Prairie Rivers Network v. Illinois Pollution Control Board

State: Illinois

Court: 4th District Appellate

Docket No: 4-01-0801 Rel

Case Date: 10/24/2002

NO. 4-01-0801

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

PRAIRIE RIVERS NETWORK,
                   Petitioner,
                   v.
THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD;
THE ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY; and BLACK BEAUTY COAL
COMPANY,
                   Respondents.

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Administrative
Review of the
Illinois Pollution
Control Board
No. 01112.

JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:

In December 2000, respondent, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA or agency), issued a final NationalPollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to respondent Black Beauty Coal Company (Black Beauty). In January 2001,petitioner, Prairie Rivers Network (Prairie Rivers), a riverconservation group, filed a petition with respondent, the Illinois Pollution Control Board (Board), requesting that the Boardset aside the final NPDES permit issued to Black Beauty. InAugust 2001, the Board denied Prairie Rivers' petition andaffirmed the IEPA's issuance of the final permit.

Prairie Rivers appeals, arguing that the Board erred bydenying Prairie Rivers' petition because (1) the IEPA failed toprovide it with a meaningful opportunity to participate in thefinal NPDES permit-writing process; (2) the final permit did notinclude certain required conditions; and (3) the IEPA improperlyrelied on documents produced by Black Beauty after the publiccomment period. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Vermilion Grove Mine is a new coal mine located a fewmiles southeast of Georgetown, Illinois. Black Beauty leases theVermilion Grove Mine from Vermilion Coal. In May 2000, the IEPAreceived Black Beauty's "Application for Surface Coal Mining andReclamation Operations Permit," in which Black Beauty sought anNPDES permit to discharge groundwater and storm water into anunnamed tributary of the Little Vermilion River. Black Beauty'splans showed that it intended to (1) drill a hole in the groundto establish the mine entrance, (2) create air shafts for ventilation, (3) establish sediment basins to control drainage in thedisturbed areas, and (4) build a preparation plant, a rail loopand load-out facility, and an office building. According to theplan, the coal would be moved by conveyors from the undergroundmine to a processing area, where it would be cleaned, screened,and crushed. All storm water runoff from the mine would becollected into three connected basins (designated as "003,""003A," and "003B"). In the event that the basin system reachedits capacity due to heavy rainfall, the water that could not beheld in the basins would be diverted through a discharge point(outfall 003) into the unnamed tributary.

On August 4, 2000, the IEPA issued a public notice,pursuant to section 309.109 of Title 35 of the Illinois Administrative Code (Code) (35 Ill. Adm. Code