Jurisdiction
[NOTE: This appeal arises from the same underlying facts where Roxana Comm. Unit School Dist. No. 1 (RCUSD) asked for and was granted an injunction against the Illinois Pollution Control Board. The injunction required the PCB to (1) stop violating the OMA and (2) hold all of its future meetings in public pending the outcome of the trial on the allegations by RCUSD that PCB violated FOIA and OMA. See Roxana CUSD #1 v. WRB Refining, LP and EPA, Pollution Control Board & Dept. of Revenue, Ill. App. 4th 120331 (2012) (available in RC&AD archives) and Roxana Community Unit School Dist. No. 1 v. Environmental Protection Agency, --- N.E.2d ---, 2013 IL App (4th) 120825 (November 14, 2013) (available in the RC&AD District Organization and Operation section).]
In this appeal, the RCUSD asked the Illinois Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision. The appellate court found that it did not have jurisdiction (authority) to hear an appeal that was filed by the RCUSD. Using a provision in the Ill. Environmental Protection Act, RCUSD appealed directly to the appellate court (as opposed to the circuit court). RCUSD appealed the Pollution Control Board’s order denying its petitions to intervene in proceedings before the Pollution Control Board. The proceedings involved whether or not to certify a facility as a “pollution control facility.” The Illinois Supreme Court agreed with the appellate court. It found that RCUSD did not qualify or assert itself under any of the categories listed in the Ill. Environmental Protection Act, which are authorized to appeal a Pollution Control Board decision directly to an appellate court.