ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

June

9,

1977

VILLAGE OF WATERMAN,

a

)

municipal corporation,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 77-83

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION

AND

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Young):

This matter comes before the Board on the variance petition

filed on March 16,

1977, by the Village of Waterman seeking

relief

from Rules

203(c),

402,

and 404(f) (1)

of the Water Pollution

Regulations

as regards phosphorus.

The Agency Recommendation

favorable

to the grant of the variance was filed on April

15,

1977,

and on May 26,

1977,

the Board granted the Agency’s Motion to

decide this matter without

a hearing.

The Board has previously dealt with many petitions

in which

relief was sought from the requirement of meeting the phosphorus

water quality standard.

Village of Argenta and Village of Cerro

Gordo, PCB 75-182, PCB 75-183,

18 PCB 152; Village of Strasburg,

PCB 76-28; Old Ben Coal Company, PCB 76-21; City of Hoopeston,

PCB 76-234.

The Village of Waterman is upgrading its existing

facilities and seeks

this variance to qualify for a lagoon exemption

and for funding assistance.

While the Village could qualify for

both the exemption and grant funds by providing the required phos-

phorus

removal, the Village states that this requirement would

impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship on the Village.

The Agency submits

that for many municipalities

it is not

technicr~

11 y f~u;ib~

o or economi

Cd1

1 y

c~on~b

I v

t o comply

wi th the

present 0.05 mg/i phosphorus water quality standards

(Rec.

3).

Con-

sistent with this belief,

the Agency has

filed a Petition for Regu-

latory Change

(R76—l) with the Board which would amend the regulations

by requiring only point sources which have 1500 or more population

equivalent and which discharge into impoundments of greater than

twenty acres to treat the wastewater

to a level not to exceed

1 mg/i

prior to discharge.

Because the Village’s present waste

load

is

less than 1500 population equivalent,

the Village will not be required

to provide any phosphorus removal if the regulation is

adopted as

uroposed.

25

—

737

---

—2—

As in the earlier cited cases,

the Board finds here that the

Village would suffer an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship if

required

to meet the 0.05 mg/i phosphorus water quality standard

and will therefore grant the requested relief.

This Opinion constitutes

the Board’s findings of fact and

conclusions of law in this matter.

ORDER

The Village of Waterman is granted a variance for its sewage

treatment facilities

from Rules

203(c),

402, and 404(f) (1)

of

Chapter

3:

Water Pollution Control Regulations as

regards phos-

phorus until June

1, 1982,

subject to the following conditions:

1.

This variance will terminate upon adoption by the Board

of any modification of the existing phosphorus water quality

standards and effluent limitations and the Village shall comply

with such revised regulations when adopted by the Board.

2.

Within

35 days of the date of this Order, the Petitioner

shall submit to the Manager, Variance Section, Division of Water

Pollution Control, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,

2200

Churchill

Road,

Springfield,

Illinois,

62706,

an executed Certifi-

cation of Acceptance and agreement to be bound to all terms and

conditions of

the variance.

The form of said certification shall

be as follows:

CERTIFICATION

I,

(We), ___________________________

having read

the Order of the Pollution Control Board in PCB 77-83,

understand and accept said Order, realizing that such

acceptance renders all terms and conditions

thereto

binding and enforceable.

SIGNED

TITLE

DATE

IT IS SO ORDERED.

25

—

738

---

—3—

I, Christan L.

Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were

adopted on the

~

day of

-~-ç~

,

1977 by

a vote of

~

Illinois Pollutio

ntroi Board