ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

November 20, 1986

IN THE MATTER OF:

)

TRADE SECRET DETERMINATION

)

PCB 86—146

FOR ABBOTT LABORATORIES

)

ORDER OF THE BOARD (by 3. D. Dumelle):

This matter comes before the Board upon a November 11, 1986

Agreed Amended Motion To Reconsider And Vacate And To Allow

Withdrawal Of Trade Secret Determination Request filed on behalf

of Abbott Laboratories. Abbott had filed a request for

determination of trade secret status regarding various documents

which had been filed with the Board

in

proceeding R86—10.

The

Board dismissed that request by order of September 11, 1986. The

basis for that dismissal was that it was procedurally improper

for such a request to be made when a similar request concerning

the same documents was already pending before the Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) which might later be

appealed to the Board. On October 16, 1986, Abbott filed a

motion for reconsideration, indicating that the Agency had

granted its request in part and denied it in part, but that

Abbott was attempting to reach an agreeable solution to the

matter with the Agency. The Board has, therefore, withheld a

ruling on the motion for reconsideration pending conclusion of

negotiations with the Agency.

Abbott has now reached an agreement with the Agency and the

Agency “will issue a new determination in accordance with the

agreement.” Thus, Abbott alleges that “there is no further need

for the Board to make a final determination on Abbott’s trade

secret determination request.”

However, Abbott fears that if the

Board were to simply deny reconsideration,

a third party might

argue that such dismissal constituted a denial of the request.

The Board does not agree that such an argument would prevail.

However, the Board has no reason to deny Abbott’s request that

the September 11, 1986, order be vacated and that Abbott be

allowed to withdraw its request, since the Board believes that

such request was improperly before the Board in the first

instance. Further, Abbott alleges that the Agency concurs in

that request.

The Board, therefore, upon reconsideration orders that its

September

11, 1986,

order is hereby vacated and the request for a

trade secret determination has been withdrawn. The Board will

continue to treat the material as confidential until such time as

any future determination is made.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

74-108

---

—2—

I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, her~bycertify that the above Order

was adopted on

the

C1~Z day of

~

1986

by a vote

of

____________.

~.

Dorothy M. Qunn, Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board