ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    January 7, 2010
    SCATES SERVICE STATION,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    )
    PCB 10-44
    (UST Appeal)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by G.T. Girard):
    On December 21, 2009, Scates Service Station (Scates) timely filed a petition asking the
    Board to review a November 13, 2009 determination of the Illinois Environmental Protection
    Agency (Agency).
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1) (2008)
    1
    ; 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.300(b), 105.402,
    105.404. The petition was timely filed because it was postmarked on or before the filing
    deadline. The Agency’s determination concerns Scates’ underground storage tank (UST) site in
    Shawneetown, Gallatin County. For the reasons below, the Board accepts Scates’ petition for
    hearing.
    Under the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5 (2008)), the Agency decides
    whether to approve proposed cleanup plans and budgets for leaking UST sites, as well as
    requests for cleanup cost reimbursement from the State’s UST Fund, which consists of UST fees
    and motor fuel taxes. If the Agency disapproves or modifies a submittal, the UST owner or
    operator may appeal the decision to the Board.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(1), 57-57.17 (2008); 35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 105.Subpart D. In this case, the Agency granted Scates’ request for reimbursement
    from the UST Fund for the site as to some costs, but denied it as to other costs. Scates appeals
    on the grounds that the Agency determinations is
    erroneous, to the extent it denied $9, 9935.28 for costs lacking supporting
    documentation and justification. The decision is unjustified since prior to
    rendering its final decision, the IEPA did not request additional information or
    revise its payment application forms to identify additional information above and
    beyond that which was provided in the voluminous submissions of Scates Service
    Station’s consultants. Pet at 5.
    Scates’ petition meets the content requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.408.
    1
    All citations to the Act will be to the 2008 compiled statutes, unless the provision at issue has
    been substantively amended in the 2008 compiled statutes.

    2
    The Board accepts the petition for hearing. Scates has the burden of proof.
    See
    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 determination.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.412. Accordingly,
    though the Board hearing affords petitioner the opportunity to challenge the Agency’s reasons
    for its decision, 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) (2008)), which only Scates may extend by waiver
    (
    see
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.308). If the Board fails to take final action by the decision deadline,
    Scates may deem its request granted.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/40(a)(2) (2008). Currently, the decision
    deadline is April 20, 2010, which is the 120th day after the date on which the Board received the
    petition, December 21, 2009.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.114. The Board meeting immediately
    before the decision deadline is scheduled for April 15, 2010.
    Unless the Board or the hearing officer orders otherwise, the Agency must file the entire
    record of its determination by January 20, 2010, which is first business day following the 30th
    day after the Board received Scates’ petition.
    See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 105.410(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 105.410(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 January 7, 2010, by a vote of 5-0.
    ___________________________________
    John Therriault, Assistant Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

    Back to top