|
|||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | AN ACT concerning 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 by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 42 as follows:
| ||||||
6 | (415 ILCS 5/42) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1042)
| ||||||
7 | Sec. 42. Civil penalties.
| ||||||
8 | (a) Except as provided in this Section, any person that | ||||||
9 | violates any
provision of this Act or any regulation adopted by | ||||||
10 | the Board, or any permit
or term or condition thereof, or that | ||||||
11 | violates any order of the Board pursuant
to this Act, shall be | ||||||
12 | liable for a civil penalty of not to exceed
$50,000 for the | ||||||
13 | violation and an additional civil penalty of not to exceed
| ||||||
14 | $10,000 for each day during which the violation continues; such | ||||||
15 | penalties may,
upon order of the Board or a court of competent | ||||||
16 | jurisdiction, be made payable
to the Environmental Protection | ||||||
17 | Trust Fund, to be used in accordance with the
provisions of the | ||||||
18 | Environmental Protection Trust Fund Act.
| ||||||
19 | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of | ||||||
20 | this Section:
| ||||||
21 | (1) Any person that violates Section 12(f) of this Act | ||||||
22 | or any
NPDES permit or term or condition thereof, or any | ||||||
23 | filing requirement,
regulation or order relating to the | ||||||
24 | NPDES permit program, shall be liable
to a civil penalty of | ||||||
25 | not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation.
| ||||||
26 | (2) Any person that violates Section 12(g) of this Act | ||||||
27 | or any UIC permit
or term or condition thereof, or any | ||||||
28 | filing requirement, regulation or order
relating to the | ||||||
29 | State UIC program for all wells, except Class II wells as
| ||||||
30 | defined by the Board under this Act, shall be liable to a | ||||||
31 | civil penalty
not to exceed $2,500 per day of violation; | ||||||
32 | provided, however, that any person
who commits such |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | violations relating to the State UIC program for Class
II | ||||||
2 | wells, as defined by the Board under this Act, shall be | ||||||
3 | liable to a civil
penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for the | ||||||
4 | violation and an additional civil
penalty of not to exceed | ||||||
5 | $1,000 for each day during which the violation
continues.
| ||||||
6 | (3) Any person that violates Sections 21(f), 21(g), | ||||||
7 | 21(h) or 21(i) of
this Act, or any RCRA permit or term or | ||||||
8 | condition thereof, or any filing
requirement, regulation | ||||||
9 | or order relating to the State RCRA program, shall
be | ||||||
10 | liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed $25,000 per day | ||||||
11 | of violation.
| ||||||
12 | (4) In an administrative citation action under Section | ||||||
13 | 31.1 of this Act,
any person found to have violated any | ||||||
14 | provision of subsection (o) of
Section 21 of this Act shall | ||||||
15 | pay a civil penalty of $500 for each
violation of each such | ||||||
16 | provision, plus any hearing costs incurred by the Board
and | ||||||
17 | the Agency. Such penalties shall be made payable to the | ||||||
18 | Environmental
Protection Trust Fund, to be used in | ||||||
19 | accordance with the provisions of the
Environmental | ||||||
20 | Protection Trust Fund Act; except that if a unit of local
| ||||||
21 | government issued the administrative citation, 50% of the | ||||||
22 | civil penalty shall
be payable to the unit of local | ||||||
23 | government.
| ||||||
24 | (4-5) In an administrative citation action under | ||||||
25 | Section 31.1 of this
Act, any person found to have violated | ||||||
26 | any provision of subsection (p) of
Section 21 of this Act | ||||||
27 | shall pay a civil penalty of $1,500 for each violation
of
| ||||||
28 | each such provision, plus any hearing costs incurred by the | ||||||
29 | Board and the
Agency, except that the civil penalty amount | ||||||
30 | shall be
be a $3,000 for
each violation of any provision of | ||||||
31 | subsection (p) of Section 21 that is the
person's second
a | ||||||
32 | second or subsequent adjudication violation of that
| ||||||
33 | provision. The penalties shall be deposited into the
| ||||||
34 | Environmental Protection Trust Fund, to be used in | ||||||
35 | accordance with the
provisions of the Environmental | ||||||
36 | Protection Trust Fund Act; except that if a
unit of local |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | government issued the administrative citation, 50% of the | ||||||
2 | civil
penalty shall be payable to the unit of local | ||||||
3 | government.
| ||||||
4 | (5) Any person who violates subsection 6 of Section | ||||||
5 | 39.5 of this Act
or any CAAPP permit, or term or condition | ||||||
6 | thereof, or any fee or filing
requirement, or any duty to | ||||||
7 | allow or carry out inspection, entry or
monitoring | ||||||
8 | activities, or any regulation or order relating to the | ||||||
9 | CAAPP
shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed | ||||||
10 | $10,000 per day of violation.
| ||||||
11 | (b.5) In lieu of the penalties set forth in subsections (a) | ||||||
12 | and (b) of
this Section, any person who fails to file, in a | ||||||
13 | timely manner, toxic
chemical release forms with the Agency | ||||||
14 | pursuant to Section 25b-2
of this Act
shall be liable for a | ||||||
15 | civil penalty of $100 per day for
each day the forms are
late, | ||||||
16 | not to exceed a maximum total penalty of $6,000. This daily | ||||||
17 | penalty
shall begin accruing on the thirty-first day after the
| ||||||
18 | date that the person receives the warning notice issued by the | ||||||
19 | Agency pursuant
to Section 25b-6 of this Act; and the penalty | ||||||
20 | shall be paid to the Agency. The
daily accrual of penalties | ||||||
21 | shall cease as of January 1 of the following year.
