ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
December 16, 2004
MAC’S CONVENIENCE STORES, LLC,
Petitioner,
v.
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
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PCB 05-101
(UST Appeal)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by A.S. Moore):
At the parties’ request, the Board extended until February 24, 2005, the time period for
Mac’s Convenience Stores, LLC (Mac’s) to appeal an October 21, 2004 determination of the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency). The Agency’s determination concerns
petroleum contamination at Mac’s gasoline service station, which is located at 105 South Front
Street in Braidwood, Will County. In its determination, the Agency rejected several submittals
from Mac’s under the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (UST) program: a Site Investigation
Plan (SIP) and related budget, as well a 45-Day Report.
On December 1, 2004, Mac’s timely filed a petition asking the Board to review the
Agency’s determination. Mac’s appeals on the grounds that the procedures detailed in the SIP
are necessary; the budget includes an accounting of all costs associated with implementing and
completing the SIP; those costs are reasonable and necessary; a release has already been
confirmed; the area most likely to be contaminated has already been investigated; and the release
investigation and site assessment is in accordance with industry norms. Petition at 2-4. Mac’s
specifically requests that the Board “reverse the Final Decision of the Agency and approve the
SIP and associated budget.”
Id
. at 4.
The Board accepts this appeal as timely filed. The Board finds, however, that there are
several deficiencies with Mac’s petition. Though Mac’s asks the Board to reverse the Agency on
the SIP and related budget, the petition is unclear regarding the 45-Day Report. Specifically, it is
unclear whether Mac’s seeks reversal of the Agency’s rejection of the 45-Day Report, and, if so,
what the grounds are for reversal.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.508 (petition must contain a
“statement specifying the grounds of appeal”). Mac’s must clarify this ambiguity in its petition.
In addition, it is unclear whether Mac’s petition was filed by an attorney. Mac’s petition
was signed by Matt McCure as “Director of Facilities,” with an Indiana address. In an
adjudicatory proceeding before the Board, like this UST appeal, a company petitioner must be
represented by an attorney.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.400(a)(2). Accordingly, if Mr. McCure
is not an attorney, he cannot represent Mac’s in this proceeding. The petition provides no
indication that Mr. McCure is an attorney, let alone an attorney licensed and registered to
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practice in Illinois, as the Board’s procedural rules generally require.
Id.
An out-of-state
attorney may practice before the Board, but only if the Board grants a motion to appear
pro hac
vice
.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.400(a)(3).
By February 3, 2005, Mac’s must file an amended petition for review accompanied by
the appearance of an attorney.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.400(a)(4). Failure to do so will
subject this appeal to dismissal. The amended petition must clarify whether and, if so, on what
grounds Mac’s appeals the Agency’s rejection of the 45-Day Report. Further, the amended
petition must be filed either by (1) an attorney licensed and registered to practice in Illinois, or
(2) an attorney licensed to practice in another state and accompanied by a
pro hac vice
motion.
Upon the timely filing of an amended petition, the Board’s statutory 120-day period for deciding
this appeal will recommence.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.114(b).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
adopted the above order on December 16, 2004, by a vote of 5-0.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board