ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March 2, 2006
IN THE MATTER OF:
REVISIONS TO WATER QUALITY
STANDARDS FOR TOTAL DISSOLVED
SOLIDS IN THE LOWER DES PLAINES
RIVER EXXONMOBIL OIL
CORPORATION: PROPOSED 35 ILL.
ADM. CODE 303.445
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R06-24
(Site-Specific Rulemaking - Water)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by T.E. Johnson):
On February 7, 2006, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation (ExxonMobil) filed a proposal for
rulemaking pursuant to Section 28 of Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 28 (2004)),
to authorize discharges of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) from its Joliet Refinery during the
months of November through April. The discharge point of the Joliet Refinery is located at
Interstate 55 and Arsenal Road, in Will County. ExxonMobil filed a joint motion with the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) to expedite consideration and to waive the
requirement for 200 signatures, as well as a motion to file less than ten copies of an exhibit
concurrently with the proposal. To date, no response to either motion has been submitted to the
Board.
By today’s action the Board adopts the proposed amendments for the purpose of first
notice under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 ILCS 100/1-1) without
commenting on the merits of the proposal, and grants the motion for expedited consideration.
The proposal will be published in the
Illinois Register
whereupon a 45-day public comment
period will begin during which interested persons may file additional public comments with the
Board.
BACKGROUND
ExxonMobil owns and operates the Joliet Refinery (refinery) located in Channahon
Township on a 1,300-acre tract of land in unincorporated Will County. Pet. at 4. The site is
adjacent to Interstate 55 at the Arsenal Road exit, approximately 50 miles southwest of Chicago.
Id.
The refinery employs more than 500 full-time employees.
Id.
Approximately 100 additional
ExxonMobil employees who provide regional support services are also located at the refinery.
Id.
The refinery was built by ExxonMobil and began operating in 1972. Pet. at 5. The
refinery has a crude oil processing capability of approximately 240,000 barrels per day – nearly
10.1 million gallons per day.
Id.
The refinery produces approximately 9 million gallons per day
of gasoline and diesel fuel.
Id.
The refinery draws from and discharges to the Des Plaines River,
approximately 1,000 feet east of the Interstate 55 Bridge.
Id.
The refinery takes approximately
10.2 million gallons of water daily from the river, as well as two million gallons per day from
2
wells.
Id.
The refinery discharges approximately 12.3 million gallons to the river per day.
Id.
The wastewater effluent contains dissolved solids derived from compounds present in crude oil
that are removed from the crude by various refinery operations.
Id.
On October 11, 2005, ExxonMobil was a party to a consent decree involving the United
States of America, as well as the states of Illinois, Louisiana, and Montana. Pet. at 5-6. Under
that consent decree, ExxonMobil is committed to, among other things, making substantial
investments in air emissions reductions at the Joliet Refinery. Pet. at 6. The consent decree calls
for the use of a wet gas scrubber, in addition to added technology.
Id.
The wet gas scrubber will
contribute additional sulfate and TDS to the wastewater treatment system. Pet. at 1, 6.
ExxonMobil asserts that because of occasional observed TDS violations in the Des Plaines River
and in light of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.102(b)(9), the Agency will not allow a mixing zone and
could not, therefore, issue the wastewater construction permit needed by ExxonMobil. Pet. at 1.
Accordingly, ExxonMobil is seeking a site-specific rule from the existing water quality standard
for TDS. Pet. at 8.
PRELIMINARY MOTIONS
Two motions were filed with the petition. The Board will summarize each one separately
before reaching a decision.
Joint Motion
In the joint motion, the parties re-assert that ExxonMobil has entered into a consent
decree to install extensive controls to reduce air emissions, including those at the refinery. JMot.
at 1. The parties contend that the Agency has reviewed the factual matters in the petition and is
supportive of the relief being sought therein, and that the matter should be handled expeditiously.
Id.
The parties assert that, based on discussions with the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA), the Agency submits that this matter must be decided as a site-specific rule
change rather than an adjusted standard. JMot. at 1-2.
The parties urge the Board to consider this matter expeditiously, proceed with first
notice, and schedule a hearing in this matter following first notice. JMot. at 2. The parties also
ask that the Board waive the requirement for 200 signatures on the petition.
Id.
