As the PCB is an administrative agency and is created by statute, its authority is limited by its enabling statute. Pursuant to section 40.1 of the Environmental Protection Act, an applicant must be named as a respondent to any appeal from the county board's grant or denial of local siting approval. This statute does not grant the PCB discretion to waive or otherwise modify this requirement. A party seeking relief from an order which involved an administrative exercise of special statutory jurisdiction must strictly adhere to the prescribed procedures. This simply means that the petitioner must comply with the agency-review statutory requirements in order for the PCB to have authority to hear the case.
Statutory requirements are either mandatory or jurisdictional.
If the agency does not follow a mandatory requirement, the reviewing court has the discretion to modify the requirement if the party seeking the modification exhibited a good-faith effort to comply. In McGaughy, the supreme court stated that the failure to join a necessary party would result in dismissal under either alternative classification, but the court did not address the situation where the party seeks leave to amend the petition to add the previously omitted necessary party. 258 Ill. App. 253 Ill. App. While petitioners argue that the PCB should have allowed them to amend their petition, they cite no statutory basis for their argument.