ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    June 17, 2004
     
    HOLLAND ENERGY, LLC-BEECHER CITY
    Cooling Tower System (Property
    Identification Numbers
    0524-01-00-100-004, 0825-16-00-`00-004,
    0825-16-00-300-002, 0825-16-00-300-003,
    and 0825-16-00-200-002),
     
    Petitioner,
     
    v.
     
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
     
    Respondent.
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    PCB 04-222
    (Tax Certification - Water)
     
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by J.P. Novak):
     
    On June 14, 2004, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) recommended
    that the Board certify certain facilities of Holland Energy, LLC-Beecher City (Holland Energy)
    “pollution control facilities” for preferential tax
    treatment under the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-5
    et seq.
    (2002)). The Agency filed the
    recommendation under Part 125 of the Board’s procedural rules (35 Ill. Adm. Code 125). In this
    order, the Board describes the legal framework for tax certifications, discusses the Agency’s
    recommendation, and certifies that Holland Energy’s facilities are pollution control facilities.
     
    LEGAL FRAMEWORK
     
    Under the Property Tax Code, “[i]t is the policy of this State that pollution control
    facilities should be valued, at 33
    ⅓
    % of the fair cash value of th eir economic productivity to their
    owners.” 35 ILCS 200/11-5 (2002);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.200(a)(2). “For tax
    purposes, pollution control facilities shall be certified as such by the Pollution Control Board and
    shall be assessed by the Department [of Revenue].” 35 ILCS 200/11-20 (2002);
    see also
    35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 125.200(a).
     
    Under Section 125.202 of the Board’s procedural rules, a person may submit an
    application for tax certification to the Agency. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.202. If the Agency
    lication, the Agency must file with the Board a recommendation
    on the application, unless the applicant withdraws the application. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.204(a).
    Among other things, the Agency’s filing must recommend that the Board issue or deny tax
    certification. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.204(a)(4). If the Board finds “that the claimed facility or
    relevant portion thereof is a pollution control facility . . ., the Pollution Control Board . . . shall
     
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    enter a finding and issue a certificate to that effect.” 35 ILCS 200/11-25 (2002);
    see also
    35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 125.216(a).
     
    AGENCY RECOMMENDATION
     
    The Agency states that it received a tax certification application from Holland Energy for
    its Beecher City cooling tower system site on December 31, 2003. Agency Recommendation
    (Agency Rec.) at 1. On June 14, 2004, the Agency filed a recommendation on the application
    with the Board. The Agency’s recommendation identifies the facilities at issue:
     
    A cooling tower system consisting of a 10-celled mechanical-draft counter-flow cooling
    tower. Circulating water from the main condenser and auxiliary cooling water from
    various equipment, returns heated to the cooling tower. Heated water flows through
    cooling tower riser valves (one per cell) to the individual cell distribution heaters, where
    it is sprayed over the cooling tower fill and then falls into the cooling tower basin to be
    reused, or blown down to the outfall. Agency Rec. at 1-2.
     
    The Agency’s recommendation also identifies the location of the facilities: Section 16,
    Township 9 North, Range 4 East of the 3rd Principal Meridian in Shelby County, Illinois.
    Id.
    at
    1.
     
    The Agency recommends that the Board certify that the identified facilities are pollution
    control facilities as defined in Section 11-10 of the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-10
    (2002)) because the primary purpose of the facilities is to treat process wastewater, thereby
    eliminating, preventing, or reducing water pollution. Agency Rec. at 2.
     
    TAX CERTIFICATE
     
    The Board finds and certifies that Holland Energy’s facilities identified in this order are
    pollution control facilities under the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-10 (2002)). Under
    Section 11-25 of the Property Tax Code, the effective date of this certificate is “the date of
    application for the certificate or the date of the construction of the facility, which ever is later.”
    35 ILCS 200/11-25 (2002);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 125.216(a). Section 125.216(d) of the
    Board’s procedural rules states that the Clerk “will provide the applicant and the Agency with a
    copy of the Board’s order setting forth
    the Board’s findings and certificate, if any
    .” 35 Ill. Adm.
    Code 125.216(d) (quoting in italics 35 ILCS 200/11-30 (2002)). The Clerk therefore will
    provide Holland Energy and the Agency with a copy of this order.
     
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
     
    Section 41(a) of the Environmental Protection Act provides that final Board orders may
    be appealed directly to the Illinois Appellate Court within 35 days after the Board serves the
    order. 415 ILCS 5/41(a) (2002);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.300(d)(2), 101.906, 102.706.
    Illinois Supreme Court Rule 335 establishes filing requirements that apply when the Illinois
    Appellate Court, by statute, directly reviews administrative orders. 172 Ill. 2d R. 335. The
    Board’s procedural rules provide that motions for the Board to reconsider or modify its final
     
      
     
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    orders may be filed with the Board within 35 days after the order is received. 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    101.520;
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm
    . Code 101.902, 102.700, 102.702.
     
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
    adopted the above order on June 17, 2004, by a vote of 5-0.
     
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
     
      

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