ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 29,
1975
ALLIED METAL COMPANY,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 75—217
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
INTERIM ORDER OF TUE BOARD
(by Mr.
Zeitlin):
Petitioner Allied Metal Company
(Allied)
filed the instant
Petition for Variance on May 23,
1975,
seeking relief from
Rules 203(a) and 103(b)
of the Pollution Control Board
(Board) Air Pollution Regulations, and Section 9(a)
of the
Environmental Protection Act.
Ill. Rev.
Stat., Ch.
111 1/2,
Sec.
1009(a) (1973); PCB Regs.,
Ch.
3,
Rules 103(b),
203(a).
The Petition for Variance~in this matter is inadequate
for several reasons.
Petitioner fails in its Petition to comply with
the Board’s Procedural Rule 401(a) (iv), which requires an estimate
of the quantity and type of contaminants discharged.
In fact,
on page
4 of the instant Petition, Allied states that
“we have
never regarded our plant as not being in compliance.” On page
3
of the Petition, Allied states that,
“up until now there have been
emissions of certain particulate matter”, but nowhere does A1Iie-~
state the quantity or nature of such emissions.
Allied does state
t1~a
“your agencies” claim its equipment can exceed the emission standard
when operating at capacity,
although Allied’s calculations have
“always contradicted that position.”
Petitioner states quite plainly,
in Paragraph II, that
it does not believe it
is seeking a variance from the
applicability of any statutory provisions or rules or regulations
applying to emission standards from its plant.
They state that
they seek only a grant of sufficient time to achieve certain com-
pliance goals set out in the Petition.
The reason given for seeking
such a variance is
“to more than meet the requirements, without
the burden of having to defend a multiplicity of legal
action arising out of your offices, or out of the office of
the Attorney General.”
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221
—2—
While the purpose of a variance is,
in part, to provide
a shield from prosecution,
such a shield cannot be granted
in the form sought here;
that is to say,
in the form of
a
blanket permission to pollute where the Board is given no
indication of the quantity or quality of the pollutants to
be emitted.
The Petition herein plainly fails to comply
with Procedural Rule 401 (a) (iv).
Nor, does the Petition
meet the requirements of Rule 401 (a)
(v), requiring a showing
of the nature and extent to which present emissions fail to
meet the particular provisions from which the variance is
sought.
Further, the Petition in this matter wholly fails to
comply with the requirements for variances laid down in the
recent United Supreme Court decision of Train v. Natural Resources Defense
Council.
43 U.S.L.W. 4467
(April 16, 1975).
Under that
decision,
this Board cannot grant a variance absent a showing
that such grant will not result in a violation of the national
ambient air quality standards,
or a failure to maintain these
standards,
See, King-Seeley Co.
v. EPA, PCB 75-159
(April
24,
1975)
(Interim Order of the :B~ard); see also,
Great Lakes
Carbon Corp.
v.
EPA,
PCB 75-85
(Nay
22,
1975). No such
showing has been made,
or even attempted,
by Petitioner
Allied,
For the reasons stated above,
the instant Variance
Petition is inadequate.
Petitioner shall, within 45 days of
the date of this Interim Order, file an Amended Petition,
correcting the deficiencies noted above.
Failure to timely
file such an Amended Petition shall render this matter
subject to dismissal for inadequacy.
The 90 day decision
period set by statute shall run from the date of filing of
the Amended Petition.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Christan
L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board.hereby certify that the above Interim Order
~g’t”?
day of
_________________
Christan L. Moff
Clerk
ILLINOIS POLLUTIO
ONTROL BOARD
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222