(415 ILCS 5/13.4)

Sec. 13.4. Pretreatment market system.

(a) The General Assembly finds:

(1) That achieving compliance with federal, State, and local pretreatment regulatory requirements calls for innovative and cost-effective implementation strategies.

(2) That economic incentives and market-based approaches can be used to achieve pretreatment compliance in an innovative and cost-effective manner.

(3) That development and operation of a pretreatment market system should significantly lessen the economic impacts associated with implementation of the pretreatment requirements and still achieve the desired water quality, sludge quality, and protection of the sewers and treatment system.

(b) The Agency shall design a pretreatment market system that will provide more flexibility for municipalities and their tributary dischargers to develop cost-effective solutions and will result in at least the total pollutant reduction as achieved by the current application of federal categorical standards, State pretreatment limits, and locally derived limits, as applicable. Such a system should also assist publicly-owned treatment works in meeting applicable NPDES permit limits and in preventing the discharge of pollutants in quantities that would interfere with the operation of the municipal sewer system. In developing this system, the Agency shall consult with interested publicly-owned treatment works and tributary dischargers to ensure that relevant economic, environmental, and administrative factors are taken into account. As necessary, the Agency shall also consult with the United States Environmental Protection Agency regarding the suitability of such a system.

(c) The Agency may adopt proposed rules for a market-based pretreatment pollutant reduction, banking, and trading system that will enable publicly-owned treatment works and their tributary dischargers to implement cost-effective compliance options. Any proposal shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

(d) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, a publicly-owned treatment works may implement a pretreatment market system that is consistent with subsection (b) of this Section, provided that the publicly-owned treatment works:

(1) operates an approved local pretreatment program pursuant to State and federal NPDES regulations;

(2) is not currently subject to enforcement action for violation of NPDES requirements;

(3) receives wastewater from tributary dischargers that are subject to federal categorical pretreatment standards or approved local pretreatment limits; and

(4) has modified, as appropriate, the local pretreatment program to incorporate such market system.

(e) Prior to implementation of any pretreatment market system, a publicly-owned treatment works shall notify the Agency in writing of its intention and request the Agency to make a consistency determination regarding the local system's conformance with the rules promulgated pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section. Within 120 days, the Agency shall provide the determination in writing to the publicly-owned treatment works.

(f) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, any discharger that is tributary to a publicly-owned treatment works with a pretreatment market system shall be eligible to exchange trading units with dischargers tributary to the same publicly-owned treatment works or with the publicly-owned treatment works to which it is tributary.

(g) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to authorize a publicly-owned treatment works:

(1) to mandate the exchange of trading units by a tributary discharger in a pretreatment market system implemented pursuant to this Section; or

(2) to mandate reductions in pollutants from any tributary discharger beyond that otherwise required by federal categorical and State pretreatment standards or approved local pretreatment limits.

(Source: P.A. 90-773, eff. 8-14-98.)