ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    January 6, 2005
     
    EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION
    (Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Project (Property
    Identification Number
    10-22-100-006-0010)),
     
    Petitioner,
     
    v.
     
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
     
    Respondent.
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    PCB 05-122
    (Tax Certification - Air)
     
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by J.P. Novak):
     
    On January 3, 2005, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency)
    recommended that the Board certify certain facilities of Exxon Mobil Corporation as “pollution
    control facilities” for preferential tax treatment under the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/11-5
    et seq.
    (2002)). The facilities are Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Project facilities at Exxon Mobil
    Corporation’s petroleum refinery in Channahon, Will County. 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 Exxon Mobil Corporation’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
    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
    receives a tax certification application, 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 Exxon Mobil
    Corporation for its Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Project facilities at Exxon Mobil Corporation’s
    petroleum refinery on August 19, 2004. Agency Rec. at 1. On January 3, 2005, the Agency filed
    a recommendation on the application with the Board. The Agency’s recommendation identifies
    the facilities at issue:
     
    The installation of new equipment, described at the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel
    Project, that will allow the refinery to reduce the sulfur content in the production
    of diesel fuel, which requires the installation of reactors to support the removal
    capability of an existing hydrosulfurization unit and an upgrade to compression
    facilities to manage the additional hydrogen sulfide and other gasses produced in
    the process. Agency Rec. at 1-2.
     
    The Agency’s recommendation also identifies the location of the facilities: Section 22 of
    Channahon Township, Will County.
    Id.
    at Ex. A.
     
    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 eliminating, preventing, or reducing air
    pollution. Agency Rec. at 2.
     
    TAX CERTIFICATE
     
    The Board finds and certifies that Exxon Mobil Corporation’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 Exxon Mobil Corporation 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 January 6, 2005, by a vote of 5-0.
     
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
     
      

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