ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
August 15, 1985
VILLAGE OF OS~1EGO,
)
Petitioner,
vs.
)
PCB 85—106
ILLINOIS 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.
lll’/2par.
1027(c), the Proposed Amendments to
Public water 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—l4 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/l;
and
2)
a combined radium 226 and radium
228 concentration less
than or
equal
to
20 pCi/l;
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
Ill.
Adm, Code 602.105 an~3
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.
Because Petitioner’s
variance request
is based on delivered water with combined radium
226 and radium 228 greater than
5 pCi/l but less than 20 pCi/l,
65-295
—2—
the Board
notes
that during
the 150 day pendency
of the emergency
rule Petitioner does not need
the variance
it has requested.
The Board further notes that
if the Proposed Amendments to
Public dater 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
deadl~nethe 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.
Eithe’~of these two options would afford Petitioner the
opportunity
to consider
a response appropriate
to the ultimate
resolution of R85—14,
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.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy M.
Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, herebj~certifythat the ~bove Interim Order was adopted on
the
/5~i~~
day of
~-i~,-t~-.-4-
,
1985,
by
a vote
of
7—O
.
Dorothy N. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
65-296