(A) No sooner than 90 days but no longer than 120 days from the date of filing of the request for site approval with the County Clerk, a public hearing shall be held by the Regional Pollution Control Hearing Committee.
(B) The Regional Pollution Control Hearing Committee shall consist of members of the County Environmental and Building and Zoning Committees.
(C) Four members shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of holding such a public hearing.
(D) Within ten working days of the date a request for site approval is filed, the Chairperson of the County Board shall determine the date, time and location upon which such public hearing shall be held, but in any event 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.
(E) The Chairperson of the Board shall notify the Clerk of the date upon which such hearing shall be held and shall request the Clerk to cause notice of such hearing to be made as follows:
(1) No later than 14 days prior to such hearing, notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county of the proposed site. Such notice shall consist of the following:
(a) The name and address of the person, partnership or corporation requesting site location approval;
(b) The owner of the site, and in case ownership is in a land trust, the names of the beneficiaries of the trust;
(c) The legal description of the site;
(d) The street address of the property, and if there is no street address applicable to the property, a description of the site with reference to location, ownership or occupancy or in some other manner that will reasonably identify the property to residents of the neighborhood;
(e) The nature and size of the proposed development;
(f) The nature of the activity proposed;
(g) The probable life of the proposed activity;
(h) The time and date of the public hearing;
(i) The location of the public hearing; and
(j) A statement that all copies of evidence other than testimony to be submitted at the public hearing must be filed with the County Clerk at least ten days before the public hearing.
(2) Certified mail to all members of the General Assembly from the district in which the proposed site is located;
(3) Certified mail to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; and
(4) Certified mail to the governing authority of every municipality contiguous to the proposed site.
(F) The County State’s Attorney shall appoint the Hearing Officer for the public hearing on the request for site approval. The Hearing Officer shall preside over 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 decisions and rulings in accordance with fundamental fairness. The Hearing Officer may exclude irrelevant, immaterial, incompetent or unduly repetitious testimony or other evidence. No ruling of the Hearing Officer shall be appealable to the Board.
(G) The applicant for site location approval shall have the burden of going forward with evidence of the suitability of the site location for the proposed use.
(H) Any person appearing at such public hearing shall have the right to give testimony and comment on the suitability of the site location for the proposed use. Any person shall have the right to be represented by an attorney at the public hearing. Such attorneys shall have the right of reasonable cross-examination. Opportunity for any persons appearing at such public hearing to cross-examine any witness shall be limited by the Hearing Officer.
(I) Conduct of the public hearing shall be substantially as follows:
(1) Call to order;
(2) Introduction of the Hearing Committee and Hearing Officer;
(3) Recognition of the applicant and identification of the request for site approval;
(4) Recognition of fees, notices, and date of filing of the request for site approval;
(5) Recognition of the county and other parties wishing to testify and any other reports, exhibits, maps or documents of record as filed pursuant to this chapter. All parties, including members of the public, intending to testify or cross-examine must sign in or submit written notification of that intent to the Regional Pollution Control Hearing Committee on or before the first day of the public hearing. Should the public hearing extend beyond one day, additional parties or members of the public not of record as of the first day of the public hearing will not be allowed to present testimony or cross-examine;
(6) The applicant, the county and other parties may make an opening statement;
(7) The committees shall then hear testimony from the applicant and any witnesses the applicant may wish to call. Upon the close of the applicant’s testimony, other parties may offer expert witnesses and evidence they may wish to present. These other parties may or may not be represented by counsel. Upon the close of the applicant’s and other parties’ testimony and evidence, the county may present any witnesses and evidence it wishes to present. Members of the public, of record, as set forth in division (I)(5) above, may then present oral comment to the Hearing Committee. The Hearing Officer shall decide the order of presentation of testimony subject to this chapter;
(8) All witnesses shall testify under oath. Testimony may include the use of exhibits. All witnesses shall be subject to reasonable examination as follows: direct, cross-examination, redirect, recross, and the like. After all parties have presented testimony, reasonable rebuttal, surrebuttal, and the like, may be allowed at the discretion of the Hearing Officer;
(9) Should any issues, facts, data or other evidence arise during the course of the public hearing, which were not apparent or reasonably foreseeable by a party from the request for site approval as filed with the Clerk, such situation may constitute grounds for a recess in the public hearing for a period not to exceed five working days;
(10) Summary statements by the applicant, other parties and the county, subject to limitations as imposed by the Hearing Officer;
(11) Rebuttal statement, if any, by the applicant, subject to limitations as imposed by the Hearing Officer; and
(12) Hearing closed.
(J) Members or representatives of the governing authority of a municipality contiguous to the proposed site, members or representatives of the County Board of a county in which the proposed site is to be located may appear at and participate in public hearings held pursuant to this section. The public hearing shall develop a record sufficient to form the basis of appeal of the decision in accordance with § 40.1 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. The fact that a member of the county board has publicly expressed an opinion on an issue related to a site review proceeding shall not preclude the member from taking part in the proceeding and voting on the issue.
(1993 Code, § 111.34) (Ord. 89-3, passed 3-15-1989; Ord. 2024-01, passed 3-5-2024)