Illinois § 28

§ 28.

Proposal of regulations; procedure. (a) Any person may present written proposals for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of the Board's regulations, and the Board may make such proposals on its own motion. If the Board finds that any such proposal is supported by an adequate statement of reasons, is accompanied by a petition signed by at least 200 persons, is not plainly devoid of merit and does not deal with a subject on which a hearing has been held within the preceding 6 months, the Board shall schedule a public hearing for consideration of the proposal. If such proposal is made by the Agency or by the Department, the Board shall schedule a public hearing without regard to the above conditions. The Board may hold one or more hearings to consider both the merits and the economics of the proposal. The Board may also in its discretion schedule a public hearing upon any proposal without regard to the above conditions. No substantive regulation shall be adopted, amended, or repealed until after a public hearing within the area of the State concerned. In the case of state-wide regulations hearings shall be held in at least two areas. At least 20 days prior to the scheduled date of the hearing the Board shall give notice of such hearing by public advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the state concerned of the date, time, place and purpose of such hearing; give written notice to any person in the area concerned who has in writing requested notice of public hearings; and make available to any person upon request copies of the proposed regulations, together with summaries of the reasons supporting their adoption. Any public hearing relating to the adoption, amendment, or repeal of Board regulations under this subsection shall be held before a qualified hearing officer, who shall be attended by at least one member of the Board, designated by the Chairman. All such hearings shall be open to the public, and reasonable opportunity to be heard with respect to the subject of the hearing shall be afforded to any person. All testimony taken before the Board shall be recorded stenographically. The transcript so recorded, and any written submissions to the Board in relation to such hearings, shall be open to public inspection, and copies thereof shall be made available to any person upon payment of the actual cost of reproducing the original. After such hearing the Board may revise the proposed regulations before adoption in response to suggestions made at the hearing, without conducting a further hearing on the revisions. In addition, the Board may revise the proposed regulations after hearing in response to objections or suggestions made by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 5-40 and subsection (a) of Section 5-110 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, where the Board finds (1) that such objections or suggestions relate to the statutory authority upon which the regulation is based, whether the regulation is in proper form, or whether adequate notice was given, and (2) that the record before the Board is sufficient to support such a change without further hearing. Any person heard or represented at a hearing or requesting notice shall be given written notice of the action of the Board with respect to the subject thereof. No rule or regulation, or amendment or repeal thereof, shall become effective until a certified copy thereof has been filed with the Secretary of State, and thereafter as provided in the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act as amended. Any person who files a petition for adoption of a regulation specific to that person shall pay a filing fee. (b) The Board shall not, on its own motion, propose regulations pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section or Sections 28.2, 28.4 or 28.5 of this Act to implement the provisions required by or related to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, as now or hereafter amended. However, nothing herein shall preclude the Board from, on its own motion: (1) making technical corrections to adopted rules pursuant to Section 100.240 of Title 1 of the Illinois Administrative Code; (2) modifying a proposed rule following receipt of comments, objections, or suggestions without agreement of the proponent after the end of the hearing and comment period; (3) initiating procedural rulemaking in accordance with Section 26 of this Act; or (4) initiating rulemaking necessitated by a court order directed to the Board. (Source: P.A. 87-860; 87-1213; 88-45.)