ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    August 24, 2000
    GENERAL MOTORS
    )
    CORPORATION,
    )
    )
    Petitioner,
    )
    )
    v.
    )
    PCB 01-14
    )
    (UST - Appeal)
    OFFICE OF THE STATE FIRE
    )
    MARSHAL,
    )
    )
    Respondent.
    )
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by S.T. Lawton, Jr.):
    General Motors Corporation (GMC) petitioned the Board to review a decision of the
    Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM). The petition alleges that the OSFM incorrectly found
    GMC ineligible for reimbursement from the Underground Storage Tank Fund regarding a facility
    located at 560 Bessie Coleman Drive in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. In this order, the Board
    addresses the sufficiency of GMC’s petition and rules on the motion of GMC’s counsel to appear
    pro hac vice
    .
    Under Section 107.121 of the Board’s procedural rules, petitioners must file their petitions
    for review with the Board within 35 days after the date of the OSFM’s “Eligibility and
    Deductibility Final Determination” letter. See 35 Ill. Adm. Code 107.121. The OSFM’s letter in
    this matter is dated June 13, 2000. Thirty-five days after June 13, 2000, is July 18, 2000. GMC
    mailed its petition for review on July 21, 2000, and the Board received the petition on July 25,
    2000. GMC did not file the petition by July 18, 2000, 35 days after the date of the OSFM’s letter.
    There is a rebuttable presumption that a petitioner receives the “Eligibility and
    Deductibility Final Determination” letter four days from the date indicated on the letter. See 35
    Ill. Adm. Code 107.121. GMC includes a copy of the OSFM letter with a handwritten note that
    states it was postmarked on June 21, 2000. GMC states that it received the letter on
    June 22, 2000, nine days after the date of the OSFM’s letter. If GMC received the letter on that
    date, then the petition could still be timely under 35 Ill. Adm. Code 107.121.
    Under 35 Ill. Adm. Code 107.122(f), GMC must document in its petition that it timely filed
    the petition with the Board. GMC has failed to do so. GMC must present stronger evidence, such
    as an affidavit and postmarked envelope, to rebut the presumption in Section 107.121 that it
    received the OSFM’s letter four days from the date of the letter.
    GMC must also request a location to hold hearing. See 35 Ill. Adm. Code 107.122(g).
    GMC never requested a hearing location in its petition for review.
    2
    GMC must address the petition’s timeliness and request a hearing location. The Board
    directs GMC to file an amended petition for review to address these informational insufficiencies,
    at which point the Board will determine whether to accept this matter for hearing. GMC must file
    the amended petition within 30 days of the date of this order or the Board will dismiss this matter.
    Lastly, the petition for review was accompanied by a motion to allow an out-of-state
    attorney to appear
    pro hac vice
    on behalf of GMC. Section 101.107(b) of the Board’s procedural
    rules states that “[a]ttorneys not licensed and registered to practice in the State of Illinois may
    request to appear on a particular matter on motion filed with the Board.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    101.107(b). Attorney Louis M. Stefano requests that he be allowed to appear before the Board on
    behalf of GMC. Stefano states that he is licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey, that
    he is in good standing, and that his law firm, Carpenter, Bennett & Morrissey, has represented
    GMC in matters similar to this one. The Board grants the motion to appear
    pro hac vice
    .
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, hereby certify that the
    above order was adopted on the 24th day of August 2000 by a vote of 7-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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