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1 | AN ACT concerning safety.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Section 42 as follows:
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6 | (415 ILCS 5/42) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1042)
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7 | Sec. 42. Civil penalties.
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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 the Board, or any permit
or term or condition thereof, or | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | that violates any order of the Board pursuant
to this Act, | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | shall be liable for a civil penalty of not to exceed
$50,000 | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | for the violation and an additional civil penalty of not to | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | exceed
$10,000 for each day during which the violation | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | continues; such penalties may,
upon order of the Board or a | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | court of competent jurisdiction, be made payable
to the | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | Environmental Protection Trust Fund, to be used in accordance | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | with the
provisions of the Environmental Protection Trust Fund | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | Act.
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20 | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | this Section:
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22 | (1) Any person that violates Section 12(f) of this Act | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | or any
NPDES permit or term or condition thereof, or any |
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1 | filing requirement,
regulation or order relating to the | ||||||
2 | NPDES permit program, shall be liable
to a civil penalty of | ||||||
3 | not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation.
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4 | (2) Any person that violates Section 12(g) of this Act | ||||||
5 | or any UIC permit
or term or condition thereof, or any | ||||||
6 | filing requirement, regulation or order
relating to the | ||||||
7 | State UIC program for all wells, except Class II wells as
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8 | defined by the Board under this Act, shall be liable to a | ||||||
9 | civil penalty
not to exceed $2,500 per day of violation; | ||||||
10 | provided, however, that any person
who commits such | ||||||
11 | violations relating to the State UIC program for Class
II | ||||||
12 | wells, as defined by the Board under this Act, shall be | ||||||
13 | liable to a civil
penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for the | ||||||
14 | violation and an additional civil
penalty of not to exceed | ||||||
15 | $1,000 for each day during which the violation
continues.
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16 | (3) Any person that violates Sections 21(f), 21(g), | ||||||
17 | 21(h) or 21(i) of
this Act, or any RCRA permit or term or | ||||||
18 | condition thereof, or any filing
requirement, regulation | ||||||
19 | or order relating to the State RCRA program, shall
be | ||||||
20 | liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed $25,000 per day | ||||||
21 | of violation.
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22 | (4)
In an administrative citation action under Section | ||||||
23 | 31.1 of this Act,
any person found to have violated any | ||||||
24 | provision of subsection (o) of
Section 21 of this Act shall | ||||||
25 | pay a civil penalty of $500 for each
violation of each such | ||||||
26 | provision, plus any hearing costs incurred by the Board
and |
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1 | the Agency. Such penalties shall be made payable to the | ||||||
2 | Environmental
Protection Trust Fund, to be used in | ||||||
3 | accordance with the provisions of the
Environmental | ||||||
4 | Protection Trust Fund Act; except that if a unit of local
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5 | government issued the administrative citation, 50% of the | ||||||
6 | civil penalty shall
be payable to the unit of local | ||||||
7 | government.
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8 | (4-5) In an administrative citation action under | ||||||
9 | Section 31.1 of this
Act, any person found to have violated | ||||||
10 | any
provision of subsection (p) of
Section 21 of this Act | ||||||
11 | shall pay a civil penalty of $1,500 for each violation
of
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12 | each such provision, plus any hearing costs incurred by the | ||||||
13 | Board and the
Agency, except that the civil penalty amount | ||||||
14 | shall be $3,000 for
each violation of any provision of | ||||||
15 | subsection (p) of Section 21 that is the
person's second or | ||||||
16 | subsequent adjudication violation of that
provision. The | ||||||
17 | penalties shall be deposited into the
Environmental | ||||||
18 | Protection Trust Fund, to be used in accordance with the
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19 | provisions of the Environmental Protection Trust Fund Act; | ||||||
20 | except that if a
unit of local government issued the | ||||||
21 | administrative citation, 50% of the civil
penalty shall be | ||||||
22 | payable to the unit of local government.
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23 | (5) Any person who violates subsection 6 of Section | ||||||
24 | 39.5 of this Act
or any CAAPP permit, or term or condition | ||||||
25 | thereof, or any fee or filing
requirement, or any duty to | ||||||
26 | allow or carry out inspection, entry or
monitoring |
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1 | activities, or any regulation or order relating to the | ||||||
2 | CAAPP
shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed | ||||||
3 | $10,000 per day of violation.
