7’

Jack

Lavin, Director

Department of Commerce and

620

East

Adams Street, 5-6

Springfield,

Illinois 62704

Economic Opportunity

Re:

Request for Economic

Impact Study

for:

Proposed Site Specific

Waste

•

Regulation

Applicable

to Silbrico

Corporation (35

Ill.

Adm. Code

Part 810)

SPRINGFIELD OFFICE

(R060-O8)

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North

Grand Ave., East

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Box

19274

Springfield. IL

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312-814-6032

WEB SITE

www.ipch.state.iI.us

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Dear Director Lavin:

The

Pollution Control

Board (Board) received a site-specific rulemaking proposal

filed by the

Silbrico

Corporation (Silbrico) on July

19,

2005.

The proposal

seeks to

amend the Board’s solid waste disposal

regulations.

Silbrico.

located in

Hodgkins,

Cook County, has proposed a site-specific

ntle that

would

allow it

to dispose of nonhazardous, inert waste generated

at

its manufacturing

facility in

a “construction

and demolition

debris”

facility.

Silbrico manufactures

products

using perlite, a volcanic rock that expands up

to 20 times

when heated.

In

its petition

for the rulemaking,

Silhrico asserts that due to

the inert and nonhazardous

characteristic of the off-specification

perlite and the

fugitive perlite (collectively

waste perlite), it seeks to

dispose of these wastes at a “clean fill” facility that accepts

only clean construction

and demolition

debris.

Silbrico asserted that

allowing the

disposal of the waste

perlite at a “clean fill” facility would save valuable space in

municipal waste

landfills

and result in significant cost savings,

while posing

no

environmental violation or threat.

I

am writing to request that

your Department conduct an

economic impact study

concerning this proposal.

Since

1998, Section 27 (b) of the Environmental

Protection Act has required the

Board

to:

I.

request that the Department ofCommerce

and Economic

Opportunity

(formerly the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs) conduct a

study of the economic impact of the proposed rules.

The Department may

within 30 to 45

days of such request produce a

study of the economic impact

of the proposed rules.

At a minimum, the economic impact study shall

address a)

economic, environmental,

and public health benefits that

may be

achieved through compliance

with the proposed rules, b) the effects of the

proposed rules

on employment levels, commercial productivity, the

ILLINOIS

POLLUTION

CONTROL

BOARD

GOVEItN()R

ililil

IL Blagojevich

September

15,

2005

---

economic growth of small businesses with

100 or less

employees, and

the

State’s overall economy, and

c) the cost per

unit of pollution reduced and

the

variability of company revenues expected to be

used to

implement the

proposed rules;

and

2.

conduct

at least one public hearing on the economic impact of those rules.

At

least 20 days before the hearing, the Board

shall notify the public of the

hearing and make the economic

impact study, or the Department of

Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s explanation for not producing

an

economic impact study, available

to the public.

Such public hearing may be

held simultaneously or as

a part of any Board hearing considering such new

rules.”

415

ILCS

5/27(b) (2002).

The Board is in the process ofscheduling a hearing in this rulemaking.

I would

greatly appreciate

a response from you concerning DCEO’s position on whether it

will perform the economic impact study.

The Board appreciates DCEO’s recent timely and considered response to similar

requests we have made concerning other pending rulemakings.

The Board

appreciates that

fiscal constraints may prevent DCEO from conducting economic

studies in every rulemaking.

But, as I have pointed out before,

a review of Board

rulemaking opinions and orders since then would reveal

that the Department’s

decision not

to perform economic impact studies has not been questioned at any

Board hearing.

IfI, or my staff, can provide you with

any additional

information, please let me

know.

While the Board can proceed to hold

hearings while awaiting your decision,

the Environmental Protection

Act does not

allow the Board to

complete its

rulemaking process without your Department’s input.

Thank you

for your early response.

Sincerely,

Philip Novak

Chairman,

Pollution Control Board

cc:

Hans Detweiler; DCEO Deputy Director, Bureau of ~nergy and Recycling

Dorothy M. Gunn,

Clerk

Erin Conley, Rules Coordinator