093_HB3506
LRB093 02586 EFG 02596 b
1 AN ACT in relation to environmental protection.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended
5 by changing Section 13 and adding Section 13.5 as follows:
6 (415 ILCS 5/13) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1013)
7 Sec. 13. Regulations.
8 (a) The Board, pursuant to procedures prescribed in
9 Title VII of this Act, may adopt regulations to promote the
10 purposes and provisions of this Title. Without limiting the
11 generality of this authority, such regulations may among
12 other things prescribe:
13 (1) Water quality standards specifying among other
14 things, the maximum short-term and long-term
15 concentrations of various contaminants in the waters, the
16 minimum permissible concentrations of dissolved oxygen
17 and other desirable matter in the waters, and the
18 temperature of such waters;
19 (2) Effluent standards specifying the maximum
20 amounts or concentrations, and the physical, chemical,
21 thermal, biological and radioactive nature of
22 contaminants that may be discharged into the waters of
23 the State, as defined herein, including, but not limited
24 to, waters to any sewage works, or into any well, or from
25 any source within the State;
26 (3) Standards for the issuance of permits for
27 construction, installation, or operation of any
28 equipment, facility, vessel, or aircraft capable of
29 causing or contributing to water pollution or designed to
30 prevent water pollution or for the construction or
31 installation of any sewer or sewage treatment facility or
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1 any new outlet for contaminants into the waters of this
2 State;
3 (4) The circumstances under which the operators of
4 sewage works are required to obtain and maintain
5 certification by the Agency under Section 13.5 and the
6 types of sewage works to which those requirements apply,
7 which may, without limitation, include wastewater
8 treatment works, pretreatment works, and sewers and
9 collection systems; Standards for the definition and
10 certification of the technical competency of operation
11 personnel for sewage works, and for ascertaining that
12 such works shall be under the supervision of trained
13 individuals whose qualifications shall have been approved
14 by the Agency;
15 (5) Standards for the filling or sealing of
16 abandoned water wells and holes, and holes for disposal
17 of drainage in order to protect ground water against
18 contamination;
19 (6) Standards and conditions regarding the sale,
20 offer, or use of any pesticide, detergent, or any other
21 article determined by the Board to constitute a water
22 pollution hazard, provided that any such regulations
23 relating to pesticides shall be adopted only in
24 accordance with the "Illinois Pesticide Act", approved
25 August 14, 1979 as amended;
26 (7) Alert and abatement standards relative to
27 water-pollution episodes or emergencies which constitute
28 an acute danger to health or to the environment;
29 (8) Requirements and procedures for the inspection
30 of any equipment, facility, or vessel that may cause or
31 contribute to water pollution;
32 (9) Requirements and standards for equipment and
33 procedures for monitoring contaminant discharges at their
34 sources, the collection of samples and the collection,
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1 reporting and retention of data resulting from such
2 monitoring.
3 (b) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Act and for
4 purposes of implementing an NPDES program, the Board shall
5 adopt:
6 (1) Requirements, standards, and procedures which,
7 together with other regulations adopted pursuant to this
8 Section 13, are necessary or appropriate to enable the
9 State of Illinois to implement and participate in the
10 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
11 pursuant to and under the Federal Water Pollution Control
12 Act, as now or hereafter amended. All regulations
13 adopted by the Board governing the NPDES program shall be
14 consistent with the applicable provisions of such federal
15 Act and regulations pursuant thereto, and otherwise shall
16 be consistent with all other provisions of this Act, and
17 shall exclude from the requirement to obtain any
18 operating permit otherwise required under this Title a
19 facility for which an NPDES permit has been issued under
20 Section 39(b); provided, however, that for purposes of
21 this paragraph, a UIC permit, as required under Section
22 12(g) and 39(d) of this Act, is not an operating permit.
23 (2) Regulations for the exemption of any category
24 or categories of persons or contaminant sources from the
25 requirement to obtain any NPDES permit prescribed or from
26 any standards or conditions governing such permit when
27 the environment will be adequately protected without the
28 requirement of such permit, and such exemption is either
29 consistent with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,
30 as now or hereafter amended, or regulations pursuant
31 thereto, or is necessary to avoid an arbitrary or
32 unreasonable hardship to such category or categories of
33 persons or sources.
34 (c) In accordance with Section 7.2, and notwithstanding
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1 any other provisions of this Act, for purposes of
2 implementing a State UIC program, the Board shall adopt
3 regulations which are identical in substance to federal
4 regulations or amendments thereto promulgated by the
5 Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
6 Agency in accordance with Section 1421 of the Safe Drinking
7 Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as amended. The Board may
8 consolidate into a single rulemaking under this Section all
9 such federal regulations adopted within a period of time not
10 to exceed 6 months. The provisions and requirements of Title
11 VII of this Act shall not apply to regulations adopted under
12 this subsection. Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative
13 Procedure Act relating to procedures for rulemaking shall not
14 apply to regulations adopted under this subsection.
15 (d) The Board may adopt regulations relating to a State
16 UIC program that are not inconsistent with and are at least
17 as stringent as the Safe Drinking Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as
18 amended, or regulations adopted thereunder. Regulations
19 adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be adopted in
20 accordance with the provisions and requirements of Title VII
21 of this Act and the procedures for rulemaking in Section 5-35
22 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
23 (Source: P.A. 88-45.)
24 (415 ILCS 5/13.5 new)
25 Sec. 13.5. Sewage works; operator certification.
26 (a) For the purposes of this Section, the term "sewage
27 works" includes, without limitation, wastewater treatment
28 works, pretreatment works, and sewers and collection systems.
29 (b) The Agency may establish and enforce standards for
30 the definition and certification of the technical competency
31 of personnel who operate sewage works, and for ascertaining
32 that sewage works are under the supervision of trained
33 individuals whose qualifications have been approved by the
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1 Agency.
2 (c) The Agency may issue certificates of competency to
3 persons meeting the standards of technical competency
4 established by the Agency under this Section, and may
5 promulgate and enforce regulations pertaining to the issuance
6 and use of those certificates.
7 (d) The Agency shall administer the certification
8 program established under this Section. The Agency may enter
9 into formal working agreements with other departments or
10 agencies of State or local government under which all or
11 portions of its authority under this Section may be delegated
12 to the cooperating department or agency.
13 (e) This Section and the changes made to subdivision
14 (a)(4) of Section 13 by this amendatory Act of the 93rd
15 General Assembly do not invalidate the operator certification
16 rules previously adopted by the Agency and codified as Part
17 380 of Title 35, Subtitle C, Chapter II of the Illinois
18 Administrative Code. Those rules, as amended from time to
19 time, shall continue in effect until they are superseded or
20 repealed.
21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22 becoming law.