County of Lake v. Pollution Control Board

457 N.E.2d 1309, 120 Ill. App. 3d 89, 75 Ill. Dec. 750, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2582
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 12, 1983
Docket83-3
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 457 N.E.2d 1309 (County of Lake v. Pollution Control Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
County of Lake v. Pollution Control Board, 457 N.E.2d 1309, 120 Ill. App. 3d 89, 75 Ill. Dec. 750, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2582 (Ill. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

JUSTICE UNVERZAGT

delivered the opinion of the court:

Browning-Ferris Industries of Illinois, Inc. (B.F.I.), petitioned for review of site location approval conditions for a regional pollution control facility with the Pollution Control Board (PCB), pursuant to section 40.1 of the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat., 1982 Supp., ch. 11IV2, par. 1040.1). B.F.I. sought review by the PCB of 16 of 25 conditions imposed on its sanitary landfill by the Lake County Board (County Board) pursuant to section 39.1 of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. IIIV2, par. 1039.1, amended to Ill. Rev. Stat., 1982 Supp., ch. IIIV2, par. 1039.2). The Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) intérvened in support of B.F.I. before the PCB.

The PCB*s order partially or completely struck 14 conditions, amended one and affirmed another. The County Board appealed here for a direct review of the PCB’s order.

B.F.I. owns and operates a 74.3-acre solid waste disposal site known as Site No. 2 in an unincorporated area of Lake County, Illinois. The site is located approximately 2,000 feet east of the northeast corner of Ninth Street and Green Bay Road, near the village of Winthrop Harbor and the city of Zion. B.F.I. received its operational permit for Site No. 2 from the Agency on December 23, 1981. Under the permit, Site No. 2 was allowed to “handle general municipal solid waste excluding all liquids, sludges and hazardous waste.”

Adjacent to Site No. 2 on its western border lies Site No. 1. Site No. 1 is also owned and operated by B.F.I. It is a 71-acre landfill which is permitted as a landfill for special and hazardous waste. Site No. 1 and Site No. 2 are separated by 10 feet of clay.

B.F.I. decided to expand Site No. 2 by adding special wastes, as defined by the Act to the landfill. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. llD/a, par. 1003(aa), amended to Ill. Rev. Stat., 1982 Supp., ch. llP/a, par. 1003(ff).) Although hazardous wastes are included within the definition for special waste, B.F.I. specifically deleted hazardous waste from its request and sought to add only special, nonhazardous waste.

Since the time that B.F.I. initially received the site approval for Site No. 2 from the Agency, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 172 (also known as Public Act 82 — 682), effective November 12, 1981, amending the Environmental Protection Act (Ill. Rev. Stat., 1982 Supp., ch. Illx/2, par. 1039.2), to transfer the responsibility for hearing and approving site location suitability permits for regional pollution control facilities from the EPA to the relevant locality, in this case, the County Board. The statute requires the County Board to conduct a public hearing on the site location application and conditions approval of the application on proof that the proposed site meets certain statutory criteria. The statute also enables interested parties to obtain review of the County Board decision before the PCB. Ill. Rev. Stat., 1982 Supp., ch. IIIV2, pars. 1039.2,1040.1.

Although Site No. 2 was an existing regional pollution control facility at the time Senate Bill 172 became law, B.F.I. was required to follow the new procedures. The amendments provided for county board approval for a new regional pollution control facility which has as one definition: “a permitted regional pollution control facility requesting approval to store, dispose of, transfer or incinerate, for the first time, any special or hazardous waste.” (El. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. lll1^, par. 1003(t), amended to Ill. Rev. Stat., 1982 Supp., ch. lll1/2, par. 1003(x).) B.F.I. was seeking permission to add special nonhazardous waste for the first time to Site No. 2, which meant that B.F.I. had to obtain approval from the County Board before the Agency would grant a permit. In accordance with the new provisions of the Act, B.F.I. filed its request for site location approval with the County Board.

A Lake County Regional Pollution Control Hearing Committee (Committee) was appointed pursuant to a County Board resolution. The Committee conducted public hearings on B.F.I.’s request for site location.

The County Board was required to approve the site location suitability for Site No. 2 only in accordance with the six criteria set out in section 39.2(a). The section provides:

“(a) The county board of the county or the governing body of the municipality *** shall approve the site location suitability for such new regional pollution control facility only in accordance with the following criteria:
(i) the facility is necessary to accommodate the waste needs of the area it is intended to serve;
(ii) the facility is so designed, located and proposed to be operated that the public health, saféty and welfare will be protected;
(iii) the facility is located so as to minimize incompatibility with the character of the surrounding area and to minimize the effect on the value of the surrounding property;
(iv) the facility is located outside the boundary of the 100 year flood plain as determined by the Illinois Department of Transportation, or the site is flood-proofed to meet the standards and requirements of the Illinois Department of Transportation and is approved by that Department;
(v) the plan of operations for the facility is designed to minimize the danger to the surrounding area from fire, spills, or other operational accidents; and
(vi) the traffic patterns to or from the facility are so designed as to minimize the impact on existing traffic flows.” Ill. Rev. Stat., 1982 Supp., ch. llD/z, par. 1039.2(a).

Following the hearings, the Committee presented its findings to the County Board in a written report. The Committee found that four of the six criteria of section 39.2 were satisfied by B.F.I. They were those found in subparagraphs (i), (iii), (iv), and (vi). However, in order to meet the criteria of subparagraphs (ii) and (v), certain conditions were imposed on B.F.I. The Committee stated:

“That provided the following provisions are followed by the applicant, introduction of special waste to the site will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare, and there will be no increase in the danger to the surrounding area from fire, spills, or other operational accidents.”

The report went on to list 25 conditions, lettered A(i-x) through X, and an unnumbered proviso (Proviso).

The County Board adopted the Committee report in a resolution which granted approval to B.F.I. for the introduction of special, nonhazardous wastes to Site No. 2. The resolution stated “that subject to all such conditions the County Board grants its’ approval ***” and attached the Committee report to its resolution.

B.F.I. filed a petition for review of site location approval conditions with the PCB. The petition asked the PCB to delete 16 of the conditions that were contained in the County Board’s approval resolution. The objected to conditions are:

“C.

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Bluebook (online)
457 N.E.2d 1309, 120 Ill. App. 3d 89, 75 Ill. Dec. 750, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/county-of-lake-v-pollution-control-board-illappct-1983.