tdE4

Illinois

Manufacturers’

Association

www.ima-net.org

1211

West

22nd

Street

•

Suite

620

e

Oak

Brook,

Illinois

60523

630-368-5300

•

Fax:

630-21

8-7467

August

11,2009

220

East

Adams

Streets

Springfield,

Illinois

62701

•

217-522-1240

•

Fax:

217-522-2367

Email:

ima@ima-net.org

Mr.

Timothy

Fox,

Hearing

Officer

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board

James

R.

Thompson

Center

100

W.

Randolph

Suite

11-500

Chicago,

Illinois

60601

RE:

Rulemaking

R2006-22,

In

the

Matter

of:

NOx

Trading

Program:

Amendments

to

35

ilL

Adm.

Code

Part

217;

Response

to

Motions

by

the

Illinois

Environmentol

Regulatory

Group

Mr.

Fox:

-

On

behalf

of

the

Illinois

Manufacturers’

Association

(IMA),

I

respectfully

urge

the

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board

to

act

on

pending

motions

for

expedited

action

as

it

relates

to

distributing

NOx

allowances

for

the

2009

ozone

season,

as

well

as

subsequent

control

periods.

The

Illinois

Manufacturers’

Association

is

a

statewide

business

trade

group

representing

nearly

4,000

member

companies

and

nearly

600,000

employees.

This

action

is

necessary

because

the

Illinois

General

Assembly

required

the

adoption

of

implementation

of

a

Nitrogen

Oxide

(NOx)

State

Implementation

Plan

pursuant

to

Section

9.9

of

the

Act,

415

ILCS

5/9.9

and

Trading

Program

for

Specified

NOx

Generating

Units

(35

Ill.

Admin.

Code

Part

217,

Subpart

U.

This

is

still

a

valid

regulation

in

Illinois

despite

the

fact

that

the

USEPA

stated

it

will

no

longer

issue

NOX

SIP

call

allowances

after

the

2008

ozone

season.

At

this

point,

the

Illinois

EPA

has

failed

to

take

any

action

to

establish

a

new

regulatory

mechanism

for

issuing

these

allowances

for

sources

subject

to

Subpart

U

for

the

2009

ozone

season.

The

IMA

supports

action

on

these

pending

motions

for

the

following

reasons:

1.

Many

of

our

member

companies

own

or

operate

budget

units

and

are

therefore

subject

to

Subpart

U.

2.

The

Illinois

EPA

has

yet

to

issue

any

NOx

allocation

for

the

2009

ozone

season

or

subsequent

years

despite

the

fact

that

it

is

a

valid

and

enforceable

lllinois

regulation.

3.

Failure

by

the

IL

EPA

to

issue

the

NOx

allowances

could

place

manufacturing

companies

in

jeopardy

of

violating

the

regulation

that

require

subject

sources

to

hold

allowances

by

November30

for

each

ton

of

NOx

emitted

during

the

ozone

season.

4.

It

is

our

understanding

that

the

USEPA

is

no

longer

issuing

allowances

for

the

NOx

Budget

Trading

Program,

as

would

be

required

to

satisfy

the

above

described

requirement.

Celebrating

115

yeats

of

service

to

Illinois

rnanufacture,s

—

1893

-2008

Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 7, 2009

---

5.

The

IMA understands

that NOx

allowances

could

potentially

be obtained

through

the

purchase

of

Clean

Air

Interstate

Rule

(“CAIR”) NOx allowances,

although

we are

uncertain

whether

those

allowanceswould

be

legallysufficienttosatisfytbe

Subpart

U requirementto

hold

NOxSIPCaII

allowances.

Nor,

even

if

sufficient,

could

our members

demonstrate

compliance with the

requirement,

due

to

their

inability

to obtain

CAIR

compliance

accounts

from the

USEPA

Clean

Air

Markets

Division

(“CAMD”),

absent

a

federally

approved

trading

program

in

Illinois.

6. The

IMA is

concerned

that

our member

companies,

through

no

fault

of

their

own,

may

be in

violation

of

both

the

law

and

their

Clean

Air Act

Permit

Program

(“CAAPP”)

permits,

if

immediate

action

is

not

taken

to

remedy

the

above

described

circumstances.

The

potential

for

violation

of

an applicable

regulation

and/or

CAAPP

permit

condition

could

subject

them

to

federal,

state,

or third-party

enforcement

actions,

in addition

to

being

required

to

disclose

the

potential

liability

on

Securities

and Exchange

Commission

filings.

In

light

of

the

above,

the

IMA

requests

that

the Board

grant

Motion

for

Emergency

Rule

in

order

to

require

that

2009

NOx

allowances

be distributed

to

impacted

sources,

and

grant

the

Motion

for

Expedited

Action

on

the

Alternative

Proposal

in order

to

bring

NOx

SIP

Call

budget

units

into

the

CAIR

NOx

Ozone

Season

Trading

Program

for

the

2010

control

period

and

beyond.

Thank

you

for your

consideration.

Mark

Denzler

Vice

President

—

Government

Affairs

&

Membership

Illinois

Manufacturers’

Association

220

E.

Adams

Springfield

IL

62701

(217)

522-1240

Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 12, 2009 PC#6