ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November 5, 2008
    CITY OF JOLIET,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 09-25
    (Permit Appeal - Water)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by T.E. Johnson):
    On October 17, 2008, the City of Joliet (City) timely filed a petition asking the Board to
    review a September 12, 2008 determination of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    (Agency).
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2006); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.206(a). The determination
    concerns a permit addressing the City’s application of sewage sludge from its wastewater
    treatment operations to agricultural lands. For the reasons below, the Board accepts the petition
    for review.
    Under the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5 (2006)), the Agency is the
    permitting authority, responsible for administering Illinois’ regulatory programs to protect the
    environment. If the Agency denies a permit or grants one with conditions, the permit applicant
    may appeal the Agency’s decision to the Board.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/4, 5, 40(a)(1) (2006); 35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 105.Subpart B. In this case, the Agency denied the City’s requested permit
    modification concerning permissible increased radium levels in soil from sludge application.
    The City asserts that there is no basis in law or fact to support the inclusion of the condition it
    sought to modify. The City’s petition meets the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    105.210.
    The Board accepts the petition for hearing. The City has the burden of proof.
    See
    415
    ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2006));
    see also
    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 permit decision.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.214(a). Accordingly, though the Board hearing affords a permit
    applicant the opportunity to challenge the Agency’s reasons for denying or conditionally
    granting the permit, 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,
    PCB 01-170 (Dec. 6, 2001),
    aff’d sub nom.
    Community Landfill Co. & City of Morris v. PCB &
    IEPA, 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) (2006)), which only the City may extend by waiver
    2
    (
    see
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.308). If the Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline,
    the City “may deem the permit issued.” 415 ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2006). Currently, the decision
    deadline is February 16, 2009, which is the 120th day after the Board received the petition. The
    Board meeting immediately before the decision deadline is scheduled for February 5, 2009.
    Unless the Board or the hearing officer orders otherwise, the Agency must file the entire
    record of its determination by November 17, 2008, which is the first business day following the
    30th day after the date on which the Board received the City’s petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code
    101.300(a), 105.212(a). 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 105.212(b).
    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 5, 2008, by a vote of 4-0.
    ___________________________________
    John Therriault, Assistant Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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