Section 104.204  Petition Content Requirements

The petition must include the information required by subsections (a) through (n).  Additionally, there are specific content requirements set forth at Section 104.206 for RCRA variance petitions.  If the petitioner believes that any of these requirements are not applicable to the specific variance requested, the petitioner must so state and explain the reasoning.

a)         A statement describing the regulation, requirement, or order of the Board from which a variance is sought.  If variance from a regulation is sought, the statement must include the Illinois Administrative Code citation to the regulation as well as the effective date of that regulation.  If variance from a requirement or order of the Board is sought, the statement must include the citation to that requirement or order of the Board promulgating that requirement, including docket number;

b)         A complete and concise description of the nature of petitioner's activity that is the subject of the proposed variance, including:

1)         The location of, and area affected by, the petitioner's activity;

2)         The location of points of discharge, and, as applicable, the identification of the receiving waterway or land, or, if known, the location of the nearest air monitoring station maintained by the Agency;

3)         An identification, including docket number, of any prior variance issued to the petitioner and, if known, the petitioner's predecessors, concerning similar relief;

4)         An identification, including number, of the environmental permits held by petitioner for the activity which may be affected by grant of variance;

5)         The number of persons employed by the petitioner's facility at issue and the age of that facility;

6)         The nature and amount of the materials used in the process or activity for which the variance is sought and a full description of the particular process or activity in which the materials are used;

7)         A description of the relevant pollution control equipment already in use; and

8)         The nature and amount of emissions, discharges or releases of the constituent in question currently generated by the petitioner's activity;

c)         Data describing the nature and extent of the present or anticipated failure to meet the regulation, requirement, or order of the Board from which variance is sought and facts that support petitioner's argument that compliance with the regulation, requirement, or order of the Board was not or cannot be achieved by any required compliance date;

d)         A description of the efforts that would be necessary for the petitioner to achieve immediate compliance with the regulation, requirement, or Board order at issue.  All possible compliance alternatives, with the corresponding costs for each alternative, must be set forth and discussed. The discussion of compliance alternatives must include the availability of alternate methods of compliance, the extent that the methods were studied, and the comparative factors leading to the selection of the control program proposed for compliance.  The discussion of the costs of immediate compliance may include  the overall capital costs and the annualized capital and operating costs;

e)         Facts that set forth the reasons the petitioner believes that immediate compliance with the regulation, requirement, or order of the Board would impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship;

f)         A detailed description of the compliance plan, including:

1)         A discussion of the proposed equipment or proposed method of control to be undertaken to achieve full compliance with the regulation, requirement, or order of the Board;

2)         A time schedule for the implementation of all phases of the control program from initiation of design to program completion; and

3)         The estimated costs involved for each phase and the total cost to achieve compliance;

g)         A description of the environmental impact of the petitioner's activity including:

1)         The nature and amount of emissions, discharges, or releases of the constituent in question if the requested variance is granted, compared to that which would result if immediate compliance is required;

2)         The qualitative and quantitative description of the impact of petitioner's activity on human health and the environment if the requested variance is granted, compared to the impact of petitioner's activity if immediate compliance is required.  Cross-media impacts, if any, must be discussed; and

3)         A statement of the measures to be undertaken during the period of the variance to minimize the impact of the discharge of contaminants on human, plant, and animal life in the affected area, including the numerical interim discharge limitations that can be achieved during the period of the variance;

h)         Citation to supporting documents or legal authorities whenever they are used as a basis for the petition.  Relevant portions of the documents and legal authorities other than Board decisions, reported state and federal court decisions, or state and federal regulations and statutes must be appended to the petition;

i)          If the requested variance involves an existing permit or a pending permit application, a copy of the material portion of the permit or permit application must be appended to the petition;

j)          Any conditions petitioner suggests for the requested variance;

k)         A proposed beginning and ending date for the variance.  If the petitioner requests that the term of the variance begin on any date other than the date on which the Board takes final action on the petition, a detailed explanation and justification for the alternative beginning date;

l)          A discussion of consistency with federal law, including an analysis of applicable federal law and facts that may be necessary to show compliance with federal law as set forth in Section 104.208;

m)        An affidavit verifying any facts submitted in the petition; and

n)         A statement requesting or denying that a hearing should be held in this matter.

(Source:  Amended at 41 Ill. Reg. 10049, effective July 5, 2017)