Illinois Association of

Aggregate

Producers

John Henriksen,

Executive Director

Glenda Schoening, Office Manager

Dorothy Ounn, Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

James R. Thompson Center

100

W. Randolph, Suite 11-500

Chicago, IL

60601

Re:

Proposed Amendments to 35 III. Adm. Code

901

Proposed New

35

Ill. Adm. Code 910

Illinois Register Volume 29, Issue

16 (April

15,

2005)

Docket R03-009

Dear Ms. Gunn:

1115 S. 2nd Street

Springfield,

IL 62704

(217) 241-1639

Fax

(217) 241-1641

Email:

iaap@hansoninfosys.com

August 9, 2005

RECEIVED

CLERK’S OFFICE

AUG

102005

STATE OF ILLINOIS

Pollution Control Board

Pursuant

to

Hearing Officer Tipsord’s June 8,

2005

Order, please

find

enclosed the

following

documents:

•

Summary of testimony

from John Henriksen,

Executive Director, illinois

Association of

Aggregate Producers

•

Summary oftestimony from Willard Pierce, General Manager, Evenson Explosives, LLC

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Respec

ly

Jo

‘

,

ecutive Director

moi

sso

tion ofAggregate Producers

JCHIg1s (Enclosures)

Cc:

Docket R03-009

Service List

Buy The

Goods And

Services Of Our Associate Members

---

RECEIVED

CLEI4KS OFFICE

Summary

of Testimony

—

John

Hennksen, IAAP

AUG

102005

The

following

summary

of

testimony

is

submitted

by

the

Illinois

~

Producers (IAAP) regarding the above-referenced rulemaking.

Pollution Control Board

The

Illinois

Department

of

Natural

Resources,

Office

of

Mines

and

Minerals

(IDNR)

has

promulgated

a comprehensive set of coal

and

aggregate mine blasting regulations

enforced by

a

highly trained,

technologically proficient

inspection staff using state-of-the-art equipment.

The

Illinois Pollution Control Board (Board) has elected to

regulate highly

impulsive sound from

blasting

operations

at

mines

even

though

implementing

this

regulatory

program

creates

an

essentially

duplicative

and

overlapping

regulatory

program

for

these

operations.

Further,

the

Board

has

elected

to regulate

highly

impulsive

sound

from

blasting

operations

at

mines

even

though

this body has

elected not to regulate other sources ofnoise.

The

IAAP

contends

that

it

is

unreasonable to regulate sound

generated

by

blasting

operations,

operations

already

subject

to

a

comprehensive

State regulatory

program,

while

electing

not

to

regulate

other

sources

of

noise.

Section

901.107(h)

of

the

Board’s

rules,

the

regulations

identif~’ing

those activities

not subject to Board noise

regulations,

be

amended to state as follow:

Section

901.104

shall not

apply to

impulsive

sound

produced

by

explosive

blasting

activities

conducted on any

Class C

land used as specified

by LBCS

Codes 8300 and 8500 SLUCM codes

852

and

854, but such operations shall be

governed by Section 901.109.

Amending

Section

901.107(h)

as

outlined

above

allows

the

Board

to

regulate

non-mining

blasting

activities, pursuant

to

Section 901.109,

and

leaves the

regulation

of blasting

operations

at mines

to IDNR.

In

the event

that

the

Board

elects to

continue

regulating blasting

operations

associated with

the

mining industry,

the IAAP submits that Section 901.109

must be amended to

bring

the Board’s

regulatory program in harmony with

the

program enforced by IDNR.

First,

Section

901.109

(c)

provides

that

allowable

sound

limits of blasting

operations prior

to

7:00 am must

be reduced

by

10

dB.

Given

that

decibel

limits

are logarithmic,

a

123

dB

limit

represents approximately only

30

of 133

dB.

In order to

address

concerns

about night blasting

operations,

Section

901.109

(c)

should

be

amended

to

read

as

follow:

All

blasting

shall

be

conducted

between

sunrise

and

sunset

except

in

emergency

situations

where

unscheduled

blasting

is

required

to ensure operator or public safety.

This change

reflects the fact

that

sunrise

is

often well

before

7:00

am during

the

summer, the

time

that

aggregate

mining

operations

are

mostactive,

and establishes a ban

on

night blasting in

the absence of

a true emergency.

