ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    July 20, 2006
     
     
    PEORIA DISPOSAL COMPANY,
     
    Petitioner,
     
    v.
     
    PEORIA COUNTY BOARD,
     
    Respondent.
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    PCB 06-184
    (Pollution Control Facility Siting
    Appeal)
     
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by N.J. Melas):
     
    On July 17, 2006, Peoria County Board (County) moved the Board for leave to file the
    administrative record on compact disc (CD). For the reasons set forth below, the Board grants
    the County’s motion in part. The Board requires the County to file one original hard copy, but
    allows the additional four required copies to be filed on CD.
     
    On June 7, 2006, the Board received a petition requesting the Board to review the
    County’s alleged failure to take action by May 3, 2006, on a siting application. The petitioner,
    Peoria Disposal Company (Peoria Disposal), filed the application on November 9, 2005. Peoria
    Disposal sought a vertical and horizontal expansion of its existing hazardous waste landfill
    located in Peoria County. According to the petition, the County failed to pass a motion to
    approve Peoria Disposal’s application. Peoria Disposal states the County made no written
    findings and issued no written decision. On June 15, 2006, the Board accepted the petition for
    hearing.
     
    On June 26, 2006, County moved for more time to file the administrative record of its
    proceedings. In a written June 30, 2006 order, the hearing officer granted the County until
    July 28, 2006, to file the record. On July 5, 2006, the County waived the Board’s decision
    deadline until January 4, 2007.
     
    In the County’s July 17, 2006 motion ruled on today, the County contends that the record
    is voluminous and that generating copies of the administrative record and file-stamping the
    documents would be extremely time-consuming and costly. The County asserts that filing the
    administrative record on CD would reduce the costs of compiling, certifying, and copying the
    record. Finally, the County states that filing the administrative record on CD will not prejudice
    the Board or the public.
     
    Neither the Board nor the hearing officer will grant a motion before the expiration of the
    14-day response period unless undue delay or material prejudice would result, or in a deadline
    driven case where no waiver has been filed. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.500(d). As determined by
    the hearing officer and agreed to by the parties, the County must file the record on or before
     
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    July 28, 2006. Therefore, the Board rules on this motion today, before the expiration of the
    response period.
     
    Section 107.302 of the Board’s procedural rules requires the County to file the entire
    record of its decision as directed by the Board or hearing officer order. 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    107.302. Under Section 107.304(b), the “record must contain the originals or legible copies of
    all documents, must be arranged in chronological sequence, and must be sequentially numbered,
    placing the letter ‘C’ before the number of each page.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code 107.304(b). Section
    101.302(h)(4) allows a siting authority to file a signed original and four duplicate copies (five
    total) of the record. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.302(h)(4).
     
    The Board is committed to streamlining the filing process, reducing the number of paper
    copies filed, and encouraging electronic filing.
    See, e.g
    ., Revision of the Board’s Procedural
    Rules: 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101-130, R00-20, slip op. at 5 (Dec. 21, 2000). The Board has
    successfully implemented an electronic filing program and intends to codify the electronic filing
    process. The Board, however, has not as yet developed procedural rules outlining all details and
    requirements for the electronic filing of documents.
     
    In granting, in part, a motion to file the administrative record in a Clean Air Act Permit
    Program (CAAPP) permit appeal on CD, the Board recently stated:
     
    At this juncture, the Board is not prepared to agree to the filing of this CAAPP
    record in non-searchable electronic copy only. The [Illinois Environmental
    Protection] Agency correctly notes that paper copy is not searchable in the same
    way that electronic text is not. Paper copies, however, can be physically
    manipulated to allow for side-by-side comparison of various pages. Hard copies,
    even photocopies of original documents, generally provide fewer legibility
    challenges than do documents that have been scanned from hard copy into
    electronic text, and then printed from electronic text to hard copy.
    See e.g.,
     
    Dynegy Midwest Generation, Inc. (Baldwin Energy Complex) v. IEPA, PCB 06-
    63 (Feb. 16, 2006).
     
    In that CAAPP permit appeal, the Board granted the Illinois Environmental Protection
    Agency’s (Agency) motion to file the record on CD. The Board, however, required the Agency
    to file one original paper copy of the record. The Board allowed the Agency to file the
    additional required four copies of the record on CD.
     
    As it did in Dynegy, today the Board grants the County’s motion in part. For similar
    reasons, the Board cannot allow the County to file the administrative record solely on CD. For
    purposes of appeal, the Board must maintain an original, hard copy version of the record. S. Ct.
    Rule 321, 324. Landfill siting appeals generally generate considerable public interest and
    requests to view the record at the Clerk’s office. The Board does not yet have the resources to
    dedicate a computer solely for the public to view records electronically. Under the procedural
    rules, the Board also does not the bear the costs of preparing and certifying the record (35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 107.306), so the Board should not be required to bear the costs of producing a hard
    copy for public viewing purposes.
     
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    For these reasons, the Board orders the County to file at least one original paper copy of
    the record. The County may file the additional four required copies of the record on CD. All of
    the procedural rules applicable to hard copies also apply to the electronic version of the record,
    such as the rules outlining the record contents (35 Ill. Adm. Code 107.304) and requiring
    certification of the record (35 Ill. Adm. Code 107.308), including an index listing the documents
    and showing page numbers.
     
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
     
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
    adopted the above order on July 20, 2006, by a vote of 4-0.
     
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
     

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