ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
20, 1988
JEFFERSON SMURFIT CORPORATION,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 87—84
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by J. Anderson):
On August
19,
1988,
the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency (“Agency”)
filed
a motion
to dismiss.
On August
24,
1988,
Jefferson Smurfit Corporation
(“Smurfit”)
filed
a
response
in
opposition
to the Agency’s motion.
On September
8,
1988,
the
Board ordered,
in this Docket and
in the related docket, PCB 88—
112,
that the parties
simultaneously brief
the following
issues
in this matter:
1.
Whether
the
proceeding
Alton
Packaging
Corporation
v.
IEPA,
PCB
85—146,
currently
pending
in
the
United
States
Supreme
Court,
has
sufficient
nexus
with
the
instant
proceeding
to
remove
the Board’s
jurisdiction
to act here?;
and
2.
If
the
Board
does
have
jurisdiction
to
act,
whether
the theory articulated
in Caterpillar
Tractor
Co.
v.
IEPA,
PCR 79—180,
July
14,
1983
citing
Album,
Inc.
v.
IEPA,
P08
81—231
requires
the
Board
to
dismiss
the
permit
appeal filed
in P08 88—112?
On September
22,
1988,
the Agency filed
its “Response To
Board Order” contending,
in effect,
that
the Board’s September
8
Order requiring briefs
is not necessary under
its view of
the
case and that the Agency’s Motion
to Dismiss
is not factually
related
to the
issues for which briefing was ordered.
The
Agency’s response did not,
therefore,
attempt
to respond
to the
Board’s Order
in the form of
a brief of
the respective issues.
On October
17,
1988,
Smurfit
filed
a Motion
to Suspend
Further Briefing
on Jurisdiction; Smurfit essentially argues that
the issues raised
in the Board’s September
8 Order.are now moot,
93—173
—2—
insofar as
the United States Supreme court on October
11,
1988
denied Smurfit’s petition for
a writ of certiorari
from the
Board’s decision in Alton Packaging Corporation
v. Environmental
Protection Agency, P08 85—145 (“Alton case”).
The Board
notes
that the denial
of the writ of Certiorari
in
the Alton case appears,
indeed,
to remove the need for briefing
of the first enumerated issue
identified
in the Board’s September
8 Order.
It
is
not clear, however,
that,
as Smurfit contends,
the denial of
the petition for writ of certiorari necessarily
renders briefing of
the Board’s second enumerated
issue
a
“wasted” effort.
Even Smurfit acknowledges
(at page
4)
that “a
full examination
of these issues would take considerable
time and
resources”.
This being
the case,
it can hardly
be argued
that
resolution of
the issues are either self—evident or are
adequately addressed by
a single page
(page
3)
of the
Petitioner’s October
17, Motion, particularly where
the Agency
has not directly addressed
the
issue
at all.
The Board notes
that
on October
11, 1988,
the Agency,
in related docket POE 88—
112 did file
a responsive brief; however,
this brief could
not
and did not anticipate the denial of
a writ of certiorari
in the
lton case.
For the
reasons stated above,
the Motion by Smurfit is
granted
in part and denied
in part:
the Board’s Order
of
September
8,
1988
is hereby amended
to delete reference
to the
first enumerated
issue.
The parties
are directed
to file their
respective briefs not later than November
14, 1988.
Any reply
shall be filed not later than November
28,
1988.
Today’s Order
is not intended to impair the obligations for expeditious hearing
in any way.
The Board notes that
no hearing date has been set by
the Hearing Officer
in Docket 87—84 although
a hearing has been
scheduled
for December
7,
1988,
in Docket 88—112.
The Board will
rule
on the Agency’s Motion
to Dismiss
by separate Order
at
a
later date.
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 :~‘~(dayof
~
,
1988,
by
a vote of
7~0
~
/~
Dorothy M~Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
93—174