March 2, 2006

Jack Lavin, Director

Department of Comme cc and Economic Opportunity

620 East Adams Street, S-6

Springfield, Illinois 62704

Re :

e st for Eco

is Impact Study or: Revisions to Water Quality

Standards for To isso

ved Solidsinth LwerDesPlaines River for Ex n

Mobil Oil

Corporation : Prop

d 35 Iii. .Code 303.445 (R06-24)

Dear Director Lavin:

The Pollution Control Board (Board) received a rulemaking propos

from

the ExxonMobil Oil Corporation (ExxonMobil) on February 7, 2006 that seeks to

authorize discharges of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) from the ExxonMobil Joliet

Refinery during the months of November through April

. The Board has granted a

joint request by ExxonMobil and the Illinois Environmental Protection

Agency

(Agency) to expedite consideration of this site-specific proposal . The Board

accordingly requests that your Department expedite its determination whether 't will

conduct an economic impact study on the proposal .

ExxonMobil owns and operates the Joliet Refinery located in Channahon

Township on a 1,300 acre tract of land in unincorporated Will County

. The site is

adjacent to Interstate 55 at the Arsenal Road exit, approximately 50 miles southwest

of Chicago

. The refinery employs more than 500 full-time employees, and

approximately 100 additional ExxonMobil employees who provide regional support

services are also located at the refinery

.

Under an October 11, 2005 federal consent decree, ExxonMobil must, among

other things, make substantial investments in air emissions reductions at the Joliet

Refinery

. The consent decree calls for the use of a wet gas scrubber in addition to

added technology, which will contribute to additional sulfate and TDS to the

wastewater treatment system

. ExxonMobil has asserted that because of occasional

observed TDS violations in the Des Plaines River and in light of 35 111 . 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

. Accordingly,

ExxonMobil is seeking a site-specific rule from the existing water quality standard

for TDS

.

I am writing to request that you determine whether your Department will

conduct an economic impact study concerning this proposal .

---

Since 1998, Section 27 (b) of the Environmental Protection Act has required

the Board to :

1) "request that the Department of Commerce 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 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) (2004).

The Board accepted the proposal for hearing and adopted a first notice

opinion and order on March 2, 2006

. The Board hopes to schedule and hold only

one hearing on this proposal

. The Board expects to schedule the hearing date for this

rulemaking in late April or early May

. I would greatly appreciate a response from

you concerning DCEO's position on whether it will perfouii the economic impact

study as soon as is possible

. To allow the Board to comply with the pre-hearing

notice requirement of Section

27(b)(2), the Board would appreciate your decision no

later than April 1, 2006 .

If 1, or my staff, can provide you with any additional information, please let

me know

. While the Board can proceed to schedule and hold a hearing 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,

---

G. Tanner Girard

Acting Chairman

Pollution Control Board

Cc

: Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk

Erin Conley, Rules Coordinator