ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    September 1, 2005
    BASIC WIRE & CABLE CO.,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 05-198
    (UST Appeal)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by A.S. Moore):
    On June 2, 2005, at the parties’ request, the Board extended until August 17, 2005, the
    time period for Basic Wire & Cable Co. (BWC) to appeal an April 11, 2005 determination of the
    Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency). On August 17, 2005, BWC timely filed a
    petition asking the Board to review the Agency’s determination.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1)
    (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.300(b), 105.402, 105.406. The Agency rejected the corrective
    action completion report for BWC’s petroleum leaking underground storage tank (UST) facility
    located at 3900 North Rockwell Street in Chicago, Cook County. For the reasons below, the
    Board accepts BWC’s petition for hearing.
    Under the Environmental Protection Act (415 ILCS 5 (2004)), the Agency decides
    whether to approve proposed cleanup plans for leaking UST sites, as well as requests for cleanup
    cost reimbursement from the State’s UST Fund, which consists of UST fees and motor fuel
    taxes. If the Agency disapproves or modifies a submittal, the UST owner or operator may appeal
    the decision to the Board.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.Subpart D.
    In this case, BWC appeals the Agency’s rejection on two grounds. First, BWC maintains
    that the Agency exceeded its authority by “attempting to apply regulations that have not yet been
    promulgated, namely the Board’s proposed Part 734 rules.” Petition at 3. Second, BWC argues
    that it should not be required to investigate and delineate contamination that is “already
    addressed by the existing City of Chicago groundwater ordinance institutional control.”
    Id
    .
    BWC’s petition meets the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.408. The Board
    accepts the petition for hearing.
    BWC has the burden of proof.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.112(a). Hearings will be based
    exclusively on the record before the Agency at the time the Agency issued its determination.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.412. Accordingly, though the Board hearing affords petitioner the
    opportunity to challenge the Agency’s reasons for its decision, information developed after the
    Agency’s decision typically is not admitted at hearing or considered by the Board.
    See
    Alton
    Packaging Corp. v. PCB, 162 Ill. App. 3d 731, 738, 516 N.E.2d 275, 280 (5th Dist. 1987);
    2
    Community Landfill Co. & City of Morris v. IEPA, PCB 01-170 (Dec. 6, 2001),
    aff’d sub nom.
    331 Ill. App. 3d 1056, 772 N.E.2d 231 (3d Dist. 2002).
    Hearings will be scheduled and completed in a timely manner, consistent with the
    decision deadline (
    see
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2004)), which only BWC may extend by waiver
    (
    see
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.308). If the Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline,
    BWC may deem its request granted.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2004). Currently, the decision
    deadline is December 15, 2005, which is the 120th day after the Board received BWC’s petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.114. A Board meeting is scheduled for December 15, 2005.
    Unless the Board or the hearing officer orders otherwise, the Agency must file the entire
    record of its determination by September 16, 2005, which is 30 days after the Board received
    BWC’s petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.410(a). If the Agency wishes to seek additional
    time to file the record, it must file a request for extension before the date on which the record is
    due to be filed.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.116. The record must comply with the content
    requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.410(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 September 1, 2005, by a vote of 5-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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