HB4358 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 23423 CPF 32592 b

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB4358

Introduced 1/5/2022, by Rep. Rita Mayfield and Robyn Gabel

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 5/22.59a new

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that all CCR generated by the electric generating industry located in a municipality bordering Lake Michigan with greater than 75,000 inhabitants but fewer than 150,000 inhabitants shall be removed from the site. Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the amendatory provisions do not impact any financial obligation arising before their effective date. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by adding Section 22.59a as follows:

(415 ILCS 5/22.59a new)

Sec. 22.59a. Great Lakes CCR protection.

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) The State has a long-standing policy to restore, protect, and enhance the environment, and has a particular interest in preserving the quality of Lake Michigan, which serves as a drinking water source for millions of State residents and provides irreplaceable recreational, ecological, and economic value to Illinois.

(2) CCR generated by the electric generating industry has contaminated, and continues to contaminate, Lake Michigan, and CCR placed in unlined deposits, including deposits outside of CCR surface impoundments as well as in CCR surface impoundments, continues to threaten the quality of Lake Michigan's water.

The purpose of this Section is to protect Lake Michigan against further contamination from CCR.

(b) All CCR generated by the electric generating industry located in a municipality bordering Lake Michigan with greater than 75,000 inhabitants but fewer than 150,000 inhabitants, based on 2020 census data, shall be removed from the site as follows:

(1) CCR in all CCR surface impoundments and any CCR deposits for which an adjusted standard has been sought pursuant to Section 28.1 shall be closed by removal, pursuant to the procedures set out in Section 22.59 and implementing regulations under 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 845, notwithstanding any operating or construction permit application submitted to the Agency or any permit granted by the Agency under Part 845 of Title 35 of the Illinois Administrative Code. Any permit application or permit allowing a CCR surface impoundment subject to this Section to close in place shall be declared void by the Agency. If the owner or operator of any CCR surface impoundment subject to this Section has submitted a construction permit application to the Agency to close a subject CCR surface impoundment by any method other than removal under Part 845 of Title 35 of the Illinois Administrative Code, the owner or operator shall submit an amended construction permit application that complies with the requirements of this Section.

(2) The owner or operator of any electric generating unit shall conduct a site investigation sufficient to identify and characterize the scope and extent of all CCR placed, stored, or disposed outside of CCR surface impoundments at the facility. Within one year of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the owner or operator shall propose the site investigation in a construction permit application following the procedures for construction permits under Section 22.59, subsection (y) of Section 39, and 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 845. The Agency shall grant, grant with conditions, or deny the permit application in accordance with those procedures within 6 months of receipt of a complete application. If the Agency denies the application, the owner or operators of the electric generating unit must fix all deficiencies identified by the Agency and submit a corrected permit application within 3 months of the denial.

(3) The owner or operator must complete the site investigation set out in this subsection (b) within one year of the Agency's issuance of the permit.

(4) Within 6 months of completing the site investigation, the owner or operator of an electric generating unit shall submit a construction permit application to the Agency, which shall be evaluated, granted, or denied by the Agency following the procedures for construction permits under Section 22.59, subsection (y) of Section 39, and 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 845. The Agency may grant such permit application only if it proposes to remove all CCR outside of CCR surface impoundments from the site consistent with the procedures set out in 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 845 for closure by removal.

(5) If the Agency grants or denies a permit under this Section, a third party, other than the permit applicant or the Agency, may petition the Board within 35 days from the date of issuance of the Agency's decision, for a hearing to contest the decision of the Agency. If the Board determines that the petition is not duplicative or frivolous, the Board shall hear the petition (i) in accordance with the terms of subsection (a) of Section 40 as well as the procedural rules governing permit appeals, and (ii) exclusively on the basis of the record before the Agency. The burden of proof shall be on the petitioner.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this Section does not impact any financial obligation arising before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, including, but not limited to, any financial obligation imposed or impacted by any change to this Act made by Public Act 101-171.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.