ILLI@OIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August 15, 1985

O1T~OF GENEVA,

)

Petitioner,

vs.

)

PCB 85—93

LLLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

INTERIM

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by R.

C.

Flemal):

By action of the Board

this day pursuant to Section 5.02 of

the

Illinois Administrative Procedure Act as provided in Ill.

Rev.

Stat.

ch.

11l~

par.

1027(c),

the Proposed Amendments to

Public dater Supply Regulations

(35

Ill. Adm. Code 602.105 and

602.106), docketed as R85—14,

have been enacted

as an emergency

rule.

The

emergency rule provision was invoked

to allow

temporary adoption of the provisions

of R85—14 pending ultimate

and permanent resolution of this matter.

The effect of the Board’s immediate action

is that for the

next

150 days,

no community may be denied an Agency permit

required for water main extensions

for the reason of delivering

finished water containing levels of fluoride, combined radium 226

and radium 228,

or gross alpha particle activity

in excess of

the

Board’s

regulations,

as long as the delivered water

has:

1)

a fluoride concentration less than or equal

to

4

mg/i;

and

2)

a combined radium 226 and radium 228 concentration less

than or equal

to 20 pCi/i;

and

3)

gross

alpha particle activity

(including

radium 226

but

excluding radon and uranium) concentration less than or

equal

to

60 pCi/i.

Moreover, any community whose only violations

are within the

parameters outlined above will not be placed on Restricted Status

during the 150 day period.

Thus, during this period water

main

extensions, previously denied under

35 Iii. Mm.

Code 602.105 and

602.106 solely because of fluoride, combined radium,

or gross

alpha

violations,

singly or

in combination and subject

to the

above limitations, will be permitted.

Petitioner

requested

variance from the Board’s combined radium and gross

alpha

r~gu1ations, but the Agency has determined that the level

of

gross alpha particle activity

in Petitioner’s water

is below

the

65-277

---

—2—

maximum allowable concentration.

Thus Petitioner does not

r~quirevariance from the gross alpha standard.

Regarding

combined radium,

because Petitioner’s delivered water has

levels

of combined

radium 226 and radium 228 greater than

5 pCi/l but

less than

20 pCi/l,

the Board notes that during

the 150 day

penclency

of the emergency rule Petitioner does not need the

variance

it has requested.

The Board further notes

that

if the Proposed Amendments

to

Public ~‘Jater

Supply Regulations are adopted as

a permanent rule

petitioner will have relief identical

to

its variance request

until January

1,

1989,

and Board consideration of

the requested

variance would

be duplicitous.

Due to the uncertainty regarding

the timeframe

for

final action on R85—14, however,

the Board

cannot definitively state that the amendments proposed

in R85—14

will

be promulgated by the end of the

150 day period.

It appears

to the Board that

in light these considerations,

Petitioner

has three options respecting

its pending variance

request.

First, Petitioner could move to withdraw its

petition.

Such withdrawal would be without prejudice,

and

Petitioner would

thereby retain the right

to refile the petition

at

a later

date.

Second, Petitioner could elect to waive the time for

decision on

its pending variance petition, thereby removing

the

deadline the Board faces regarding issuance of

a final decision

on

the petition.

The amount of time waived for decision,

if any,

is wholly

at the discretion of the Petitioner.

Either of

these

two options would afford Petitioner

the

opportunity to consider

a response appropriate

to the ultimate

resolution of R85—l4,

or

to such other actions as might bear on

Petitioner’s need for variance relief.

Finally, Petitioner could choose neither

of the options

described above and stand by its petition as presently filed with

the Board.

In that case,

the Board will take final action on the

petition within

the statutory 90 day decision period.

Should Petitioner desire either

to move for withdrawal

or

waive

the

time

for

decision,

it should do

so within 15 days from

the date of

this Order.

Since

the Board’s emergency rulemaking action will allow

water main extension permits to be issued

for the next 150 days

to developers operating within Petitioner’s community,

the Motion

for

Expedited

Decision on Request for Variance filed

by

Petitioner

on August

8,

1985

is hereby denied.

65-278

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—.~—

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I,

Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify

that. the

bove Interim Order was adopted

on

the

________________

day of

______________,

1985,

by

a vote

of

-1-c~)

)77.

Dorothy

M. Gunn, Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

65-279