All | ||||||
22 | penalties collected by the Agency pursuant to this subsection | ||||||
23 | shall be
deposited into the Environmental Protection Permit and | ||||||
24 | Inspection Fund.
| ||||||
25 | (c) Any person that violates this Act, any rule or | ||||||
26 | regulation adopted under
this Act, any permit or term or | ||||||
27 | condition of a permit, or any Board order and
causes the death | ||||||
28 | of fish
or aquatic life shall, in addition to the other | ||||||
29 | penalties provided by
this Act, be liable to pay to the State | ||||||
30 | an additional sum for the
reasonable value of the fish or | ||||||
31 | aquatic life destroyed. Any money so
recovered shall be placed | ||||||
32 | in the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State
Treasury.
| ||||||
33 | (d) The penalties provided for in this Section may be | ||||||
34 | recovered in a
civil action.
| ||||||
35 | (e) The State's Attorney of the county in which the | ||||||
36 | violation
occurred, or the Attorney General, may, at the |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | request of the Agency or
on his own motion, institute a civil | ||||||
2 | action for an injunction , prohibitory or mandatory, to
restrain | ||||||
3 | violations of this Act, any rule or regulation adopted under | ||||||
4 | this Act,
any permit or term or condition of a permit, or any | ||||||
5 | Board order , or to require such other actions as may be | ||||||
6 | necessary to address violations of this Act, any rule or | ||||||
7 | regulation adopted under this Act, any permit or term or | ||||||
8 | condition of a permit, or any Board order .
| ||||||
9 | (f) The State's Attorney of the county in which the | ||||||
10 | violation
occurred, or the Attorney General, shall bring such | ||||||
11 | actions in the name
of the people of the State of Illinois.
| ||||||
12 | Without limiting any other authority which may exist for the | ||||||
13 | awarding
of attorney's fees and costs, the Board or a court of | ||||||
14 | competent
jurisdiction may award costs and reasonable | ||||||
15 | attorney's fees, including the
reasonable costs of expert | ||||||
16 | witnesses and consultants, to the State's
Attorney or the | ||||||
17 | Attorney General in a case where he has prevailed against a
| ||||||
18 | person who has committed a wilful, knowing or repeated | ||||||
19 | violation of this Act,
any rule or regulation adopted under | ||||||
20 | this Act, any permit or term or condition
of a permit, or any | ||||||
21 | Board order.
| ||||||
22 | Any funds collected under this subsection (f) in which the | ||||||
23 | Attorney
General has prevailed shall be deposited in the
| ||||||
24 | Hazardous Waste Fund created in Section 22.2 of this Act. Any | ||||||
25 | funds
collected under this subsection (f) in which a State's | ||||||
26 | Attorney has
prevailed shall be retained by the county in which | ||||||
27 | he serves.
| ||||||
28 | (g) All final orders imposing civil penalties pursuant to | ||||||
29 | this Section
shall prescribe the time for payment of such | ||||||
30 | penalties. If any such
penalty is not paid within the time | ||||||
31 | prescribed, interest on such penalty
at the rate set forth in | ||||||
32 | subsection (a) of Section 1003 of the Illinois Income
Tax Act, | ||||||
33 | shall be paid for the period from the date payment is due until | ||||||
34 | the
date payment is received. However, if the time for payment | ||||||
35 | is stayed during
the pendency of an appeal, interest shall not | ||||||
36 | accrue during such stay.
