-8
AND
LTV
STEEL COMPANY
FROM
)
(Adjusted Standard)
35 ILL.
ADM.
CODE S302.211
)
ORDER
OF
THE
BOARD:
On March 24,
1994, Acme Steel Company
(“Acme”) and
LTV
Steel Company
(“LTV”)
filed a petition for adjusted standard
regarding their facilities located on the Calumet River in Cook
County, Illinois.
LTV’s facility is commonly referred to as
South Chicago Works and Acme’s facility is referred to as the
Chicago facility.
The petitioner’s are requesting an adjusted
standard from the General Use water quality standards for
temperature as it applies to the discharges from the facilities
in the Calumet River.
(35 Ill.
Ads.
Code
S302.2l1)
Section 28.1 of the Act authorizes the Board to dismiss the
instant petition at any time if it determines
that
the petition
is duplicative or frivolous,
or
that
the petitioner is not
pursuing disposition of
the
petition in a timely manner.
In
addition,
Board regulations at 35 Ill. Adm. Code 106.902
(a)
authorize dismissal if the petition is deficient with respect to
the requirements of 35 Ill. Ads. Code Sections 106.705, 106.706,
106.710 and 106.712.
Section 28.1 also requires th9 Board to conduct a public
hearing if th~
Uoard,
in its discretion, determines a hearing
would
b~
advisable or if the Board receives a request for hearing
from any person within 21 days of publication of public notice of
the filing of the petition.
An action before the Board is duplicative if the matter is
identical or substantially similar to one brought in another
forum (Brandle v.
RooD,
PCB 85-68, 64 PCB 263
(1985)).
An action
before
the
Board
is
frivolous if it fails to state a cause of
action upon which relief can be granted by the Board (Citizens
for
a
Better Environment v. Reynolds Metals Co., PCB 73—173,
8
PCB 46
(1973)).
A petition is deficient with respect to
35
Ill.
Ads. Code Sections 106.705,
106.706, 106.710 and 106.712 if it
omits any required information or lacks any required supporting
affidavits or proofs
as specified in those sections.
There
is no evidence before the Board to indicate this
matter is identical or substantially similar to any matter
brought in another forum, nor is there any evidence that the
Board cannot grant the relief requested.
At this time,
therefore, the Board finds that, pursuant to 35
Ill.
Ads. Code
2
103.124(a), the complaint is neither duplicative nor frivolous.
Since this action has just been filed, there is also no evidence
before the Board that petitioner is not pursuing timely
disposition of the petition.
Additionally, at this time there is
no evidence before the Board that the petition is deficient with
respect to 35
Ii..
Ads. Code Sections 106.705,
106.706, 106.710
and 106.712.
Finally, the petitioners published notice of their request
for an adjusted standard on March 21,
1994 as required by Section
28.1(d) (1)
of the Act.
On April 20, 1994 the Board received a
request for hearing from Chicago Legal Clinic within the 21 day
period to request a hearing in this matter.
Accordingly, this
matter shall proceed to hearing.
This is a type of case for which the Act prescribes no
deadline for decision, although as noted the Act requires the
petitioner to timely pursue disposition of the petition.
Therefore, hearing must be scheduled and completed in a timely
manner, consistent with Board practices and
35 Ill. Ads. Code
Part 101 and Part 106, subpart G.
The Chief Hearing Officer
shall assign a hearing officer to conduct hearings.
The Clerk of
the Board shall promptly issue appropriate directions to the
assigned hearing officer consistent with this order.
The assigned hearing officer shall inform the Clerk of the
Board of the time and location of the hearing at least 40 days in
advance of hearing so that public notice of hearing may be
published.
After hearing, the hearing officer shall submit an
exhibit list,
a statement regarding credibility of witnesses and
all actual exhibits to the Board within five days of the hearing.
Any briefing schedule shall provide for final filings as
expeditiously as possible.
If after appropriate consultation with the parties, the
parties fail to provide an acceptable hearing date or if after an
attempt the hearing officer is unable to consult with the
parties, the hearing officer shall unilaterally set a hearing
date in conformance with the schedule above.
The hearing
officer and the parties are encouraged to expedite this
proceeding as much as possible.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
3
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby cer ify that the above order was adopted on the
.=~.Z’-~--’--
day of
___________
,
1994,
by a vote of
~
—o
A.
Dorothy M. ~unn, Clerk
Illinois P~1lutionControl Board