ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June 15, 2006
CITY OF CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENT,
Complainant,
v.
SPEEDY GONZALEZ LANDSCAPING,
INC.,
Respondent.
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AC 06-39
(CDOE No. 06-02-AC)
(Administrative Citation)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by T.E. Johnson):
On May 10, 2006, the City of Chicago Department of Environment (City) timely filed an
administrative citation against Speedy Gonzalez Landscaping, Inc. (respondent).
See
415 ILCS
5/31.1(c) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.202(c). On June 2, 2006, the respondent filed a petition
to review the administrative citation. For the reasons below, the Board accepts the respondent’s
petition to contest the administrative citation.
Under the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5 (2004)), an administrative
citation is an expedited enforcement action brought before the Board seeking civil penalties that
are fixed by statute. Administrative citations may be filed only by the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (Agency) or, if the Agency has delegated the authority, by a unit of local
government, and only for limited types of alleged violations at sanitary landfills or unpermitted
open dumps.
See
415 ILCS 5/3.305, 3.445, 4(r), 21(o), (p), 31.1, 42(b)(4), (4-5) (2004); 35 Ill.
Adm. Code 108.
The City alleges that the respondent violated Sections 21(p)(1), (2), (3), (4) and (7) of the
Act. 415 ILCS 5/21(p)(1), (2), (3), (4) and (7) (2004). According to the City’s administrative
citation, the respondent violated this provision of the Act by causing or allowing the open
dumping of waste resulting in litter, scavenging, and open burning; the deposition of waste in
standing or flowing waters; and the deposition of construction or demolition debris at a site
located at 1601-1759 East 130th Street, Chicago, Cook County. The City asks the Board to
impose a $7,500 civil penalty on the respondent for the alleged violations.
As required, the City served the administrative citation on the respondent within “60 days
after the date of the observed violation.” 415 ILCS 5/31.1(b) (2004);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code
108.202(b). On June 2, 2006, the respondent timely filed a petition to contest the administrative
citation.
See
415 ILCS 5/31.1(d) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.204(b). The respondent states,
inter alia
, that he does not own the property cited in the citation, did not cause or allow the
specific violations cited in the citation, that the violations were improperly alleged, that the
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violations were the result of uncontrollable circumstances, and that other individuals or entities
were responsible for the violations. Pet. at 1-2. The Board accepts the petition for hearing.
The Board directs the hearing officer to proceed expeditiously to hearing. The hearing
officer will give the parties at least 21 days written notice of the hearing.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code
108.300;
see also
415 ILCS 5/31.1(d)(2) (2004). By contesting the administrative citation, the
respondent may have to pay the hearing costs of the Board and the City.
See
415 ILCS
5/42(b)(4-5) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.500. A schedule of the Board’s hearing costs is
available from the Clerk of the Board and on the Board’s Web site at www.ipcb.state.il.us.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.504.
The respondent may withdraw the petition to contest the administrative citation at any
time before the Board enters its final decision. If the respondent chooses to withdraw the
petition, he must do so in writing, unless he does so orally at hearing.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code
108.208. If the respondent withdraws his petition after the hearing starts, the Board will require
the respondent to pay the hearing costs of the Board and the City if the City prevails.
See id.
at
108.500(c).
The City has the burden of proof at hearing.
See
415 ILCS 5/31.1(d)(2) (2004); 35 Ill.
Adm. Code 108.400. If the Board finds that the City proved that the respondent violated Section
21(p)(7), the Board will impose civil penalties on the respondent. The civil penalty for violating
any provision of Section 21(p) is $1,500 for each violation of each such provision, except that
the penalty amount imposed will be $3,000 for each violation of any provision of Section 21(p)
that is a respondent’s second or subsequent adjudicated violation of that provision.
See
415
ILCS 5/42(b)(4-5) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.500. However, if the Board finds that a
respondent “has shown that the violation resulted from uncontrollable circumstances, the Board
shall adopt a final order which makes no finding of violation and which imposes no penalty.”
415 ILCS 5/31.1(d)(2) (2004);
see also
35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.500(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 June 15, 2006, by a vote of 4-0.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board