Motion to File Less than Ten Copies of an Exhibit
ExxonMobil asserts that Exhibit 1 to the petition, the consent decree, is a very lengthy
document, numbering over 150 pages of text in addition to the supporting attachments and
exhibits. Mot. at 1. ExxonMobil argues that submitting ten copies of Exhibit 1 would be
wasteful of the parties’ and the Board’s efforts and resources, and notes that the consent decree
is available online at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/decrees/civil/caa/exxonmobil-
cd.pdf. To date, no response, to this motion has been received by the Board.
DISCUSSION
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Requests for expedited review are governed by Section 101.512 of the Board’s rules, and
must contain,
inter alia
, a complete statement of the facts and reasons for the request.
See
35 Ill.
Adm. Code 101.512. In acting on a motion for expedited review, the Board must consider all
statutory requirements and whether or not material prejudice will result from the motion being
granted or denied. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.512(b).
The Board grants the motion for expedited review. Material prejudice would result were
the motion denied. The proposed rulemaking will be sent to first notice without a decision being
reached on the merits of the proposal. In addition, the Board directs the hearing officer to
expeditiously schedule a hearing in this matter. Details concerning the date, time and place of
the hearing will be provided in a notice of hearing when finalized. The Board also grants the
request to waive the signature requirement applicable to site-specific rulemakings.
As previously stated, no response to the motion to file a reduced number of copies has
been filed. The Board has verified that Exhibit 1 to the petition is available online at the site
provided by ExxonMobil. In light of the ready availability of the document, the Board grants the
motion and waives the requirement that ExxonMobil submit an original and nine copies of
Exhibit 1 to the petition.
The Board finds that the petition meets the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code
102.208 and 102.210 and is accepted for hearing. However, a review of the proposal reveals that
ExxonMobil did not address the applicability of, or provide the information requested in, the
“published study or report” requirement of Section 102.210(c). 35 Ill. Adm. Code 102.210(c).
S
ee also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 102.210(g). The Board requests that the Agency address Section
102.210(c), or its inapplicability, in writing, prior to any hearing scheduled in this proceeding at
such time as directed by the hearing officer. In addition, the Board also directs ExxonMobil to
address the effect of the proposed site-specific rule on the variance granted by the Board on
April 21, 2005 in Citgo Petroleum Corporation and PDV Midwest Refining, LLC v. IEPA, PCB
05-85 (Apr. 21, 2005). This issue should also be addressed in writing prior to any hearing
scheduled in this proceeding. The assigned hearing officer is directed to proceed expeditiously
under the rulemaking provisions of the Act (415 ILCS 5/27, 28 (2004)) and the Board’s
procedural rules. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 102.
CONCLUSION
The Board today adopts the following first-notice order under the APA (5 ILCS 100/5-5
et seq.
(2004)) without commenting on the merits of the proposal. The proposal will be
published in the
Illinois Register
whereupon a 45-day comment period will begin. The Board
asks that parties interested in commenting on this proposal address any written comments to
John C. Knittle, the hearing officer assigned to this matter.
Copies of this opinion, the proposed rules, and any hearing officer order may be viewed
and downloaded from the Board's Web site at http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/. Copies may also be
requested in writing from the Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, James R. Thompson
Center, 100 West Randolph, Suite 11-500, Chicago, Illinois 60601 or via telephone at
4
312.814.3461.