Second,

Section 901.109

should be amended by replacing all references to “receiving Class A or

B land”

with

“protected

structure” and

then

further amended by adding a definition of“protected

structure” as

follows:

“Protected

Structure”

means any

dwelling, public

building,

school, church

or commercial or

institutional building. Protected structures

do not include:

(a)

Structures owned

by

the

operator;

and

(b)

Structures

subject

to

a

waiver

from

airblast

and

ground

vibration

requirements granted to the operator. These changes will ensure

that Section 901.109

focuses on

protecting public

health

and safety.

Third,

new

Part

910 (35

III.

Code 910)

must

b

amended to state

that monitoring

undertaken to

ensure

compliance with

Section 901.109

requires the use ofa

fiat response,

sound pressure level

microphone

and

recording device.

---

RECEIVED

CLERIcS OFFICE

AUG

10

2005

Summary of Testimony

—

Willard Pierce, Evenson Explosivg~44~

ILLINOIS

Pollution

Control Board

First, Section 901.109(a)

limits the Outdoor C-Weighted Sound Exposure

Level to

107 and

112

decibels (dB) for Class

A

and

Class

B

lands

respectively

and

Section

901.109(b)

limits

both

Class A and Class

B lands to

133 dB

when measuring with a 2 Hertz (Hz) microphone. Also, the

limits specified

in

Section

901.109 apply at property lines and not

at the location of a protected

structure.

The

Federal

government

and

the

illinois

Department

of

Natural

Resources

(IDNR)

have

requlated

air overpressure

from

blasting

to

prevent damage

to

protected structures,

including:

dwellings,

public

buildings,

schools,

churches,

commercial

or

institutional

buildings.

The

regulatory limits to protect these structures have been well established nationwide

at

105 and

133

dB for the two types ofmicrophones.

Research ofair overpressure produced from blasting has consistently shown the following:

I)

That the equivalent air overpressure

level of a C-Weighted microphone

to

a flat

response microphone is 105 and

133 dB respectively.

2)

Air

overpressure

produced

from

blasting

is

very

low

frequency

and

is

poorly

heard by the human ear.

3)

The level

necessary

to

cause damage

(i.e. break glass) has a

threshold of

145

to

150 dB.

4)

Decibels

(dB) are a

logarithmic

scale and

every

6

dB

represents a

doubling

or

halving

ofpressure levels.

5)

The location to

monitor

air

overpressure

is

not

always

closest to the blast.

Air

overpressure is affected by wind speed and

direction, temperature inversions, topography

and

distance.

Second,

Section

901.109

lowers the

limit during

a

specific

time of day

or for the

number of

occurrences

in

a

day.

The

IDNR

allows blasting

only

between sunrise

and

sunset.

These are

very

specific

times

at

any

location on

any

given

day.

Appropriate limits

should

consistently

apply regardless oftime ofday or number of occurrences per day.

Third, Part

910

covers

in

detail the methods to

be

utilized

to

monitor

sound levels

in

order

to

determine

compliance

with the

limits

set

forth

in

Part

901.

However, within these

methods,

monitoring

air

overpressuse

levels

from

blasting

is

not

referenced,

nor

is

Section

901.109.

Furthermore, the methods outlined are not appropriate to monitor air overpressure from blasting.

Throughout

Part

910

there are requirements

to

delete, or to

turn off the instrument for “short-

term background transient

sounds.

.

.

“by definition, air overpressure

from blasting is a short-term

transient sound.

---

There

is

an

entire

industry

dedicated

to

the

manufacture

of blasting

seismographs

and

the

monitoring of air overpressure from blasting.

Blasting seismographs

are designed and calibrated

to monitor

blasting events based upon established regulatory programs

nationwide.

The blasting

industry

utilizes

the

same

seismographs

and

methods

to

monitor

blasting

as

the

government

agencies insuring compliance with the regulatory limits.

Based

upon

scientific

research,

established

regulatory

programs

nationwide

and

the

comprehensive blasting

programs

administered

by

the

IDNIR,

the

following

recommendations

are made;

1)

Amend

Section

901.109

to

reflect

105

and

133

db

limit for the C-Weighted and

Flat response microphones respectively.

2)

Specify

that

the

limits

apply

at

protected

structures

and

defme

protected

structures.

3)

Limit blasting from sunrise to sunset except for emergency situations.

4)

Do not lower the limit for time ofday or for number ofevents in a thy.

5)

Require monitoring procedures and equipment that are appropriate to blasting.