Janson v. Pollution Control Board

387 N.E.2d 404, 69 Ill. App. 3d 324, 25 Ill. Dec. 748, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2175
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 22, 1979
Docket77-344
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 387 N.E.2d 404 (Janson 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
Janson v. Pollution Control Board, 387 N.E.2d 404, 69 Ill. App. 3d 324, 25 Ill. Dec. 748, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2175 (Ill. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE BARRY

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal is from an opinion and order of the Pollution Control Board entered May 12, 1977. The petitioner, Charles Janson, d/b/a Bartonville Disposal, was charged by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, hereafter referred to as E.P.A., with violating certain provisions of the Environmental Protection Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 111½, par. 1001 et seq.) and certain rules and regulations of the Pollution Control Board, namely chapter 7, “Solid Waste” (“Solid Waste Rules”). Although a public hearing was held on the matter, the petitioner Janson did not participate other than filing a limited appearance and special response to the complaint against him. He contested the jurisdiction of the Pollution Control Board at the hearing on the ground that a pending circuit court case involved “essentially identical parties, subject matter, and violations,” and that the maintenance of the two proceedings in different forums violated the due process of law provisions of the Illinois and Federal Constitutions. The heart of petitioner’s contention is the dual manner by which the E.P.A. prosecutes what petitioner alleges to be the same statutory violations. At the conclusion of the public hearing the Pollution Control Board, by a written order and opinion, denied petitioner’s motion attacking its jurisdiction and found petitioner to be in violation of the Solid Waste Rules and the Environmental Protection Act as charged. The order further commanded petitioner to cease and desist all further violations and to pay a *6,000 civil monetary penalty to the State of Illinois. It is from this order that the petitioner appeals, again challenging the jurisdiction of the Pollution Control Board to proceed in this matter.

The action in the circuit court referred to by the petitioner was presented at the hearing before the Pollution Control Board by way of a copy of the amended complaint on remand in case No. 70-E-3359 of the Tenth Judicial Circuit of Peoria County, Illinois. The nature of that circuit court litigation, a 1970 case, initially was an action to enjoin the same petitioner’s use of land as a commercial garbage dump in violation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. This proceeding was discussed factually at length in People ex rel. Scott v. Janson (1974), 57 Ill. 2d 451, 312 N.E.2d 620, and we will not repeat in full the facts and pleadings as they are fully set out in the supreme court opinion. The conclusion of the circuit proceeding was a voluntary court approved stipulation between the parties by which Janson agreed to suspend further dumping operations and would generally conform his activities to the Environmental Protection Act. The stipulation further provided for a monetary penalty if Janson did not comply with the stipulation as well as authorizing that he could be held in contempt of court for nonpayment of said penalty without hearing and without notice. Ultimately Janson allegedly violated the terms of the stipulation which resulted in his being assessed a *5,000 penalty and in the trial court’s prohibiting the further use of his dump site until he complied with the terms of the stipulation. Janson appealed from the trial court’s order. He failed to file a bond to stay enforcement of the trial court’s judgment for the penalty and was held in contempt for his refusal to produce certain documents in response to a citation to discover assets. On appeal, the appellate court reversed the trial court and found that the requisite subject matter jurisdiction was lacking. (People ex rel. Scott v. Janson (3d Dist. 1973), 10 Ill. App. 3d 787, 295 N.E.2d 140.) The supreme court reversed the appellate court and remanded with directions holding that the trial court was empowered to enforce the terms of the court approved stipulation. (People ex rel. Scott v. Janson (1974), 57 Ill. 2d 451, 312 N.E.2d 620.) The amended complaint contained in the record on this appeal was filed in the circuit court on remand by the supreme court.

The petitioner has presented two issues for review: (1) Whether the finding of the Pollution Control Board that the two cases, one before the Pollution Control Board and the other in the Circuit Court of Peoria County, involved different parties and different issues is clearly erroneous, and (2) whether the action before the Pollution Control Board while another action of allegedly the same parties and issues is pending in circuit court violates the petitioner’s right to be free from double jeopardy and to have due process of law afforded to him under both the constitutions of the State of Illinois and the United States.

The petitioner erroneously contends that he was twice placed in jeopardy for the same offenses as a result of the simultaneous proceedings before the Pollution Control Board and the Circuit Court of Peoria County. This argument fails to recognize that the pending circuit court action as well as the proceeding before the Pollution Control Board are civil in nature. (City of Monmouth v. Pollution Control Board (1974), 57 Ill. 2d 482, 313 N.E.2d 161.) The doctrine of double jeopardy, in either its constitutional or common law sense, has been applied to criminal law prosecutions only and does not apply to civil actions. (United States v. Smith (D.P.R. 1968), 288 F. Supp. 394; City of Chicago v. La Salle National Bank Trust (1974), 20 Ill. App. 3d 462, 314 N.E.2d 737). The petitioner’s reliance upon the case of Bulk Terminals Co. v. Environmental Protection Agency (1975), 29 Ill. App. 3d 978, 331 N.E.2d 260, rev’d (1976), 65 Ill. 2d 31, 357 N.E.2d 430, is misplaced. Even though the appellate court case was reversed by the supreme court on other grounds, we believe the appellate court’s opinion is otherwise clearly distinguishable. There the same offense was involved, the source of the alleged pollution had long since been eliminated, and no present threat to the environment existed. Further we are unpersuaded by the language in that appellate court opinion that former precedent should be ignored and that the doctrine of double jeopardy should be applied to matters essentially civil in nature.

The petitioner next asserts that the finding of the Pollution Control Board, that the parties and issues in the case before them and in the Circuit Court of Peoria County are different, is against the manifest weight of the evidence. The petitioner claims that the two proceedings involve the identical parties, the same dump site, and that the petitioner is accused of committing the same type of violations under the same statute for a portion of the same time period.

The Pollution Control Board and the circuit court do have some concurrent jurisdiction under the Environmental Protection Act.

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Bluebook (online)
387 N.E.2d 404, 69 Ill. App. 3d 324, 25 Ill. Dec. 748, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/janson-v-pollution-control-board-illappct-1979.