United States Steel Corp. v. Illinois Pollution Control Board

This is a direct administrative review of a decision of the Illinois Pollution Control Board (Board) that invalidated a renewed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to United States Steel Corp. (U.S. Steel) by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency). The Board invalidated the permit solely on the basis that despite a “significant degree of public interest in the proposed permit” the Agency had failed to hold a public hearing on the issuance of the permit. For reasons that follow, we vacate the decision of the Board and remand this cause to the…