Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Upon receipt of a petition for variance,
the Agency shall promptly investigate such petition and consider the
views of persons who might be adversely affected by the grant of a
variance. [
415 ILCS
5/37(a)]
b)
The Agency shall make a
recommendation to the Board as to the disposition of the petition. [
415 ILCS
5/37(a)] Unless otherwise ordered by
the hearing officer or the Board, the recommendation must be filed with the
Board within 45 days after the filing of the petition or amended petition, or
where there has been a hearing scheduled, at least 30 days before hearing,
whichever is earlier. The Agency must serve a copy of its recommendation, in
accordance with 35 Ill. Adm. Code
101.304(c),
on the petitioner, joined parties, and assigned hearing officer, if applicable.
At a minimum, the recommendation must include:
1) A description of the efforts made by the
Agency to investigate the facts as alleged and to ascertain the views of
persons who might be affected, and a summary of the views so
ascertained;
2) The location of the
nearest air monitoring station maintained by the Agency where
applicable;
3) A statement of the
degree to which, if at all, the Agency disagrees with the facts as alleged in
the petition, including facts refuting any allegations in the petition for
variance;
4) Allegations of any
other facts the Agency believes relevant to the disposition of the petition,
including any past or pending enforcement actions against petitioner;
5) The Agency's estimate of the costs that
compliance would impose on the petitioner and on others;
6) The Agency's estimate of the injury that
the grant of the variance would impose on the public, including the effect that
continued discharge of contaminants will have upon the environment;
7) The Agency's analysis of applicable
federal laws and regulations and an opinion concerning the consistency of the
petition with those federal laws and regulations;
8) The status of any permits or pending
permit applications that are associated with or affected by the requested
variance;
9) Allegation of any
facts that the Agency believes are relevant to whether the Board should
condition a grant of variance on the posting of a performance bond under
Section
104.246;
10) Citation to supporting documents or legal
authorities whenever they are used as a basis for the Agency's recommendation.
Relevant portions of the documents and legal authorities, other than Board
decisions, reported state and federal court decisions, state and federal
regulations and statutes, must be appended to the recommendation if not already
in the record of the proceeding;
11) The Agency's recommendation of what
disposition should be made of the petition, deny or grant, and suggested
conditions. If the Agency recommends that variance be granted, a recommended
beginning and end date of the requested variance, and any recommended
conditions on the variance; and
12)
An affidavit verifying any facts outside the record referenced in the
recommendation.
