ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September

27,

1990

PEOPLE OF THE STATE

OF ILLINOIS,

Complainant,

v.

)

PCB

90—104

(Enforcement~

L

&

B

WOOD

CORPORATION,

an

Illinois

corporation,

Respondent,

DISSENTING OPINION

(by

J.

Theodore

Meyer):

I dissent

from the majority’s

acceptance

of

the settJe~ent.

stipulation

in this case.

Although

the

proposed

settlement

agreement

states

that

respondent’s ncncompliance was economically beneficial

in that

it

operated its unpermitted equipment from December 1988 to April

1990

without

the

delay

of

applying

to

and

waiting

for

the

Agency

to

issue

permits,

there

is

not

any

specific

information

cm

the

ao.:unt

of

that

economic

benefit.

Section

33(c)

of

the

Environmeotal

Protection

Act

(and

new

Section

42(h)

(3),

as

contained

in

P.A.

86-

1363,

effective

September

7,

1990)

specifically

requires

the

Board

to

consider

any

economic

benefits

accrued

by

noncompliance.

believe

that

this

provision

contemplates

a

consideration

of

the

amount

of

the

economic

benefit,

not

just

a

statement

that

an

economic

benefit

was

realized.

Without

more

specific

information,

it

is

impossible

to

know

if

the

penalty

of

$3,000

even

comes

close

to

any

savings

realized

by

respondent.

Finally,

I

am

frustrated

that,

although

this

case

was

brought

in

the

name

of

the

people

of

the

State

of

Illinois,

there

is

no

recognition

that

costs

and

fees

could

have

been

assessed

against

respondent.

Ill.Rev.Stat.l989,

ch.

111

1/2,

par.

1042(f).

I

am

pleased

that

the

Attorney

General

is

beginning

to

bring

enforcement

cases

in

the

name

of

the

People,

but

I

believe

that

settlement

agreements

in

such

cases

should,

at

a

minimum,

recognize

that

the

Board

could

award

costs

and

reasonable

fees.

---

2

For

these

reasons,

I

dissent.

L~

C ~

u.J

Theodore Meyer

~

Bóard Member

I,

Dorothy

M.

Gunn,

Clerk of

the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby cer~fy that tc

above Dissenting Opinion was

filed

on tne

_______

da1

of

_____-

__________

,

1990.

Dorothy

M. Gunn,

Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

Ti 5-I 36