SB3239 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 38269 CES 68404 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3239

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Sen. Christopher Belt

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

410 ILCS 525/3	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6703
410 ILCS 525/4	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6704
410 ILCS 525/6	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6706
410 ILCS 525/9	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6709
410 ILCS 525/13	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6713
410 ILCS 525/5 rep.

Amends the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act. Repeals provisions relating to the Health and Hazardous Substances Coordinating Council.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

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

Section 5. The Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act is amended by changing Sections 3, 4, 6, 9, and 13 as follows:

(410 ILCS 525/3) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6703)

Sec. 3. For the purposes of this Act, unless the context requires otherwise:

(a) "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public Health.

(b) "Director" means the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

(c) (Blank). "Council" means the Health and Hazardous Substances Coordinating Council created by this Act.

(d) "Registry" means the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry established by the Department of Public Health under Section 6 of this Act.

(e) "Cancer" means all malignant neoplasms, regardless of the tissue of origin, including malignant lymphoma and leukemia.

(f) "Cancer incidence" means a medical diagnosis of cancer, consisting of a record of cases of cancer and specified cases of tumorous or precancerous diseases which occur in Illinois, and such other information concerning these cases as the Department deems necessary or appropriate in order to conduct thorough and complete epidemiological surveys of cancer and cancer-related diseases in Illinois.

(g) "Occupational disease" includes but is not limited to all occupational diseases covered by the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act.

(h) "Hazardous substances" means a hazardous substance as defined in the Environmental Protection Act.

(i) "Hazardous substances incident" includes but is not limited to a spill, fire, or accident involving hazardous substances, illegal disposal, transportation, or use of hazardous substances, and complaints or permit violations involving hazardous substances.

(j) "Company profile" includes but is not limited to the name of any company operating in the State of Illinois which generates, uses, disposes of or transports hazardous substances, identification of the types of permits issued in such company's name relating to transactions involving hazardous substances, inventory of hazardous substances handled by such company, and the manner in which such hazardous substances are used, disposed of, or transported by the company.

(k) "Hazardous nuclear material" means (1) any source or special nuclear material intended for use or used as an energy source in a production or utilization facility as defined in Sec. 11.v. or 11.cc. of the federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended; (2) any fuel which has been discharged from such a facility following irradiation, the constituent elements of which have not been separated by reprocessing; or (3) any by-product material resulting from operation of such a facility.

(l) "Adverse pregnancy outcome" includes but is not limited to birth defects, fetal loss, infant mortality, low birth weight, selected life-threatening conditions, and other developmental disabilities as defined by the Department.

(m) "News medium" means any newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals, whether in print or electronic format, and having a general circulation; a news service, whether in print or electronic format; a radio station, a television station; a television network; a community antenna television service; and any person or corporation engaged in the making of news reels or other motion picture news for public showing.

(n) "Researcher" means an individual who is affiliated with or supported by universities, academic centers, research institutions, hospitals, and governmental entities who conduct scientific research or investigation on human diseases.

(Source: P.A. 95-941, eff. 8-29-08.)

(410 ILCS 525/4) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6704)

Sec. 4. (a) There is created the Health and Hazardous Substances Coordinating Council, to be comprised of the following persons ex officio or their designees: Dean of the School of Public Health of the University of Illinois, Director of Natural Resources, Director of Public Health, Director of Labor, Director of Agriculture, Director of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Director of Nuclear Safety.

The University of Illinois School of Public Health shall advise the Department in the design, function and utilization of the Registry.

(b) To facilitate the collection of cancer incidence information, the Department, in consultation with the Advisory Board of Cancer Control, shall have the authority to require hospitals, laboratories or other facilities to report incidences of cancer and other specified tumorous and precancerous diseases to the Department, and to require the submission of such other information pertaining to or in connection with such reported cases as the Department deems necessary or appropriate for the purposes of this Act. The Department may promulgate rules or regulations specifying the hospitals, laboratories or other facilities which are required to submit information pursuant to this Section, the types of information required to be submitted, methods of submitting such information and any other detail deemed by the Department to be necessary or appropriate for administration of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to compel any individual to submit to a medical examination or supervision.

(c) The Director shall by rule or regulation establish standards or guidelines for ensuring the protection of information made confidential or privileged under law.

(d) The identity, or any group of facts that tends to lead to the identity, of any person whose condition or treatment is submitted to the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry is confidential and shall not be open to public inspection or dissemination and is exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act. The following data elements, alone or in combination, are confidential, shall not be open to public inspection or dissemination, and are exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act: name, social security number, street address, email address, telephone number, fax number, medical record number, certificate/license number, reporting source (unless permitted by the reporting facility), age (unless aggregated for 5 or more years, ZIP code (unless aggregated for 5 or more years), and diagnosis date (unless aggregated for one or more years for the entire State or for 3 or more years for a single county). The identity of any person or persons claimed to be derived from cancer registry data is not admissible in evidence, and no court shall require information to be produced in discovery if it determines that the information tends to lead to the identity of any person. Information for specific research purposes may be released in accordance with procedures established by the Department. Except as provided by rule, and as part of an epidemiologic investigation, an officer or employee of the Department may interview a patient named in a report made under this Act, or relatives of any such patient, only with the express written consent of the patient.

(e) Hospitals, laboratories, other facilities or physicians shall not be held liable for the release of information or confidential data to the Department in accordance with this Act. The Department shall protect any information made confidential or privileged under law.

(Source: P.A. 95-941, eff. 8-29-08.)

(410 ILCS 525/6) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6706)

Sec. 6. (a) No later than January 1, 1985, the Department shall commence the work necessary to compile the information which will constitute the Health and Hazardous Substances Registry. The Registry shall consist of the compilation of information in the following categories:

(i) adverse pregnancy outcomes;

(ii) cancer incidences;

(iii) occupational diseases;

(iv) location, transportation, and exposure to hazardous nuclear materials;

(v) company profiles; and

(vi) hazardous substances incidents.

The Department, pursuant to any guidelines established by the Council, shall promulgate rules or regulations specifying the types of information in each category which will be compiled for the Registry. Such information shall be compiled in the Registry in such a manner as to allow for geographical correlation of the data on public health and the data on hazardous substances and hazardous nuclear materials. To the extent feasible, the Registry shall be compatible with other national models of such type so as to facilitate the coordination of information with other data bases.

(Source: P.A. 83-1361.)

(410 ILCS 525/9) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6709)

Sec. 9. The Department shall utilize the Registry to conduct research on the relationships between hazardous substances, hazardous nuclear materials, and public health issues. The In consultation with the Council, the Director shall establish guidelines for determining the specific questions and areas to be researched. The guidelines shall specifically include the question of the potential public health significance of an increase in cancer incidence. The Upon the approval of the Council, the information contained in the Registry shall be available to other State agencies wishing to conduct research on these issues. Upon review and approval of an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or its equivalent on protection of human subjects in research, the Department shall release data to researchers for purposes of medical and scientific research consistent with the fundamental purposes of the Registry.

(Source: P.A. 95-941, eff. 8-29-08.)

(410 ILCS 525/13) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6713)

Sec. 13. (a) Violation of this Act is a Class A misdemeanor.

(b) Any person who violates this Act shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each violation.

(c) The Department Council may request the Attorney General or the State's Attorney of the county in which the violation occurred to proceed in a court of competent jurisdiction to secure such relief as provided in this Section, as well as injunctive relief to restrain violations of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 83-1361.)

(410 ILCS 525/5 rep.)

Section 10. The Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act is amended by repealing Section 5.