ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August

9,

1973

RE:

GRAIN

HANDLING

 REGULATIONS

)

 R72-18

INTERIM OPINION OF THE BOARD

 (by Mr. Henss)

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed amendments

to

 the Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations for the

purpose of relaxing the particulate regulations and onerating

permit requirements for farmers and commercial operators of

rural elevators and for some elevators located in municipalities.

The Rules to he amended were Part I, Rule 2(3

 (General Provisions)

and Part II,

 Rules 201 and 203

 (Emissions Standards and Limitations

for Stationary Sources).

 The Agency stated that ~investigation

reveals that the majority of the particulate emissions

 (due to

their size and density) would result in localized nuisance problems

as opposed

 to affecting suspended particulate ambient air quality

levels”.

The proposal was to exempt farm and rural elevators from

particulate standards for grain handling and feed processing

operations, hut to require in some cases simple housekeeping

procedures such as screening or the use of sleeves on snouts.

Under the EPA proposal, elevators located in

 a municipality would

not be required to add controls on grain dryers or grin~~ersuntil

after September

1,

1974

 (or September 1,

 1975 for smaller operations)

 Such elevators would be expected to use good housekeeping procedures

and to maintain existing control equipment in good working order.

Cook County grain elevators were not to be exempt from the regulations

under the first proposal.

The Agency proposed that farmers and the operators of existing

rural elevators not be remuired to obtain operating permits.

 Permits

were to be obtained for new rural elevators and all elevators

located in a municipality.

Hearings were scheduled

 to commence almost

 4 months after the

Agency filed its proposal, but the Agency and the Grain and Feed

Association jointly remuested a postponement of the first

 3 hearings

so that they might have more time to obtain data.

9—47

—2—

After the first hearing the Director of the EPA notified

this Board that “the Agency agreed to establish a Joint EPA-

Industry Task Force to develop substantive regulations

 for the

control of emissions from grain handling and conditioning

operations.

 The membership of the Task Force consists of

Agency engineers, representatives of the Feed and Grain Associ-

ation, farmers and grain elevator operators.

 The Task Force

has the approval of the Illinois Agricultural Association. The

Task Force has held three meetings to date and is actively

working

 to develop the necessary regulations as soon as possible.”

 The Director requested that we amend the regulations to extend

the date by which an operating permit

 is required for grain

handling and conditioning operations

 to September

1,

 1974.

“The Agency believes that this extension is necessary in order

to give the Joint EPA-Industry Task Force enough time to propose

new regulations covering grain handling and conditioning operations.”

(Letter of April

19,

 1973)

The Agency filed a formal request that its original proposal

be withdrawn.

This procedure was debated at the public hearings.

In

addition to the deadline for obtaining an operating permit

a

date for compliance with the Standard was discussed.

 Mr. Kissel,

a member of the Task Force, representing the Grain and Feed

Association recommended “that the compliance date for those

operations be extended to May 30, 1975 with an understanding

that if

 the Task Force can come up with

 a sooner compliance date,

that we will do so”.

 (Galesburg

R.

42)

Three hearings have now been held on the proposal.

 We will

not detail all of the evidence since the hearings are not complete

and we are not making a decision on the merits at this

 time.

Our decision was to postpone the effective dates of the

Regulation as it relates to grain handling and conditioning

operations,

 in order to give participants

 in the hearings more

time

 to come up with a new proposal.

 The Task Force believes

that it will have its best opportunity to come up with a compre-

hensive regulation if it can write on a clean slate,

 unburdened

with a regulation which might be applicable to some and not all

of the grain handling operators.

 We are willing to try this

approach and have therefore, extended the dates for operating

permits to September

1,

 1974 and for compliance with Rule 203

to May 30, 1975 for all grain handling and conditioning operations.

Upon final consideration,

 the obligation of obtaining

 a permit

or complying with the Standard may be eliminated for some and

retained for others.

 Those operators

who

remain subject to the

Regulation may finally be faced with permit or compliance dates

9 —48

—3—

earlier or later than the dates we now adopt in this Interim

Opinion.

 The action of the Board in this proceeding

 is inten~ed

to facilitate study by the Task Force and the development of

a

comprehensive program relating to grain handling.

 The dates

selected are for that purpose and are not to be regarded as

the

final dates

 for compliance with the permit requirement or the

emission standard.

Although grain handlers are relieved of their Rule

203

Standards for a while longer, we hasten to point out that this

is no license to pollute.

 The Environmental Protection Act states:

“No person shall cause or threaten to allow the discharge or

emission of any contaminant into the environment in any state

so

 as to cause or tend to cause air pollution in Illinois,

 either

alone or

 in combination with contaminants from other sources....

EPA

 Section 9(a)

 During this interim period grain handling

operations which cause air pollution as defined in the Statute

will be subject to prosecution.

 Grain handlers in populated

areas will have to be especially careful in their procedures

since the local impact of emissions

 is greatest in such an area.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify the above Opinion was adopted this

day of August,

 1973 by a vote of

to

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r

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9 —49