ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November 15, 2007
    PARTYLITE WORLDWIDE, INC.,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 08-32
    (CAAPP Permit Appeal - Air)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
    On November 2, 2007, PartyLite Worldwide, Inc. (PartyLite) timely filed a petition
    asking the Board to review the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (Agency) alleged
    failure to act on PartyLite’s Clean Air Act Permit Program (CAAPP) application.
    See
    415 ILCS
    5/40.2(a) (2006); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.302(e). The CAAPP application concerns PartyLite’s
    candlemaking facility located at 601 Kingsland Drive in Batavia, Kane County. For the reasons
    below, the Board accepts PartyLite’s petition for hearing.
    Section 39.5 of the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5/39.5 (2006)) sets
    forth the CAAPP, reflecting the requirements of Title V of the federal Clean Air Act
    Amendments of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §§ 7661-7661f). Generally, a CAAPP permit is designed to be
    a single, comprehensive document of all air pollution obligations that apply to facility. The
    Agency decides whether to approve CAAPP permit applications, and Agency decisions may be
    appealed to the Board by, among others, the permit applicant and persons who participated in the
    Agency’s public comment process.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40.2(a) (2006); 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    105.SubpartC. In this case, PartyLite states that it submitted an application for “an initial FESOP
    [Federally Enforceable State Operating Permit] on a CAAPP application form to the Agency . . .
    on September 28, 2005.” Petition at 1. According to the petition, on or about November 3,
    2005, the Agency sent a notice to PartyLite informing the company that “its CAAPP application
    was complete pursuant to Section 39.5 of the Act.”
    Id
    .
    Section 39.5(5)(j) of the Act provides that the Agency shall issue or deny a CAAPP
    permit within 18 months after the date of receiving the complete CAAPP application, with
    several exceptions.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/39.5(5)(j) (2006). Under Section 39.5(5)(j)(ii), the Agency
    “shall act on initial CAAPP applications within 24 months after the date of receipt of the
    complete CAAPP application.” 415 ILCS 5/39.5(5)(j)(ii) (2006). The Act further provides that
    when the Agency fails to take final action within the required time period, the permit is not
    deemed issued, but rather the Agency’s failure is treated as a final permit action subject to
    judicial review pursuant to Sections 40.2 and 41 of the Act.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/39.5(5)(j) (2006);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.302(c). Section 40.2 in turn provides that if the final permit
    action being challenged is the Agency’s failure to timely take final action, “a petition for a
    2
    hearing before the Board shall be filed before the Agency denies or issues the final permit.” 415
    ILCS 5/40.2(a) (2006);
    see also
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.302(e). PartyLite maintains that as of the
    date of its petition, the Agency has failed to take any action on the company’s initial CAAPP
    application. Petition at 2.
    The Board accepts the petition for hearing. PartyLite has the burden of proof.
    See
    415
    ILCS 5/40.2(a) (2006); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.112(a). Hearings will be scheduled and
    completed in a timely manner, consistent with the decision deadline (
    see
    415 ILCS 5/40.2(c)
    (2006)), which only PartyLite may extend by waiver (
    see
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.308). If the
    Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline, “the permit shall not be deemed issued;
    rather, the petitioner shall be entitled to an Appellate Court order pursuant to Section 41(d) of
    this Act [415 ILCS 5/41(d) (2006)].” 415 ILCS 5/40.2(c) (2006). Currently, the decision
    deadline is March 3, 2008, which is the first business day following the 120th day after the
    Board received the petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.114. The Board meeting immediately
    before the decision deadline is scheduled for February 21, 2008.
    Unless the Board or the hearing officer orders otherwise, the Agency must file an answer,
    including the entire record of its determination, within 30 days after it is served with the petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.302(f). 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 105.302(f).
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, John Therriault, Assistant Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the
    Board adopted the above order on November 15, 2007, by a vote of 4-0.
    ___________________________________
    John Therriault, Assistant Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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