ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
September 20, 2007
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
RCRA SUBTITLE C UPDATE, USEPA
)
R07-5
AMENDMENTS (January 1, 2006 through
)
(Identical-in-Substance
June 30, 2006)
)
Rulemaking - Land)
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
RCRA SUBTITLE C UPDATE, USEPA
)
R07-14
AMENDMENTS (July 1, 2006 through
)
(Identical-in-Substance
December 31, 2006)
)
Rulemaking - Land)
)
(Consolidated)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
The Board today finds that extension of the rulemaking completion deadline is necessary
for this consolidated docket under Section 7.2(b) of the Environmental Protection Act (Act), 415
ILCS 5/7.2(b) (2006). The final date for Board completion of the amendments is extended from
October 1, 2007 to April 16, 2008. The consolidated docket concerns Illinois regulations that are
“identical in substance” to hazardous waste regulations adopted by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The USEPA rules implement Subtitle C of the
federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA Subtitle C) (42 U.S.C.
§§ 6921
et seq
. (2005)).
This consolidated R07-5/R07-14 includes federal amendments that occurred during the
calendar year 2007. During 2007, USEPA adopted three significant sets of amendments. Those
federal amendments are briefly described as follows:
71 Fed. Reg. 16862 (April 4, 2006)
USEPA amended various provisions of the hazardous waste regulations to reduce the
paperwork burden imposed by the rules. Some of the reduced requirements apply only to
members of USEPA’s Environmental Performance Track Program. The affected rules
include hazardous waste management facility standards and aspects of the permitting
requirements and land disposal restrictions.
71 Fed. Reg. 40254 (July 14, 2006)
USEPA adopted a number of corrections to various of the hazardous waste and used oil
management regulations.
71 Fed. Reg. 42928 (July 28, 2006)
USEPA amended the definition of hazardous waste to exclude cathode ray tubes (CRTs)
that are managed within specified conditions. USEPA intends to encourage the reuse and
recycling of used CRTs and glass from CRTs.
2
Sections 7.2 and 22.4 of the Act (415 ILCS 5/7.2 and 22.4 (2006)) provide for quick
adoption by the Board of regulations that are identical in substance to federal regulations that
USEPA adopts to implement Subtitle C of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
of 1976 (RCRA Subtitle C) (42 U.S.C. §§ 6921
et seq
. (2003)). Section 22.4 also provides that
Title VII of the Act and Section 5 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 ILCS 100/5-35
and 5-40 (2006)) do not apply to the Board’s adoption of identical-in-substance regulations.
Section 7.2(b) requires that “the Board shall complete its rulemaking proceedings within one
year after the adoption of the corresponding federal rule.” 415 ILCS 5/7.2(b) (2006). In the
instance of the present docket, that date would have been April 4, 2007, one year from the
earliest federal amendments involved in docket R07-5.
Section 7.2(b) provides for extension of the deadline for final Board action in identical-
in-substance rulemakings as follows:
The one-year period may be extended by the Board for an additional period of
time if necessary to complete the rulemaking proceeding. In order to extend the
one-year period, the Board must make a finding, based upon the record in the
rulemaking proceeding, that the one-year period is insufficient for completion of
the rulemaking, and such finding shall specifically state the reasons for the
extension. Except as otherwise provided above, the Board must make the finding
that an extension of time is necessary prior to the expiration of the initial one-year
period, and must also publish a notice of extension in the Illinois Register as
expeditiously as practicable following its decision, stating the specific reasons for
the Board's decision to extend. 415 ILCS 5/7.2(b) (2006).
By an order dated January 26, 2007, the Board consolidated the two dockets and
extended the deadline for rule adoption in these consolidated dockets from April 5, 2007 to
October 1, 2007.
The Board found it necessary to extend the one-year period for completion of the present
amendments. The Board stated as follows:
The Board was unable to initiate this rulemaking earlier due to the unusually high
demands on staff resources over the last several months as a result of a greatly
increased volume of complex federal rulemaking . . .. In addition, the Board
expects this rulemaking to involve a significant volume of text. Corrections and
amendments to more than 240 separate federal provisions underlie the
amendments. RCRA Subtitle C Update, USEPA Amendments (January 1, 2006
through June 30, 2006), R07-5, RCRA Subtitle C Update, USEPA Amendments
(July 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006), R07-14, slip op. at 3 (Jan. 26, 2007).
The Board now finds it necessary to further extend the time for completion of the present
amendments. The Board encountered more delay than originally anticipated. The work
involved in completing the amendments in SDWA Update, USEPA Amendments (January 1,
2006 through June 30, 2006), R07-2, SDWA Update, USEPA Amendments (July 1, 2006
3
through December 31, 2006), R07-11 (July 26, 2007) was more extensive than anticipated. That
work delayed work on the amendments in the present docket. Further, assembling the
amendments in the present docket has proven more difficult than foreseen at the time of the
January 26, 2007 order. The amendments involve about 250 separate federal provisions, most of
which are minor amendments and corrections. That volume of 250 federal provisions translates
to more than 1,100 pages of corresponding Illinois regulations text. While the Board anticipates
that the ongoing work will reduce this volume of text, since many of the federal corrections will
not be necessary in the Illinois rules, the review of this volume of amendments has proven very
time-consuming.
Finally, the Agency submitted a letter dated April 5, 2007 that included significant
comments on the prior update docket, UIC Update, USEPA Amendments (January 1, 2005
through June 30, 2005, R06-16, RCRA Subtitle D Update, USEPA Amendments (January 1,
2005 through June 30, 2005), R06-17, RCRA Subtitle C Update (January 1, 2005 through June
30, 2005 and March 23, 2006), R06-18 (Nov. 16, 2006) (consolidated). Although untimely
submitted for consideration in the consolidated R06-16/R06-17/R06-18 docket, to which they
pertain, the Board is evaluating those comments in the present consolidated R07-5/R07-14
docket in order to assure the quality of the hazardous waste rules. Analysis of those comments
has added to the delay in commencement of the amendments in this docket.
The Board now anticipates that completion of the amendments in this consolidated
docket can occur by April 14, 2008, according to the following projected action dates:
Proposal adopted date:
December 20, 2007
Publication submission deadline:
December 31, 2007
Illinois Register
publication date:
January 11, 2008
End of 45-day public comment period:
February 25, 2007
Adoption date:
March 6, 2008
End of 30-day holding period:
April 6, 2008
Possible filing and effective date:
April 14, 2008
Possible
Illinois Register
publication date:
April 25, 2008
This schedule builds a slight margin into the deadline that might accommodate further minor
delay, such as the need to respond to significant comments on the proposed rules.
Thus, the Board anticipates filing the amendments with the Office of the Secretary of
State by April 14, 2008, after expiration of the 30-day holding period required by the agreement
between USEPA and the State of Illinois.
The Clerk of the Board will cause publication of a notice of this extension of the
consolidated docket to appear in the
Illinois Register
that sets forth the foregoing explanation for
the extension.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
4
I, John T. Therriault, Assistant Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that
the Board adopted the above order on September 20, 2007, by a vote of 4-0.
____________________________________
John T. Therriault, Assistant Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
