(A) Composition of Committee.
(1) The County Pollution Control Site Hearing Committee shall consist of the members of the County Land Use and Development Committee and the Chairperson of the County Board.
(2) The Committee shall elect by a majority vote a Hearing Officer to serve during any public hearing concerning an application for site location approval. The Hearing Officer shall serve at the pleasure of the Committee. Compensation for the services of the Hearing Officer shall be agreed upon between the Hearing Officer and the county before the public hearings begin. The Hearing Officer shall preside at the public hearing and shall make any decisions concerning the admission of evidence and the manner in which the hearing is conducted subject to this chapter. The Hearing Officer shall make all rulings and decisions in accordance with fundamental fairness. No ruling of the Hearing Officer concerning admissibility of evidence or procedural issues at the public hearing shall be appealable to the Committee or the County Board.
(B) Chairperson of Committee. The Chairperson of the County Board shall serve as the Chairperson of the Pollution Control Site Hearing Committee. In the event that the Chairperson cannot serve, the Chairperson of the Land Use and Development Committee shall assume the duties of Chairperson of the Committee in relation to the public hearings on the application.
(C) Quorum. Four members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of holding the public hearing.
(D) Public hearing.
(1) Within a reasonable time from the date the request for site location approval is filed, the Chairperson of the County Board shall determine the date, time and location upon which the public hearing shall be held. The initial public hearing must be scheduled no sooner than 90 days, but no later than 120 days, from the date the request for site approval was filed with the County Clerk.
(2) If, in the Chairperson’s reasonable opinion, the facilities of the county building are not sufficient to accommodate the number of persons expected to attend the hearing, the Chairperson may arrange for the hearing to be conducted at a site other than the county building. In such an event, the Chairperson is authorized to lease an adequate auditorium and sound system for the hearing. Any and all costs associated with the acquisition shall be paid by the applicant.
(3) The Chairperson of the County Board shall promptly notify the Administrator of the Department of Planning and Zoning of the date upon which the hearing shall be held and shall request the Administrator of the Department of Planning and Zoning to cause notice of the hearing to be made as set forth in an Act Relating to the Location of Sanitary Landfills and Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites (ILCS Ch. 415, Act 5, § 39.3(d)). The notice must be given as follows:
(a) At least once per week for three successive weeks in the legal notice section of a newspaper of general circulation published in the county;
(b) At least once during the week preceding the public hearing, as a display ad in a newspaper of general circulation throughout the county. The notice shall consist of all items hereinafter described;
(c) Written notice sent by certified mail to all members of the General Assembly from the district in which the proposed site is located;
(d) Written notice sent by certified mail to the State Environmental Protection Agency; and
(e) The notice shall consist of the following:
1. The name and address of the applicant requesting the site approval;
2. The name of the legal owners of the site property; if ownership is in a land trust, the name(s) of the beneficiaries;
3. The legal description of the site;
4. The street address of the property. If there is no street address, a description of the site with reference to location, ownership or occupancy or in some other manner which reasonably identifies the property to the local residents;
5. The nature and size of the proposed development;
6. The nature of the activity proposed;
7. The probable life of the proposed activity;
8. The time and date of the public hearing;
9. The location of the public hearing; and
10. A statement that all copies of evidence, other than testimony, to be submitted by all parties to the siting process at the public hearing must be filed with the County Clerk at least ten days before the date of the first public hearing. In addition, a statement that a list of all potential witnesses who are expected to testify at the public hearing, on behalf of any party to the siting process, must be filed with the County Clerk at least ten days before the date of the first public hearing.
(4) The Administrator of the Department of Planning and Zoning shall promptly notify the applicant and all municipalities within one and one-half miles of the proposed facility of the date, time and location of the hearing.
(5) The Administrator of the Department of Planning and Zoning shall make the necessary arrangements to have a court reporter present at any public hearing for purposes of establishing a record and a transcript thereof.
(6) The State’s Attorney, or an assistant, shall serve as legal advisor for the County Regional Pollution Control Site Hearing Committee.
(7) All written reports, studies, exhibits or other evidence or copies thereof, other than testimony, which any person desires to submit for the record at the public hearing must be filed with the County Clerk at least ten days before the public hearing and shall be available for public inspection in the office of the County Clerk. A list of all potential witnesses who may be called to testify at the public hearing by any party to the siting process must be filed with the County Clerk at least ten days before the public hearing and shall be available for public inspection in the office of the County Clerk. In the event the tenth day prior to a public hearing falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the next working day shall be considered the day the reports, studies and exhibits must be filed. The County Clerk shall date stamp any reports, studies, exhibits or other evidence upon receipt.
(8) Members of the public shall be allowed to obtain copies of any documents filed upon payment of the actual cost of reproduction.
(9) All testimony at any public hearing shall be under oath or affirmation.
(10) A transcript shall be kept of all proceedings before the Hearing Committee.
(11) The applicant for site location approval shall have the burden of proof and the burden of going forward first with evidence. The testimonial evidence introduced by the applicant may not exceed the scope of the application. The oral testimony may only explain and clarify the application, not amend the application.
(12) All members of the public who desire to be participants in the hearing must submit written notification, along with copies of evidence and a list of potential witnesses, to the County Clerk ten days before the first day of the public hearing. Any person so appearing at the public hearing shall have the right to present testimony and witnesses. Any person shall have the right to be represented by an attorney at the public hearing. Opportunity for any persons appearing at the public hearing to cross-examine any witness may be reasonably limited in time and duration by the Hearing Officer, to assure completion of the hearings in accordance with deadlines in the State Environmental Protection Act, being ILCS Ch. 415, Act 5. The Hearing Officer may propound questions to any witness or to the applicant to clarify the record established by the participants at the hearing or to bring out relevant information. The county shall be deemed a participant and a party to all proceedings and shall proceed last with its case and cross-examination.
(13) The applicant, county staff’s counsel and the Hearing Committee’s counsel shall be allowed to cross-examine witnesses by right, subject to a reasonable limitation as may be set by the Hearing Officer. Cross examination by county staff’s or Hearing Committee’s counsel shall not be limited to matters contained in the application. Parties represented by attorneys may be allowed to cross-examine in the discretion of the Hearing Officer. Other persons shall be allowed to submit questions to the Hearing Officer, who shall exercise discretion in the manner in which the questions are to be posed to witnesses. Sufficient examination of witnesses is to be allowed so as to provide for fundamental fairness. All witnesses shall be subject to reasonable examination as follows: direct, cross-examination, redirect, recross.
(14) The Hearing Officer may exercise discretion to allow public comment at each hearing or may set one time for public comment.
(15) The Hearing Officer shall permit the county, the applicant and any party to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Hearing Officer may draft his or her own findings of fact and conclusions of law and submit them, and copies of other proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law as may have been filed, to the Hearing Committee.
(Prior Code, § 153.24) (Res. passed 3-16-1989; Res. passed 10-14-1999)