ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
December 21, 2006
FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE SYSTEM,
INC.,
Petitioner,
v.
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
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PCB 07-12
(UST Appeal)
DISSENTING OPINION (by T.E. Johnson):
I respectfully dissent with the majority opinion. In the majority opinion, the Board grants
the motion for summary judgment filed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency), and denies the cross-motion for summary judgment filed by Fedex Ground Package
System, Inc. (Fedex), finding that the Agency properly rejected requests for budget amendments
regarding corrective action at Fedex’s site because the Agency received the budget amendment
after it issued an No Further Remediation (NFR) letter for the site.
The crux of both motions for summary judgment is the meaning of 35 Ill. Adm. Code
734.335. Section 734.335(d) provides that a corrective action budget must be submitted to the
Agency prior to the issuance of a NFR letter. However, this sentence must be read in light of he
overall purpose of the regulation. I feel that this regulation is intended to address cases in which
the owner has proceeded with corrective action before submitting a corrective action plan or
budget. In this case, the record is clear that the respondent first submitted the corrective action
plan and the budget, and received approval from the Agency before beginning corrective action.
The amended budget was submitted after the issuance of the NFR letter, but seeks
reimbursement only for any work specifically identified and approved by the Agency in the
corrective action plan and the original budget – both filed before corrective action commenced
and well before the issuance of the NFR letter. Thus, the respondent has followed the
requirements of Section 734.335 and the Agency should consider the amended budget.
Accordingly, I feel the proper course of action in this case is to grant FedEx’s motion for
summary judgment and deny the motion filed by the Agency. This matter should be remanded
to the Agency with instructions to consider whether the proposed budget amendment covers the
actual costs of implementing the corrective action plan previously approved by Agency.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
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Thomas E. Johnson
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the above
dissenting opinion was submitted on January 8, 2007.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board