ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    April 27,
    1989
    CONTAINER CORPORATION OF AMERICA,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    P08 87—183
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
    )
    AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    ORDER OF TUE BOARD
    (by J. Anderson):
    This matter comes
    before the Board
    on the Joint Motion To
    Extend Briefing Schedule,
    filed with the Board on April
    25,
    1989.
    The parties recite
    in
    the motion that,
    pursuant
    to the
    Board’s Order
    of April
    6,
    1989,
    a hearing was held
    in this
    matter.
    Both parties have presented
    their
    cases
    and
    rested.
    issue
    is the appropriate briefing schedule.
    The parties
    at hearing requested
    the Hearing Officer
    to set
    a briefing schedule under which Petitioner would be allowed
    three
    weeks from the anticipated date of receipt of written hearing
    transcripts
    in which
    to file
    its opening brief,
    the Respondent
    would have three weeks
    for
    its response,
    and the Petitioner would
    have one week
    to reply.
    According
    to the Joint Motion,
    the
    Hearing Officer agreed this schedule would normally be considered
    reasonable but stated
    that, based
    on his reading of
    the Board’s
    April
    6 Order,
    he did not have discretion
    to allow such
    a
    schedule.
    Instead, the Hearing Officer
    set
    a very short briefing
    schedule,
    and ordered
    simultaneous briefs on or before May 9,
    1989, approximately seven working days after
    the transcript
    is
    expected.
    The parties request
    the Board
    to set
    a briefing schedule
    along
    the lines originally requested, with Petitioner’s opening
    brief due by May
    19,
    1989,
    the Respondent’s
    response due by June
    9,
    1989,
    and Petitioner’s reply due by June 16,
    1989.
    The
    parties state
    that this schedule would comply with the
    letter and
    the spirit of
    the Board’s April
    6,
    1989 Order,
    and contend that
    the Hearing Officer a~doptedtoo narrow
    a reading
    of that Order.
    The Hearing Officer correcLly interpreted
    the Board’s Order
    of April
    6,
    1989
    as favoring the prompt
    resolution of this
    case.
    Noting
    a history of unacceptable delay
    in this proceeding,
    the Board
    in that Order demanded
    that hearings be concluded
    as
    98—217
    —2—
    soon as possible and authorized the Hearing Officer
    “to take all
    necessary steps
    to ensure that the record
    in this matter
    is
    completed promptly”
    (p.
    3).
    Clearly,
    a briefing schedule that
    might be reasonable
    in the “normal” case may not be appropriate
    in a proceeding such as that before the Board
    in this docket.
    However,
    the Board will not require simultaneous briefs.
    ri
    abbreviated
    responsive briefing schedule from that requested will
    promote
    a prompt completion of the
    record while avoiding the
    “problems and confusions inherent
    in a simultaneous briefing
    situation” alluded
    to by the movants
    (Jt. Mt.
    at
    3).
    The rather
    more draconian measure of
    requiring simultaneous briefing remains
    a tool appropriate
    in some cases,
    as where
    a specific deadline
    for completion of
    the record
    or
    for final action
    is set by Board
    Order or
    by statute.
    In keeping with the goals espoused by the Board’s April
    6,
    1989,
    Order,
    the Board hereby establishes
    the following briefing
    schedule:
    a.
    Petitioner’s post—hearing
    brief
    May 12,
    1989
    h.
    Respondent’s responsive brief
    May 26,
    1989
    c.
    Petitioner’s reply brief
    June
    5,
    1989
    IT
    IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Dorothy
    N. Gunn,
    Clerk of
    the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board,
    hereby certi~~that the above Order was adopted on
    the
    ~7tZday
    of
    C.?-~
    ~
    ,
    1989, by a vote of
    7—_0_—.
    ~iL~L1
    ~
    Dorothy M.
    G(u~in, Clerk
    Illinois Pol-lution Control Board
    98—218

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