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4 | (b.5) In lieu of the penalties set forth in subsections (a) | ||||||
5 | and (b) of
this Section, any person who fails to file, in a | ||||||
6 | timely manner, toxic
chemical release forms with the Agency | ||||||
7 | pursuant to Section 25b-2
of this Act
shall be liable for a | ||||||
8 | civil penalty of $100 per day for
each day the forms are
late, | ||||||
9 | not to exceed a maximum total penalty of $6,000. This daily | ||||||
10 | penalty
shall begin accruing on the thirty-first day after the
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11 | date that the person receives the warning notice issued by the | ||||||
12 | Agency pursuant
to Section 25b-6 of this Act; and the penalty | ||||||
13 | shall be paid to the Agency. The
daily accrual of penalties | ||||||
14 | shall cease as of January 1 of the following year.
All | ||||||
15 | penalties collected by the Agency pursuant to this subsection | ||||||
16 | shall be
deposited into the Environmental Protection Permit and | ||||||
17 | Inspection Fund.
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18 | (c) Any person that violates this Act, any rule or | ||||||
19 | regulation adopted under
this Act, any permit or term or | ||||||
20 | condition of a permit, or any Board order and
causes the death | ||||||
21 | of fish
or aquatic life shall, in addition to the other | ||||||
22 | penalties provided by
this Act, be liable to pay to the State | ||||||
23 | an additional sum for the
reasonable value of the fish or | ||||||
24 | aquatic life destroyed. Any money so
recovered shall be placed | ||||||
25 | in the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State
Treasury.
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26 | (d) The penalties provided for in this Section may be |
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1 | recovered in a
civil action.
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2 | (e) The State's Attorney of the county in which the | ||||||
3 | violation
occurred, or the Attorney General, may, at the | ||||||
4 | request of the Agency or
on his own motion, institute a civil | ||||||
5 | action for an injunction, prohibitory or mandatory, to
restrain | ||||||
6 | violations of this Act, any rule or regulation adopted under | ||||||
7 | this Act,
any permit or term or condition of a permit, or any | ||||||
8 | Board order, or to require such other actions as may be | ||||||
9 | necessary to address violations of this Act, any rule or | ||||||
10 | regulation adopted under this Act, any permit or term or | ||||||
11 | condition of a permit, or any Board order.
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12 | (f) The State's Attorney of the county in which the | ||||||
13 | violation
occurred, or the Attorney General, shall bring such | ||||||
14 | actions in the name
of the people of the State of Illinois.
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15 | Without limiting any other authority which may exist for the | ||||||
16 | awarding
of attorney's fees and costs, the Board or a court of | ||||||
17 | competent
jurisdiction may award costs and reasonable | ||||||
18 | attorney's fees, including the
reasonable costs of expert | ||||||
19 | witnesses and consultants, to the State's
Attorney or the | ||||||
20 | Attorney General in a case where he has prevailed against a
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21 | person who has committed a wilful, knowing or repeated | ||||||
22 | violation of this Act,
any rule or regulation adopted under | ||||||
23 | this Act, any permit or term or condition
of a permit, or any | ||||||
24 | Board order.
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25 | Any funds collected under this subsection (f) in which the | ||||||
26 | Attorney
General has prevailed shall be deposited in the
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1 | Hazardous Waste Fund created in Section 22.2 of this Act. Any | ||||||
2 | funds
collected under this subsection (f) in which a State's | ||||||
3 | Attorney has
prevailed shall be retained by the county in which | ||||||
4 | he serves.
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5 | (g) All final orders imposing civil penalties pursuant to | ||||||
6 | this Section
shall prescribe the time for payment of such | ||||||
7 | penalties. If any such
penalty is not paid within the time | ||||||
8 | prescribed, interest on such penalty
at the rate set forth in | ||||||
9 | subsection (a) of Section 1003 of the Illinois Income
Tax Act, | ||||||
10 | shall be paid for the period from the date payment is due until | ||||||
11 | the
date payment is received. However, if the time for payment | ||||||
12 | is stayed during
the pendency of an appeal, interest shall not | ||||||
13 | accrue during such stay.
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14 | (h) In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be | ||||||
15 | imposed under
subdivisions (a), (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), or | ||||||
16 | (b)(5) of this
Section, the Board is authorized to consider any | ||||||
17 | matters of record in
mitigation or aggravation of penalty, | ||||||
18 | including but not limited to the
following factors:
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19 | (1) the duration and gravity of the violation;
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20 | (2) the presence or absence of due diligence on the | ||||||
21 | part of the
respondent in attempting to comply with | ||||||
22 | requirements of this
Act and regulations thereunder or to | ||||||
23 | secure relief therefrom as provided by
this Act;
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24 | (3) any economic benefits accrued by the respondent
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25 | because of delay in compliance with requirements, in which | ||||||
26 | case the economic
benefits shall be determined by the |
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1 | lowest cost alternative for achieving
compliance;
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2 | (4) the amount of monetary penalty which will serve to | ||||||
3 | deter further
violations by the respondent and to otherwise | ||||||
4 | aid in enhancing
voluntary
compliance with this Act by the | ||||||
5 | respondent and other persons
similarly
subject to the Act;
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6 | (5) the number, proximity in time, and gravity of | ||||||
7 | previously
adjudicated violations of this Act by the | ||||||
8 | respondent;
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9 | (6) whether the respondent voluntarily self-disclosed, | ||||||
10 | in accordance
with subsection (i) of this Section, the | ||||||
11 | non-compliance to the Agency; and
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12 | (7) whether the respondent has agreed to undertake a | ||||||
13 | "supplemental
environmental project," which means an | ||||||
14 | environmentally beneficial project that
a respondent | ||||||
15 | agrees to undertake in settlement of an enforcement action | ||||||
16 | brought
under this Act, but which the respondent is not | ||||||
17 | otherwise legally required to
perform.
