ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 7, 2009
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Complainant,
v.
VILLAGE OF ROCKTON, an Illinois
municipal,
Respondent.
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PCB 09-104
(Enforcement - Water)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
On April 30, 2009, the Office of the Attorney General, on behalf of the People of the
State of Illinois (People), filed a three-count complaint against the Village of Rockton
(respondent).
See
415 ILCS 5/31(c)(1) (2006); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 103.204. The complaint
concerns respondent’s River Street lift station located along the Rock River in Rockton and
respondent’s waste water treatment plant located at 718 West Union Street, Rockton, Winnebago
County.
Under the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5 (2006)), the Attorney
General and the State’s Attorneys may bring actions before the Board to enforce Illinois’
environmental requirements on behalf of the People.
See
415 ILCS 5/31 (2006); 35 Ill. Adm.
Code 103. In this case, the People allege that respondent violated Sections 12(a) of the Act, (415
ILCS 5/12(a) (2006)), and Sections 306.102(a), (b), and 306.304 of the Board’s Water Pollution
Regulations (35 Ill. Adm. Code 306.102(a), (b), and 306.304). The People further allege that
respondent violated these provisions by causing, threatening or allowing discharge of untreated
sewage into the Rock River, thereby causing, threatening or allowing water pollution; failing to
provide a reliable alarm system at the lift station, and failing to control sanitary sewer overflow.
The Board accepts the complaint for hearing.
See
35 Ill. Adm. Code 103.212(c). A
respondent’s failure to file an answer to a complaint within 60 days after receiving the complaint
may have severe consequences. Generally, if respondent fails within that timeframe to file an
answer specifically denying, or asserting insufficient knowledge to form a belief of, a material
allegation in the complaint, the Board will consider respondent to have admitted the allegation.
35 Ill. Adm. Code 103.204(d).
The Board directs the hearing officer to proceed expeditiously to hearing. Among the
hearing officer’s responsibilities is the “duty . . . to ensure development of a clear, complete, and
concise record for timely transmission to the Board.” 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.610. A complete
record in an enforcement case thoroughly addresses, among other things, the appropriate remedy,
if any, for the alleged violations, including any civil penalty.
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If a complainant proves an alleged violation, the Board considers the factors set forth in
Sections 33(c) and 42(h) of the Act to fashion an appropriate remedy for the violation.
See
415
ILCS 5/33(c), 42(h) (2006). Specifically, the Board considers the Section 33(c) factors in
determining, first, what to order the respondent to do to correct an on-going violation, if any,
and, second, whether to order the respondent to pay a civil penalty. The factors provided in
Section 33(c) bear on the reasonableness of the circumstances surrounding the violation, such as
the character and degree of any resulting interference with protecting public health, the technical
practicability and economic reasonableness of compliance, and whether the respondent has
subsequently eliminated the violation.
If, after considering the Section 33(c) factors, the Board decides to impose a civil penalty
on the respondent, only then does the Board consider the Act’s Section 42(h) factors in
determining the appropriate amount of the civil penalty. Section 42(h) sets forth factors that may
mitigate or aggravate the civil penalty amount, such as the duration and gravity of the violation;
whether the respondent showed due diligence in attempting to comply; any economic benefit that
the respondent accrued from delaying compliance; and the need to deter further violations by the
respondent and others similarly situated.
With Public Act 93-575, effective January 1, 2004, the General Assembly changed the
Act’s civil penalty provisions, amending Section 42(h) and adding a new subsection (i) to
Section 42. Section 42(h)(3) now states that any economic benefit to respondent from delayed
compliance is to be determined by the “lowest cost alternative for achieving compliance.” The
amended Section 42(h) also requires the Board to ensure that the penalty is “at least as great as
the economic benefits, if any, accrued by the respondent as a result of the violation, unless the
Board finds that imposition of such penalty would result in an arbitrary or unreasonable financial
hardship.”
Under these amendments, the Board may also order a penalty lower than a respondent’s
economic benefit from delayed compliance if the respondent agrees to perform a “supplemental
environmental project” (SEP). An SEP is defined in Section 42(h)(7) as an “environmentally
beneficial project” that a respondent “agrees to undertake in settlement of an enforcement action
. . . but which the respondent is not otherwise legally required to perform.” SEPs are also added
as a new Section 42(h) factor (Section 42(h)(7)), as is whether a respondent has “voluntary self-
disclosed . . . the non-compliance to the [Illinois Environmental Protection] Agency” (Section
42(h)(6)). A new Section 42(i) lists nine criteria for establishing voluntary self-disclosure of
non-compliance. A respondent establishing these criteria is entitled to a “reduction in the portion
of the penalty that is not based on the economic benefit of non-compliance.”
Accordingly, the Board further directs the hearing officer to advise the parties that in
summary judgment motions and responses, at hearing, and in briefs, each party should consider:
(1) proposing a remedy for a violation, if any (including whether to impose a civil penalty), and
supporting its position with facts and arguments that address any or all of the Section 33(c)
factors; and (2) proposing a civil penalty, if any (including a specific total dollar amount and the
portion of that amount attributable to the respondent’s economic benefit, if any, from delayed
compliance), and supporting its position with facts and arguments that address any or all of the
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Section 42(h) factors. The Board also directs the hearing officer to advise the parties to address
these issues in any stipulation and proposed settlement that may be filed with the Board.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, John Therriault, Assistant Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the
Board adopted the above order on May 7, 2009, by a vote of 5-0.
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John Therriault, Assistant Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