ORDER
The Board directs the Clerk to cause publication of the following rule in the
Illinois
Register
for first notice under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 ILCS 100/5-5
et seq
. (2004)):
TITLE 35: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SUBTITLE C: WATER POLLUTION
CHAPTER I: POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
PART 303
WATER USE DESIGNATIONS AND SITE SPECIFIC WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
SUBPART A: GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section
303.100 Scope and Applicability
303.101 Multiple Designations
303.102 Rulemaking Required
SUBPART B: NONSPECIFIC WATER USE DESIGNATIONS
Section
303.200 Scope and Applicability
303.201 General Use Waters
303.202 Public and Food Processing Water Supplies
303.203 Underground Waters
303.204 Secondary Contact and Indigenous Aquatic Life Waters
303.205 Outstanding Resource Waters
303.206 List of Outstanding Resource Waters
SUBPART C: SPECIFIC USE DESIGNATIONS AND SITE
SPECIFIC WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
Section
303.300 Scope and Applicability
303.301 Organization
303.311 Ohio River Temperature
303.312 Waters Receiving Fluorspar Mine Drainage
303.321 Wabash River Temperature
303.322 Unnamed Tributary of the Vermilion River
303.323 Sugar Creek and Its Unnamed Tributary
303.326 Unnamed Tributary of Salt Creek, Salt Creek, and Little Wabash River
303.331 Mississippi River North Temperature
303.341 Mississippi River North Central Temperature
303.351 Mississippi River South Central Temperature
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303.352 Unnamed Tributary of Wood River Creek
303.353 Schoenberger Creek; Unnamed Tributary of Cahokia Canal
303.361 Mississippi River South Temperature
303.400 Bankline Disposal Along the Illinois Waterway/River
303.430 Unnamed Tributary to Dutch Creek
303.431 Long Point Slough and Its Unnamed Tributary
303.441 Secondary Contact Waters
303.442 Waters Not Designated for Public Water Supply
303.443 Lake Michigan Basin
303.444 Salt Creek, Higgins Creek, West Branch of the DuPage River, Des Plaines River
303.445 Total Dissolved Solids Water Quality Standard for the Lower Des Plaines River
SUBPART D: THERMAL DISCHARGES
Section
303.500 Scope and Applicability
303.502 Lake Sangchris Thermal Discharges
APPENDIX A References to Previous Rules
APPENDIX B Sources of Codified Sections
AUTHORITY: Implementing Section 13 and authorized by Sections 11(b) and 27 of the
Environmental Protection Act [415 ILCS 5/13, 11(b), and 27].
SOURCE: Filed with the Secretary of State January 1, 1978; amended at 2 Ill. Reg. 27, p. 221,
effective July 5, 1978; amended at 3 Ill. Reg. 20, p. 95, effective May 17, 1979; amended at 5 Ill.
Reg. 11592, effective October 19, 1981; codified at 6 Ill. Reg. 7818; amended at 6 Ill. Reg. 11161
effective, September 7, 1982; amended at 7 Ill. Reg. 8111, effective June 23, 1983; amended in
R87-27 at 12 Ill. Reg. 9917, effective May 27, 1988; amended in R87-2 at 13 Ill. Reg. 15649,
effective September 22, 1989; amended in R87-36 at 14 Ill. Reg. 9460, effective May 31, 1990;
amended in R86-14 at 14 Ill. Reg. 20724, effective December 18, 1990; amended in R89-14(C) at
16 Ill. Reg. 14684, effective September 10, 1992; amended in R92-17 at 18 Ill. Reg. 2981, effective
February 14, 1994; amended in R91-23 at 18 Ill. Reg. 13457, effective August 19, 1994; amended
in R93-13 at 19 Ill. Reg. 1310, effective January 30, 1995; amended in R95-14 at 20 Ill. Reg. 3534,
effective February 8, 1996; amended in R97-25 at 22 Ill. Reg. 1403, effective December 24, 1997;
amended in R01-13 at 26 Ill. Reg. 3517, effective February 22, 2002; amended in R03-11, at 28
Ill. Reg 3071, effective February 4, 2004; amended in R06-24 at 30 Ill. Reg. _________,
effective _____________.
SUBPART C: SPECIFIC USE DESIGNATIONS AND SITE
SPECIFIC WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
Section 303.445 Total Dissolved Solids Water Quality Standard for the Lower Des Plaines
River
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a) Beginning November 1 and continuing through April 30 of each year, the
total dissolved solids (TDS) water quality standard for Secondary Contact
and Indigenous Aquatic life Use waters in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.407 does
not apply to the portion of the Des Plaines River from the ExxonMobil
refinery wastewater treatment plant discharge point located at I-55 and
Arsenal Road (said point being located in Will County, T34N, R9E, S15,
Latitude: 41
°
, 25” North, Longitude: 88
°
, 11’, 20” West) and continuing
to the Interstate 55 bridge. TDS levels in such waters must instead meet a
water quality standard for TDS (STORET Number 70300) of 1,686 mg/L.
b) Beginning November 1 and continuing through April 30 of each year, the
TDS water quality standard for General Use Waters in 35 Ill. Adm. Code
302.208 does not apply to the Des Plaines River from the Interstate 55
bridge to the confluence of the Des Plaines River with the Kankakee
River. TDS levels in such waters must instead meet a water quality
standard for TDS (STORET Number 70300) of 1,686 mg/L.
(Source: Added at 30 Ill. Reg. __________, effective ___________)
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
adopted the above order on March 2, 2006, by a vote of 4-0.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
