ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    June 3, 2004
     
    IN THE MATTER OF:
     
    PROPOSED 35 ILL. ADM. CODE
    304.123(g), 304.123(h), 304.123(i), 304.123(j),
    and 304.123(k)
    )
    )
    )
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    R04-26
    (Rulemaking - Water)
     
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by T.E. Johnson):
     
    On May 14, 2004, the Board received a rulemaking proposal from the Illinois
    Environmental Protection Agency (Agency). The Agency seeks to set an interim phosphorus
    effluent standard by adding five new subsections (g-k) to existing 35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.123. A
    motion for acceptance accompanied the proposal.
     
    In its statement of reasons, the Agency asserts that it is in the process of developing the
    State numeric nutrient standards pursuant to its triennial water quality standards review. Pet. at
    7. The Agency expects to file a nutrient standards petition with the Board in early 2007. Pet. at
    8. In the interim, the Agency is proposing this effluent standard for phosphorus to limit higher
    concentrations of phosphorus that may result in detrimental levels of plant and algae growth.
    Id
    .
    The Agency requests that the interim effluent standard apply until the Board adopts a numeric
    water quality standard for phosphorus.
     
    The proposed phosphorus effluent limit of 1.0 mg/l as a monthly average would apply to
    new or expanded discharges from treatment works with a designed average flow over >1.0 mgd
    receiving municipal or domestic wastewater, or a total phosphorus effluent load of 25 lbs/day or
    more. However, if the source can demonstrate that phosphorus is not limiting nutrient in the
    receiving water or that alternative phosphorus effluent limits are warranted by the aquatic
    environment in the receiving water, the 1.0 mg/l limit would not apply. Pet. at 25-26.
     
    The Agency states that there are currently 10 to 12 NPDES permits for new or expanded
    wastewater treatment facilities that are affected by phosphorus limit uncertainty. Pet. at 13. The
    Agency projects that approximately 20 permits will be impacted on an annual basis.
    Id
    .
    The proposal “grandfathers in” existing sources, to whom the standard would not apply.
     
    The Agency’s proposal, including its statement of reasons and the full text of the
    proposed rule language, is available through the Clerk’ Office in Chicago (312-814-3620) and on
    the Board’s Web site (www.ipcb.state.il.us) using the Clerk’s Office On-Line or “COOL.”
     
    The Board finds that the Agency’s proposal satisfies the content requirements of the Act
    and the Board’s procedural rules for rulemaking proposals. The Board grants the Agency’s
    motion for acceptance, accepts the proposal for hearing, and directs the hearing officer assigned
    to proceed expeditiously under the rulemaking provisions of the Act (415 ILCS 5/27, 28 (2002))
    and the Board’s procedural rules. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 102.
     
     
    2
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
     
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
    adopted the above order on June 3, 2004, by a vote of 5-0.
     
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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