ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    March
    22,
    1990
    IN THE MATTER OF:
    )
    AMENDMENTS TO 35 ADM.
    CODE 501,
    )
    R90-7
    AGRICULTURE RELATED POLLUTION
    )
    (Rulemaking)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by R.
    C.
    Flemal):
    On January 29,
    1990,
    the Illinois Environmental Protection
    Agency
    (“Agency”)
    filed with the Board
    its Proposed Amendments
    to
    35
    Ill.
    Adra. Code
    501, Agriculture Related Pollution.
    This
    proposal was accepted by the Board for hearing at
    its February
    8,
    1990 meeting.
    Section
    27
    of the Environmental Protection Act
    (Ill. Rev.
    Stat.
    1987,
    ch. lll~par.
    1027)
    (“Act”)
    requires the
    Board,
    within 60 days of accepting a proposal for hearing, to
    determine whether an economic impact study
    (“EcIS”) should be
    conducted.
    That Section further allows a
    21 day comment period
    for any person to request the Board to determine that an EcIS be
    prepared or not be prepared.
    In this proceeding,
    the Board received a written comment
    filed March
    1,
    1990 from the Department of Energy and Natural
    Resources (“Department”) requesting that the Board determine that
    an EcIS not be prepared.
    As that comment states
    in part:
    The Department believes that a formal economic impact
    study
    is not necessary for the proceeding R90—7 based
    on the following reasoning:
    1.
    The Department believes that the proposed
    amendments are intended to clarify
    ambiguities
    in the existing rules by
    providing concise language and guidelines.
    Clarification of
    the rights and
    responsibilities of both the facility
    operators and neighboring residents would
    head off many complaints over facility
    siting and odor problems.
    2.
    The Department believes
    that negative
    impacts
    to livestock facilities,
    if any,
    would be offset by positive economic impacts
    to non—farm residences.
    AdditiQnally,
    the
    Department believes that positive economic
    impacts will likely result from Sections
    501.404(d)
    and 501.404(e).
    109—631
    —2—
    3.
    The Department
    believes
    that available data
    would
    be insufficient
    to assess the impacts
    of the proposed regulations.
    Existing data
    are not sufficiently detailed
    to
    assess the
    impacts due
    to the slight differences
    between the existing and proposed language
    in Section
    501.402 and Section 501.405.
    The
    Department
    feels that the
    cost of making
    a
    formal economic impact study would
    be
    economically unreasonable
    in relation
    to the
    likely value
    of the study
    to the
    Board
    Department
    Comment at
    1—2
    No other comments regarding the preparation
    of
    an EcIS were
    received during the
    21
    day statutory comment period which expired
    March
    1,
    1990.
    The Board further
    notes that the ~gency, in its Proposal
    of
    Amendments
    and Statement
    of Reasons,
    recommends that preparation
    of
    an EcIS
    is not advisable,
    due
    to its
    belief that the proposed
    amendments will not have
    a significant adverse economic impact
    upon potential affected facilities
    (Agency Statement
    of Reasons
    at
    14).
    After consideration
    of the above comments and the proposal
    for
    rulemaking,
    the Board presently believes that the
    presentation
    of economic information at hearing
    in this
    proceeding should
    he sufficient
    for
    the Board’s consideration of
    the economic
    impact of the proposed rule.
    The Board therefore
    finds
    that the preparation of an EcIS need not
    be conducted
    in
    this matter
    at this
    time.
    The Board
    notes
    that
    some of
    the
    issues raised
    in Department’s and Agency’s comments on
    the
    economics of the proposed amendments may
    be addressed
    by the
    Board
    in its determination of
    the merits
    of the proposal.
    The
    Board,
    in making this EcIS determination
    is
    in no way addressing
    those merits
    at this time.
    The Board further notes
    that Section
    27 of the Act further
    provides for
    the Board
    to change
    its determination that an EcIS
    need not
    be prepared under specific circumstances:
    ...any time prior
    to the close of the record during
    the rulemaking proceeding,
    the Board
    may determine
    that an economic impact study
    be prepared,
    if
    the
    proposal
    has been substantially modified
    or
    if
    information
    in the record indicates that an economic
    impact study would
    be advisable.
    IT
    IS SO ORDERED.
    109—632
    —3—
    I,
    Dorothy
    M.
    Gunn,
    Clerk
    of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board,
    hereby certify that
    the above Order was adopted on
    the
    ~
    day
    of
    __________________,
    1990,
    by
    a vote
    of
    7—0
    ~
    /,~,
    Dorothy M./Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois ~.-Po1lutionControl
    Board
    109—~33

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