ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    February 1, 2007
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Complainant,
    v.
    CHARLES NORMAN BARTLETT,
    Respondent.
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    AC 07-28
    (IEPA No. 310-06-AC)
    (Administrative Citation)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
    On December 18, 2006, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) timely
    filed an administrative citation against Charles Norman Bartlett (Bartlett).
    See
    415 ILCS
    5/31.1(c) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.202(c). The administrative citation concerns Bartlett’s
    site known as Hamburg Pct./Bartlett, which is located approximately 2.5 miles northeast of
    Hamburg and north of Irish Hollow Road in Calhoun County. For the reasons below, the Board
    accepts Bartlett’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 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, 21(o),
    (p), 31.1(c), 42(b)(4), (4-5) (2002); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.
    In this case, the Agency alleges that Bartlett violated Sections 21(p)(1) and (p)(7) of the
    Act (415 ILCS 5/21(p)(1), (7) (2004)) by causing or allowing the open dumping of waste in a
    manner resulting in litter and the deposition of general or clean construction or demolition debris
    at the site. The Agency asks the Board to impose on Bartlett the statutory civil penalty of $1,500
    for each alleged violation, for a total civil penalty of $3,000.
    As required, the Agency served the administrative citation on Bartlett within “60 days
    after the date of the observed violation.” 415 ILCS 5/31.1(b) (2004);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code
    101.300(a), 108.202(b) (Bartlett was personally served on December 18, 2006, which was the
    first business day following the 60th day after the Agency’s October 17, 2006 site visit). The
    Board received a petition for review from Bartlett on January 24, 2007. The petition was timely
    filed because it was postmarked on the filing deadline of January 22, 2007.
    See
    415 ILCS
    5/31.1(d) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.300(b)(2), 108.204(b). Bartlett alleges that he had a
    load of shingles on his truck to dispose, but the only landfill he knew of at the time had closed.
    According to the petition, when Bartlett needed to remove the load from his truck to get the
    vehicle inspected, he discovered that the load of shingles had frozen to the truck’s bed. Bartlett
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    alleges that only by backing up his truck fast and braking hard four times was he able to dislodge
    the frozen shingles, resulting in four piles at the site. The petition states that when Bartlett
    learned of an open landfill and was prepared to re-load his truck with the shingles for disposal,
    the truck’s engine had stopped working.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.206.
    The Board accepts the petition and 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, Bartlett may have to pay the hearing costs of the Board and the Agency.
    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 504.
    Bartlett may withdraw his petition to contest the administrative citation at any time
    before the Board enters its final decision. If Bartlett chooses to withdraw his petition, he must do
    so in writing, unless he does so orally at hearing.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 108.208. If Bartlett
    withdraws his petition after the hearing starts, the Board will require Bartlett to pay the hearing
    costs of the Board and the Agency.
    See id.
    at 108.500(c).
    The Agency 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 Bartlett violated Section 21(p)(1) or (p)(7), the
    Board will impose civil penalties on Bartlett. The civil penalty for violating any provision of
    Section 21(p) is $1,500 for each violation, except that the penalty amount imposed is $3,000 for
    a 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 Bartlett “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 February 1, 2007, by a vote of 4-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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