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | (h) In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be | ||||||
2 | imposed under
subdivisions (a), (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), or | ||||||
3 | (b)(5) of this
Section, the Board is authorized to consider any | ||||||
4 | matters of record in
mitigation or aggravation of penalty, | ||||||
5 | including but not limited to the
following factors:
| ||||||
6 | (1) the duration and gravity of the violation;
| ||||||
7 | (2) the presence or absence of due diligence on the | ||||||
8 | part of the
respondent in attempting to comply with | ||||||
9 | requirements of this
Act and regulations thereunder or to | ||||||
10 | secure relief therefrom as provided by
this Act;
| ||||||
11 | (3) any economic benefits accrued by the respondent
| ||||||
12 | because of delay in compliance with requirements, in which | ||||||
13 | case the economic
benefits shall be determined by the | ||||||
14 | lowest cost alternative for achieving
compliance;
| ||||||
15 | (4) the amount of monetary penalty which will serve to | ||||||
16 | deter further
violations by the respondent and to otherwise | ||||||
17 | aid in enhancing
voluntary
compliance with this Act by the | ||||||
18 | respondent and other persons
similarly
subject to the Act;
| ||||||
19 | (5) the number, proximity in time, and gravity of | ||||||
20 | previously
adjudicated violations of this Act by the | ||||||
21 | respondent;
| ||||||
22 | (6) whether the respondent voluntarily self-disclosed, | ||||||
23 | in accordance
with subsection (i) of this Section, the | ||||||
24 | non-compliance to the Agency; and
| ||||||
25 | (7) whether the respondent has agreed to undertake a | ||||||
26 | "supplemental
environmental project," which means an | ||||||
27 | environmentally beneficial project that
a respondent | ||||||
28 | agrees to undertake in settlement of an enforcement action | ||||||
29 | brought
under this Act, but which the respondent is not | ||||||
30 | otherwise legally required to
perform.
| ||||||
31 | In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be imposed | ||||||
32 | under subsection
(a) or paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (5) of | ||||||
33 | subsection (b) of this Section, the
Board shall ensure, in all | ||||||
34 | cases, that the penalty is at least as great as the
economic | ||||||
35 | benefits, if any, accrued by the respondent as a result of the
| ||||||
36 | violation, unless the Board finds that imposition of such |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | penalty would result
in an arbitrary or unreasonable financial | ||||||
2 | hardship. However, such civil
penalty
may be off-set in whole | ||||||
3 | or in part pursuant to a supplemental
environmental project | ||||||
4 | agreed to by the complainant and the respondent.
| ||||||
5 | (i) A person who voluntarily self-discloses non-compliance | ||||||
6 | to the Agency,
of which the Agency had been unaware, is | ||||||
7 | entitled to a 100% reduction in the
portion of the penalty that | ||||||
8 | is not based on the economic benefit of
non-compliance if the | ||||||
9 | person can
establish the following:
| ||||||
10 | (1) that the non-compliance was discovered through an | ||||||
11 | environmental
audit, as defined in Section 52.2 of this | ||||||
12 | Act, and the person waives the
environmental audit | ||||||
13 | privileges as provided in that Section with respect to that
| ||||||
14 | non-compliance;
| ||||||
15 | (2) that the non-compliance was disclosed in writing | ||||||
16 | within 30 days of
the date on which the person discovered | ||||||
17 | it;
| ||||||
18 | (3) that the non-compliance was discovered and | ||||||
19 | disclosed prior to:
| ||||||
20 | (i) the commencement of an Agency inspection, | ||||||
21 | investigation, or request
for information;
| ||||||
22 | (ii) notice of a citizen suit;
| ||||||
23 | (iii) the filing of a complaint by a citizen, the | ||||||
24 | Illinois Attorney
General, or the State's Attorney of | ||||||
25 | the county in which the violation occurred;
| ||||||
26 | (iv) the reporting of the non-compliance by an | ||||||
27 | employee of the person
without that person's | ||||||
28 | knowledge; or
| ||||||
29 | (v) imminent discovery of the non-compliance by | ||||||
30 | the Agency;
| ||||||
31 | (4) that the non-compliance is being corrected and any | ||||||
32 | environmental
harm is being remediated in a timely fashion;
| ||||||
33 | (5) that the person agrees to prevent a recurrence of | ||||||
34 | the non-compliance;
| ||||||
35 | (6) that no related non-compliance events have | ||||||
36 | occurred in the
past 3 years at the same facility or in the |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | past 5 years as part of a
pattern at multiple facilities | ||||||
2 | owned or operated by the person;
| ||||||
3 | (7) that the non-compliance did not result in serious | ||||||
4 | actual
harm or present an imminent and substantial | ||||||
5 | endangerment to human
health or the environment or violate | ||||||
6 | the specific terms of any judicial or
administrative order | ||||||
7 | or consent agreement;
| ||||||
8 | (8) that the person cooperates as reasonably requested | ||||||
9 | by the Agency
after the disclosure; and
| ||||||
10 | (9) that the non-compliance was identified voluntarily | ||||||
11 | and not through a
monitoring, sampling, or auditing | ||||||
12 | procedure that is required by statute, rule,
permit, | ||||||
13 | judicial or administrative order, or consent agreement.
| ||||||
14 | If a person can establish all of the elements under this | ||||||
15 | subsection except
the element set forth in paragraph (1) of | ||||||
16 | this subsection, the person is
entitled to a 75% reduction in | ||||||
17 | the portion of the penalty that is not based
upon the economic | ||||||
18 | benefit of non-compliance.
| ||||||
19 | (Source: P.A. 93-152, eff. 7-10-03; 93-575, eff. 1-1-04; | ||||||
20 | revised 9-11-03.)
| ||||||
21 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
22 | becoming law. |