ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November 6, 1997
    CDT LANDFILL CORPORATION,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    CITY OF JOLIET,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 98-60
    (Pollution Control Facility
    Siting Appeal)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by C.A. Manning):
    This matter is before the Board on an appeal filed pursuant to Section 40.1(a) of the
    Environmental Protection Act (Act)
    (415 ILCS 5/40.1(a) (1996))
    on October 20, 1997, by
    CDT Landfill Corporation (CDT) from the October 7, 1997, decision of the City of Joliet
    denying local siting approval for CDT’s pollution control facility, located in Will County,
    Illinois.
    The cited section of the Act generally requires the Board to decide the instant petition
    within 120 days of filing (unless the petitioner files a waiver of the statutory decision deadline
    pursuant to 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.105). This matter is accepted for hearing.
    RECORD BEFORE THE CITY OF JOLIET
    P.A. 82-682, also known as SB-172, as codified in Section 40.1(a) of the Act
    (415
    ILCS 5/40.1(a) (1996))
    , provides that the hearing before the Board is to “be based exclusively
    on the record before the county board or governing body of the municipality.” The statute
    does not specify who is to file with the Board such record or who is to certify to the
    completeness or correctness of the record.
    As the City of Joliet alone can verify and certify what exactly is the entire record
    before it, in the interest of protecting the rights of all parties to this action, and in order to
    satisfy the intention of SB-172, the Board believes that the City of Joliet must be the party to
    prepare and file the record on appeal. The Board suggests that guidance in so doing can be
    had by referring to Rules 321 through 324 of the Illinois Supreme Court Rules.
    107 Ill. 2d R.
    321-324.
    The record shall contain legible versions of all documents, transcripts, and exhibits
    deemed to pertain to this proceeding from initial filing through and including final action by
    the local government body. The record shall contain the originals of all documents and shall
    be sequentially numbered, placing the letter “C” before the number of each page. In addition
    to the actual documents which comprise the record, the Clerk of the City of Joliet shall also
    prepare a document entitled “Certificate of Record on Appeal” which shall be an index of the
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    record that lists the documents comprising the record and shows the page numbers upon which
    they start and end. Seven copies of the certificate, seven copies of the transcript of the City of
    Joliet hearing, and three copies of any other documents in the record shall be filed with the
    Board, and a copy of the certificate shall be served upon the petitioner. The Clerk of the City
    of Joliet is given 21 days from the date of this order to “prepare, bind, and certify the record
    on appeal” (
    107 Ill. 2d R. 324
    ). If the record is not legible, is not sequentially numbered, or
    fails to include an appropriate index of record, the Clerk of the Pollution Control Board may
    refuse to accept the document for filing.
    WAIVER OF DECISION DEADLINE
    Section 40.1(a) of the Act
    (415 ILCS 5/40.1(a) (1996))
    provides that if there is no final
    action by the Board within 120 days, petitioner may deem the site location approved.
    The Board has construed identical “in accordance with the terms of” language
    contained in Section 40(b) of the Act
    (415 ILCS 5/40(b) (1996))
    concerning third-party appeals
    of the grant of hazardous waste landfill permits as giving the person who had requested the
    permit: (a) the right to a decision within the applicable statutory timeframe (now 120 days),
    and (b) the right to waive (extend) the decision period (Alliance for a Safe Environment, et al.
    v. Akron Land Corp. et al. PCB 80-184, October 30, 1980). The Board therefore construes
    Section 40.1(b) of the Act
    (415 ILCS 5/
    40.1(b)
    (1996))
    in like manner, with the result that
    failure of this Board to act in 120 days would allow the site location applicant to deem the site
    location approved. Pursuant to Section 105.104 of the Procedural Rules (35 Ill. Adm. Code
    105.104), it is each party’s responsibility to pursue its action, and to insist that a hearing on
    the petition is timely scheduled in order to allow the Board to review the record and to render
    its decision within 120 days of the filing of the petition.
    TRANSCRIPTION COSTS
    The issue of who has the burden of providing transcription in Board site location
    suitability appeals has been addressed in Town of Ottawa, et al. v. IPCB, et al., 129 Ill. App.
    3rd, 472 N.E.2d 150 (3rd District, 1984). In that case, the court ordered the Board to assume
    transcription costs (Ottawa, 472 N.E.2d at 155). The Illinois Supreme Court denied leave to
    appeal on March 14, 1985. In cognizance of this ruling, the Board will provide for
    stenographic transcription of the Board hearing in this matter.
    SCHEDULING AND CONDUCT OF HEARING
    The hearing must be scheduled and completed in a timely manner, consistent with
    Board practices and the applicable statutory decision deadline, or the decision deadline as
    extended by a waiver. (Petitioner may file a waiver of the statutory decision deadline pursuant
    to 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.105.) The Board will assign a hearing officer to conduct hearings
    consistent with this order, and the Clerk of the Board shall promptly issue appropriate
    directions to that assigned hearing officer.
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    The assigned hearing officer shall inform the Clerk of the Board of the time and
    location of he hearing at least 30 days in advance of hearing so that a 21-day public notice of
    hearing may be published. After hearing, the hearing officer shall submit an exhibit list, a
    statement regarding credibility of witnesses, and all actual exhibits to the Board within five
    days of the hearing. Any briefing schedule shall provide for final filings as expeditiously as
    possible and, in time-limited cases, no later than 30 days prior to the decision due date, which
    is the final regularly scheduled Board meeting date on or before the statutory or deferred
    decision deadline. Absent any future waivers of the decision deadline, the statutory decision
    deadline is now February 17, 1998 (120 days from October 20, 1997); the Board meeting
    immediately preceding the decision deadline is scheduled for February 5, 1998.
    If after appropriate consultation with the parties, the parties fail to provide an
    acceptable hearing date or if after an attempt the hearing officer is unable to consult with the
    parties, the hearing officer shall unilaterally set a hearing date in conformance with the
    schedule above. The hearing officer and the parties are encouraged to expedite this proceeding
    as much as possible.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, hereby certify that
    the above order was adopted on the 6th day of November 1997, by a vote of 7-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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