Opinion ID: 2003432
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Count II of Intervening Plaintiff's Amended Complaint

Text: Insofar as this court finds count I of the intervening plaintiff's amended complaint insufficient as a matter of law to support the injunction, this court must consider count II of the Kane County complaint, the merits of which the appellate court did not reach. Count II in essence argues that if the balefill is developed an array of environmental harms will result. We find that, as with the claims of environmental harm alleged by the Cook County plaintiff municipalities, Kane County's claims of potential harm are likewise an impermissible collateral attack on the Agency's permitting decision. In issuing the development permit, the Agency determined that the balefill development plan comports with the entire range of environmental regulations governing the development of such facilities which seek to ensure they do not harm the environment. As we noted earlier, the Cook County board reasonably and lawfully relied on the Agency's environmental assessment in issuing its final planned use development permit for the balefill. Thus, any claims of environmental harm by Kane County at this juncture constitute an attempt to second-guess the Agency, which is not permitted under the Act. Moreover, we note once again that the Act authorizes private persons, the Agency, the various State's Attorneys and even the Attorney General to file enforcement actions against parties who violate environmental regulations. (415 ILCS 5/31(b), 43(a), (b) (West 1992).) Thus, it is clear that if at any point the balefill or its development actually threatens the environment, as contended in the in futuro allegations of the Kane County and Cook County complaints, adequate safeguards exist to at that point stop any further development and/or operation. (See Stark v. Pollution Control Board (1988), 177 Ill. App.3d 293, 126 Ill.Dec. 624, 532 N.E.2d 309.) In the interim, however, we conclude that Kane County's allegations of environmental harm are premature and constitute an impermissible collateral attack on the Agency's decision to issue a development permit.