HB4881 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 36531 JAG 66638 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4881

Introduced 2/7/2024, by Rep. Dennis Tipsword, Jr.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 5/9

from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1009

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Specifies that certain air pollution control prohibitions in the Act do not apply to open burning that is conducted by a municipality or fire protection district to provide instruction in the methods of firefighting, to test equipment for extinguishing fires, or to conduct research in the control of fires, if the municipality or fire protection district secures and maintains liability insurance coverage in an amount deemed sufficient by the Environmental Protection Agency by rule.

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 changing Section 9 as follows:

(415 ILCS 5/9) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1009)

Sec. 9. Acts prohibited. No person shall:

(a) Cause or threaten or allow the discharge or emission of any contaminant into the environment in any State so as to cause or tend to cause air pollution in Illinois, either alone or in combination with contaminants from other sources, or so as to violate regulations or standards adopted by the Board under this Act.

(b) Construct, install, or operate any equipment, facility, vehicle, vessel, or aircraft capable of causing or contributing to air pollution or designed to prevent air pollution, of any type designated by Board regulations, (1) without a permit granted by the Agency unless otherwise exempt by this Act or Board regulations or (2) in violation of any conditions imposed by such permit.

(c) Cause or allow the open burning of refuse, conduct any salvage operation by open burning, or cause or allow the burning of any refuse in any chamber not specifically designed for the purpose and approved by the Agency pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board under this Act; except that the Board may adopt regulations permitting open burning of refuse in certain cases upon a finding that no harm will result from such burning, or that any alternative method of disposing of such refuse would create a safety hazard so extreme as to justify the pollution that would result from such burning.

(d) Sell, offer, or use any fuel or other article in any areas in which the Board may by regulation forbid its sale, offer, or use for reasons of air-pollution control.

(e) Use, cause or allow the spraying of loose asbestos for the purpose of fireproofing or insulating any building or building material or other constructions, or otherwise use asbestos in such unconfined manner as to permit asbestos fibers or particles to pollute the air.

(f) Commencing July 1, 1985, sell any used oil for burning or incineration in any incinerator, boiler, furnace, burner or other equipment unless such oil meets standards based on virgin fuel oil or re-refined oil, as defined in ASTM D-396 or specifications under VV-F-815C promulgated pursuant to the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and meets the manufacturer's and current NFDA code standards for which such incinerator, boiler, furnace, burner or other equipment was approved, except that this prohibition does not apply to a sale to a permitted used oil re-refining or reprocessing facility or sale to a facility permitted by the Agency to burn or incinerate such oil.

Nothing herein shall limit the effect of any section of this Title with respect to any form of asbestos, or the spraying of any form of asbestos, or limit the power of the Board under this Title to adopt additional and further regulations with respect to any form of asbestos, or the spraying of any form of asbestos.

This Section shall not limit the burning of landscape waste upon the premises where it is produced or at sites provided and supervised by any unit of local government, except within any county having a population of more than 400,000. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the burning of landscape waste for agricultural purposes, habitat management (including but not limited to forest and prairie reclamation), or firefighter training. For the purposes of this Act, the burning of landscape waste by production nurseries shall be considered to be burning for agricultural purposes.

Any grain elevator located outside of a major population area, as defined in Section 211.3610 of Title 35 of the Illinois Administrative Code, shall be exempt from the requirements of Section 212.462 of Title 35 of the Illinois Administrative Code provided that the elevator: (1) does not violate the prohibitions of subsection (a) of this Section or have a certified investigation, as defined in Section 211.970 of Title 35 of the Illinois Administrative Code, on file with the Agency and (2) is not required to obtain a Clean Air Act Permit Program permit pursuant to Section 39.5. Notwithstanding the above exemption, new stationary source performance standards for grain elevators, established pursuant to Section 9.1 of this Act and Section 111 of the federal Clean Air Act, shall continue to apply to grain elevators.

This Section does not apply to open burning that is conducted by a municipality or fire protection district to provide instruction in the methods of firefighting, to test equipment for extinguishing fires, or to conduct research in the control of fires, if the municipality or fire protection district secures and maintains liability insurance coverage in an amount deemed sufficient by the Agency by rule.

(Source: P.A. 97-95, eff. 7-12-11.)