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18 | In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be imposed | ||||||
19 | under subsection
(a) or paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (5) of | ||||||
20 | subsection (b) of this Section, the
Board shall ensure, in all | ||||||
21 | cases, that the penalty is at least as great as the
economic | ||||||
22 | benefits, if any, accrued by the respondent as a result of the
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23 | violation, unless the Board finds that imposition of such | ||||||
24 | penalty would result
in an arbitrary or unreasonable financial | ||||||
25 | hardship. However, such civil
penalty
may be off-set in whole | ||||||
26 | or in part pursuant to a supplemental
environmental project |
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1 | agreed to by the complainant and the respondent.
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2 | (i) A person who voluntarily self-discloses non-compliance | ||||||
3 | to the Agency,
of which the Agency had been unaware, is | ||||||
4 | entitled to a 100% reduction in the
portion of the penalty that | ||||||
5 | is not based on the economic benefit of
non-compliance if the | ||||||
6 | person can
establish the following:
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7 | (1) that the non-compliance was discovered through an | ||||||
8 | environmental
audit or a compliance management system | ||||||
9 | documented by the regulated entity as
reflecting the | ||||||
10 | regulated entity's due diligence in preventing, detecting, | ||||||
11 | and
correcting violations;
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12 | (2) that the non-compliance was disclosed in writing | ||||||
13 | within 30 days of
the date on which the person discovered | ||||||
14 | it;
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15 | (3) that the non-compliance was discovered and | ||||||
16 | disclosed prior to:
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17 | (i) the commencement of an Agency inspection, | ||||||
18 | investigation, or request
for information;
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19 | (ii) notice of a citizen suit;
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20 | (iii) the filing of a complaint by a citizen, the | ||||||
21 | Illinois Attorney
General, or the State's Attorney of | ||||||
22 | the county in which the violation occurred;
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23 | (iv) the reporting of the non-compliance by an | ||||||
24 | employee of the person
without that person's | ||||||
25 | knowledge; or
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26 | (v) imminent discovery of the non-compliance by |
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1 | the Agency;
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2 | (4) that the non-compliance is being corrected and any | ||||||
3 | environmental
harm is being remediated in a timely fashion;
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4 | (5) that the person agrees to prevent a recurrence of | ||||||
5 | the non-compliance;
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6 | (6) that no related non-compliance events have | ||||||
7 | occurred in the
past 3 years at the same facility or in the | ||||||
8 | past 5 years as part of a
pattern at multiple facilities | ||||||
9 | owned or operated by the person;
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10 | (7) that the non-compliance did not result in serious | ||||||
11 | actual
harm or present an imminent and substantial | ||||||
12 | endangerment to human
health or the environment or violate | ||||||
13 | the specific terms of any judicial or
administrative order | ||||||
14 | or consent agreement;
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15 | (8) that the person cooperates as reasonably requested | ||||||
16 | by the Agency
after the disclosure; and
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17 | (9) that the non-compliance was identified voluntarily | ||||||
18 | and not through a
monitoring, sampling, or auditing | ||||||
19 | procedure that is required by statute, rule,
permit, | ||||||
20 | judicial or administrative order, or consent agreement.
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21 | If a person can establish all of the elements under this | ||||||
22 | subsection except
the element set forth in paragraph (1) of | ||||||
23 | this subsection, the person is
entitled to a 75% reduction in | ||||||
24 | the portion of the penalty that is not based
upon the economic | ||||||
25 | benefit of non-compliance.
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26 | (j) In addition to an other remedy or penalty that may
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1 | apply, whether civil or criminal, any person who violates | ||||||
2 | Section 22.52 of this Act shall be liable for an additional | ||||||
3 | civil penalty of up to 3 times the gross amount of any | ||||||
4 | pecuniary gain resulting from the violation.
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5 | (Source: P.A. 94-272, eff. 7-19-05; 94-580, eff. 8-12-05; | ||||||
6 | 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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