ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    April 19, 2007
    T-TOWN DRIVE THRU, INC.,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    PCB 07-85
    (UST Appeal)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by T.E. Johnson):
    On March 14, 2007, T-Town Drive Thru, Inc. (T-Town) timely filed a petition asking the
    Board to review a March 2, 2007 determination of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    (Agency).
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2004); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.402, 105.406. The Agency’s
    determination concerns T-Town’s underground storage tank (UST) site located at 101 West
    Main Street in Teutopolis, Effingham County. For the reasons below, the Board accepts T-
    Town’s petition for hearing.
    Under the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5 (2004)), the Agency
    determines whether to approve proposed cleanup plans for leaking UST sites, as well as requests
    for cleanup cost reimbursement from the State’s UST Fund, which consists of UST fees and
    motor fuel taxes. If the Agency disapproves or modifies a submittal, the UST owner or operator
    may appeal the decision to the Board.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1), 57-57.17 (2004); 35 Ill. Adm.
    Code 105.Subpart D. In this case, the Agency partially denied T-Town’s request for
    reimbursement from the UST Fund regarding the Teutopolis site. The denied amount is
    $8,109.02. T-Town asserts that the Agency’s determination that T-Town’s application lacked
    supporting documentation is erroneous, arbitrary, and capricious. Further, according to the
    petition, because T-Town submitted an application for reimbursement, not a budget, the Agency
    erred in concluding that the Agency could not determine if the $8.109.02 would be used for
    corrective action activities in excess of those required to meet the minimum requirements of Title
    XVI of the Act. T-Town’s petition meets the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    105.408.
    The Board accepts the petition for hearing. T-Town has the burden of proof.
    See
    35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 105.112(a). Hearings will be based exclusively on the record before the Agency at
    the time the Agency issued its determination.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.412. Accordingly,
    though the Board hearing affords petitioner the opportunity to challenge the Agency’s reasons
    for its decision, information developed after the Agency’s decision typically is not admitted at
    hearing or considered by the Board.
    See
    Alton Packaging Corp. v. PCB, 162 Ill. App. 3d 731,
    738, 516 N.E.2d 275, 280 (5th Dist. 1987);
    Community Landfill Co. & City of Morris v. IEPA,
    2
    PCB 01-170 (Dec. 6, 2001),
    aff’d sub nom.
    331 Ill. App. 3d 1056, 772 N.E.2d 231 (3rd Dist.
    2002).
    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 T-Town may extend by waiver
    (
    see
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.308). If the Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline,
    T-Town may deem its request granted.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2004). Currently, the decision
    deadline is July 12, 2007, which is the 120th day after the Board received the petition.
    See
    35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 101.300(a), 105.114. A Board meeting is scheduled for July 12, 2007.
    The deadline for the Agency to file the entire record of its determination was
    April 13, 2007,
    i.e.
    , 30 days after the Board received the petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code
    101.300(a), 105.410(a). The record must comply with the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm.
    Code 105.410(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 April 19, 2007, by a vote of 3-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

    Back to top