ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
20,, 1988
JEFFERSON SMURFIT CORPORATION,
)
Petitioner,
v
)
PCB 88—112
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by 3.
Anderson):
On August
19, 1988,
the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency
(“Agency”)
filed
a motion
to strike.
Petitioner,
Jefferson Smurfit Corporation
(“Smurfit”)
filed no response
in
opposition to the Agency’s motion.
On September
8’,
1988,
the
Board
in this proceeding and in proceedings under docket PCB 87—
84,
ordered that
the parties simultaneously brief the following
issues
in this matter:
1.
Whether
the
proceeding
Alton
Packaging
Corporation
v.
IEPA,
PCB
85—146,
“Alton
case”)
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, PCB 79—180, July 14, 1983
citing
7~lburn,
Inc.
v.
IEPA,
PCB
81—23
requires
the
Board
to
dismiss
the
permit
appeal
filed
in PCB 88—112?
On September
22,
1988,
in docket PCB 87—84,
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
in
docket PCB 87—84
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.
However, on October
11,
1988,
in
this
Docket,
the Agency filed
its Brief
in Response
to Board Order.
In its brief,
the Agency contends that the Board does not have
jurisdiction, citing
the Board’s decision in Joliet Sand and
Gravel Co.
v. IEPA (PCB 87—55)
and the then—currently—pending
Alton case.
93—223
—2—
On October
17,
1988,
Smurfit filed
a Motion to Suspend
Further Briefing on Jurisdiction
in both dockets PCB 87—84 and
PCB 88—112;
Smurfit essentially argues
that the issues raised
in
the Board’s September
8 Order are now moot,
insofar
as the United
States Supreme court on October
11,
1988
(the same day that
the
Agency filed
its brief),
denied Smurfit’s petition for
a writ of
certiorari
from the Board’s decision
in Altori Packaging
Corporation
v.
Environmental Protection Agency, PCB 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 allin Docket PCB87—84 and
where the Agency’s brief
in this docket could not and did not
anticipate denial of certiorari
in the Alton 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 Strike 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~c’~-~day
of
~
,
1988,
by
a vote
of
7~
Dorothy M.
~y~nn,Clerk
Illinois P61’lution Control Board
93—224