ILLINOIS POLLUTION
CONTROL BOARD
March
8,
1q84
FORD
MOTOR
COMPANY,
)
)
Petitioner,
)
v.
)
PCB
83—105
)
R83—36
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
)
AGENCY,
)
)
Respondent.
ORDER
OF THE
BOARD
(by J.
0.
Dumelle):
This matter comes before
the
Board upon a December 23,
1983
motion to dismiss filed by the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency
(Agency) to which the Ford Motor Company (Ford) responded
on January 3,
1984.
The
Agency states that it is in agreement
with Ford that “when
the
Board adopted 35
Iii.
Ada.
Code
S215.204(a)(1)” in R70—3,—4,
“it relied on a mistake in the
record,” that mistake being that the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) based its Control Technique Guidelines
for surface coating on a 40
transfer efficiency rather than the
subsequently determined 30
efficiency
(see (JSEPA memos regarding
transfer efficiency in Ex. A of Ex.
A of Ford’s December 2,
1983
Amended Petition for Variance).
The
Board agrees that when R78-3,-4 was adopted, the limita-
tions of Section 215.204(a)(1) were intended to track the federal
guidelines and that those federal guidelines were
based
upon a
mistake of fact,
upon
which the Board,
in turn, relied.
The
Board further agrees that the simplest solution to this problem
is to allow the Agency to construe Section 215.204(a)(l)
consistently with the federal guidelines.
This is especially
true since the Ford plant ii the only plant affected by the rule.
Unfortunately, were the Board to accept. the Agency’s
position, the Board would be condoning the practice of allowing
effective rules to mean
something
other than what they say.
While
it is somewhat difficult to determine what is intended by
the present rules, the Board finds that Ford has properly
construed them,
and as such,
must
seek
variance or site—specific
regulatory
relief to avoid possible enforcement by the Agency or
any citizen.
In short, the Board
agrees
that
its
present
rule
was
based
on
inaccurate
information
and
should be reconsidered, and that
for a rule to be reconsidered,
a rulemaking is necessary.
The
Agency cannot simply ignore the rule or construe it as requiring
something other than what it requires.
57.17
2
The
notion
to dismiss is hereby denied.
It may be argued that this action elevates form over substance
However,
the
procedures for rulemaking established in the
Environmental Protection Act were established so that rulemakings
are subject to full public scrutiny and comments.
To grant the
Agency’s motion to dismiss would avoid this public oversight.
Even if the Agency’s substantive position is ultimately found to
be the correct one, the Board cannot condone improper procedures
to reach
the
desired result.
IT
IS
80
ORDERED.
I,
Christan
L.
t4offett,
Clerk
of
the
Illinois
Pollution
Control
B~rd hereby
certify
that
the
above
Order
was
adopted
on
the
8
dayof
______________,1984bya
vote
of
~-O
—.
C ristan L. Moffé~j~
Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
57-18