ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    August 17, 2006
    K.A. STEEL CHEMICAL, INC.
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 07-9
    (NPDES Permit Appeal - Water)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
    On August 7, 2006, K. A. Steel Chemical, Inc. (K.A. Steel) timely filed a petition asking
    the Board to review a June 29, 2006 determination of the Illinois Environmental Protection
    Agency (Agency).
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.206(a). The Agency
    issued a modification of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit
    for Outfalls 001-007 for K. A. Steel’s production facility for household bleach located in Lemon,
    Cook County.
    K.A. Steel appeals on the grounds that the Agency erroneously failed to process its
    request for change in the condition relating to discharges of non-contact cooling water and other
    miscellaneous waters from Outfall 001, discharging into the Illinois and Michigan Canal. K.A.
    Steel had requested in April 11, 2006, that discharges from Outfall 001 be moved to Outfall 004,
    discharging into the Sanitary and Ship Canal. The purpose of the request was to eliminate
    compliance issues with effluent limits for chlorides and total dissolved solids. K. A. Steel
    attaches to its petition an internal Agency e-mail indicating that failure to process the request was
    a “mix-up” that the permit section would “rectify” as soon as possible.
    See
    Pet. at 3-4, para. 10,
    and Attach. E.
    Along with its petition, K.A. Steel filed a motion to stay this proceeding for 30 days,
    asserting that the Agency could not complete its processing of K.A. Steel’s permit modification
    prior to the end of the company’s 35-day statutory appeal period. K.A. Steel therefore suggests
    that “it would conserve the resources of the Board and the parties to stay this proceeding for a
    reasonable time pending these discussions [of the modification request],” suggesting a 30-day
    stay. Mot. at 2.
    The Board finds that K.A. Steel’s petition meets the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm.
    Code 105.210, and accepts the petition for hearing. The Board will not, however, rule on K. A.
    Steel’s stay request. Section 101.514(a) of the Board’s procedural rules requires that any stay
    motion be accompanied “in decision deadline proceedings, by a waiver of any decision
    deadline.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.514(a). K. A. Steel’s motion did not include the necessary
    waiver. If and when K.A. Steel corrects this procedural deficiency, the hearing officer is
    2
    authorized to rule on the motion and to grant a “reasonable” stay of no longer duration than that
    of any waiver.
    K.A. Steel has the burden of proof. 415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2004);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm.
    Code 105.112(a). Hearings “will be based exclusively on the record before the Agency at the
    time the permit or decision was issued.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.214(a). Hearings will be
    scheduled and completed in a timely manner, consistent with the decision deadline (
    see
    415
    ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2004)), which only K.A. Steel may extend by waiver (
    see
    35 Ill. Adm. Code
    101.308). If the Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline, K.A. Steel “shall be
    entitled to an Appellate Court order pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 41 [415 ILCS 5/41(d)
    (2004)].” 415 ILCS 5/40(a)(3) (2004). Currently, the decision deadline is December 5, 2006
    (the 120th day after August 7, 2006).
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.114. The Board meeting
    immediately before the decision deadline is scheduled for November 16, 2006.
    Unless the Board or the hearing officer orders otherwise, the Agency must file the entire
    record of its determination by September 6, 2006, which is the first business day after 30 days
    after K.A. Steel filed the petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.212(a). If the Agency wishes to
    seek additional time to file the record, it must file a request for extension before the date on
    which the record is due to be filed.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.116. The record must comply
    with the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.212(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 August 17, 2006, by a vote of 4-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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