Opinion ID: 2035709
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Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Narrative Standard

Text: In accordance with a guidance letter issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Board's regulations establish a dual standard system for controlling substances which are toxic to human health, or to animal, plant or aquatic life. The Board established this dual system in order to provide a complete regulatory scheme to prevent toxic polluting of Illinois waters. As stated, the regulations set forth the maximum allowable concentration limits for certain known toxics in specific numeric terms (numeric standards). (35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302.208 (1992).) For all other toxic substances, including those that are, as yet, undetected, the regulations set forth a narrative standard. The Board's narrative standard provides: Waters of the State shall be free from any substances or combination of substances in concentrations toxic or harmful to human health, or to animal, plant or aquatic life. 35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302. 210 (1992). In essence, the narrative standard prohibits actual toxicity caused either by the nature of the substance or the quantity of the substance. Under the narrative standard, any substance or combination of substances is deemed to be toxic and in violation of the narrative standard if present in concentrations exceeding any of five basic criteria which relate to human health and animal, plant and aquatic life. (35 Ill.Adm. Code §§ 302.210(a) through (c) (1992).) The amendments sub judice contain an elaborate and complex series of procedures (subpart F) which the Agency is directed to follow to derive narrative criteria. (35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302, subpart F (1992).) The narrative criteria are numeric concentrations limits which will be used to determine whether a discharger is in compliance with the Board's narrative standard. Under the regulations, the Agency would normally derive criteria when a discharger applies for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and the derived criteria are then included as a permit condition or limitation in the applicant's permit. The criteria established by the narrative standard have no fixed values. Rather, they are derived by the Agency on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the procedures, data assessment methods and test protocols set forth in subpart F. In deriving the criteria, the Agency must use data which is site-specific to the particular permit applicant because the criteria are based on, inter alia, the nature of the permittee's effluent, the nature and location of the particular body of receiving water, and the particular species which live therein. Once derived, the Agency must publish a list of derived criteria in the Illinois Register at least quarterly. (35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302.669(a) (1992).) In addition, the Agency must retain the record established in its derivation process. 35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302.210(f)(2) (1992). A discharger may challenge both the validity of a derived criterion and the correctness of the Agency's application of the criterion to the particular discharger. (35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302.210(f) (1992).) Under the regulations, dischargers have an opportunity for case-by-case Board review of the criterion whenever that criterion is first applied to the discharger in either a permit appeal or an enforcement action brought against it for violation of the Act, the Board's regulations or its permit conditions. (35 Ill.Adm.Code §§ 302.210(f)(1), (f)(2) (1992).) On appeal, the Agency has the burden of providing the derivation record. (35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302.210(f)(2) (1992).) In permit appeals, the Agency has the burden of going forward with the basis for its derivation of the criterion. (35 Ill. Adm.Code § 302.210(f)(2) (1992).) In an enforcement action, the Agency has the burden of going forward with proof and of persuasion regarding the validity and proper application of the criterion. (35 Ill.Adm. Code § 302.210(f)(3) (1992).) There is no presumption in favor of the validity or proper application of any Agency-derived criteria. 35 Ill.Adm.Code § 302.210(f)(2) (1992). In its order, the Board explained the purpose of the narrative standard and subpart F criteria as follows: The problem is that there are many substances for which we cannot identify with much precision what constitutes a `toxic amount'. In fact, the down-side is that we cannot do this for the great majority of toxic substances; the many necessary studies simply have not yet been done, and in many cases the toxic nature of substances themselves may not have been identified or the toxic substance may not even have been yet manufactured.   The Agency has proposed, and we accept, what we believe to be an innovative and constructive approach to defining what constitutes a `toxic amount' for those substances for which we cannot yet realistically specify a numeric standard. The approach consists of setting up a tight series of procedures and directives by which the best currently-available toxicity information is used to approximate that numeric criterion which might eventually evolve into a standard as more and better data accumulate.