Rep. Carol Ammons

Filed: 4/15/2021

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3783

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3783 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
5changing Section 22.59 as follows:
 
6    (415 ILCS 5/22.59)
7    Sec. 22.59. CCR surface impoundments.
8    (a) The General Assembly finds that:
9        (1) the State of Illinois has a long-standing policy
10    to restore, protect, and enhance the environment,
11    including the purity of the air, land, and waters,
12    including groundwaters, of this State;
13        (2) a clean environment is essential to the growth and
14    well-being of this State;
15        (3) CCR generated by the electric generating industry
16    has caused groundwater contamination and other forms of

 

 

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1    pollution at active and inactive plants throughout this
2    State;
3        (4) environmental laws should be supplemented to
4    ensure consistent, responsible regulation of all existing
5    CCR surface impoundments; and
6        (5) meaningful participation of State residents,
7    especially vulnerable populations who may be affected by
8    regulatory actions, is critical to ensure that
9    environmental justice considerations are incorporated in
10    the development of, decision-making related to, and
11    implementation of environmental laws and rulemaking that
12    protects and improves the well-being of communities in
13    this State that bear disproportionate burdens imposed by
14    environmental pollution.
15    Therefore, the purpose of this Section is to promote a
16healthful environment, including clean water, air, and land,
17meaningful public involvement, and the responsible disposal
18and storage of coal combustion residuals, so as to protect
19public health and to prevent pollution of the environment of
20this State.
21    The provisions of this Section shall be liberally
22construed to carry out the purposes of this Section.
23    (b) No person shall:
24        (1) cause or allow the discharge of any contaminants
25    from a CCR surface impoundment into the environment so as
26    to cause, directly or indirectly, a violation of this

 

 

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1    Section or any regulations or standards adopted by the
2    Board under this Section, either alone or in combination
3    with contaminants from other sources;
4        (2) construct, install, modify, operate, or close any
5    CCR surface impoundment without a permit granted by the
6    Agency, or so as to violate any conditions imposed by such
7    permit, any provision of this Section or any regulations
8    or standards adopted by the Board under this Section; or
9        (3) cause or allow, directly or indirectly, the
10    discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking,
11    or placing of any CCR upon the land in a place and manner
12    so as to cause or tend to cause a violation this Section or
13    any regulations or standards adopted by the Board under
14    this Section; or .
15        (4) construct, install, modify, or close a CCR surface
16    impoundment in accordance with a permit issued under this
17    Act without certifying to the Agency that all contractors,
18    subcontractors, and installers utilized to construct,
19    install, modify, or close a CCR surface impoundment are
20    participants in:
21            (A) a training program that is approved by and
22        registered with the United States Department of
23        Labor's Employment and Training Administration and
24        that includes instruction in erosion control and
25        environmental remediation; and
26            (B) a training program that is approved by and

 

 

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1        registered with the United States Department of
2        Labor's Employment and Training Administration and
3        that includes instruction in the operation of heavy
4        equipment and excavation.
5        Nothing in this paragraph (4) shall be construed to
6    require providers of construction-related professional
7    services to participate in a training program approved by
8    and registered with the United States Department of
9    Labor's Employment and Training Administration.
10        In this paragraph (4), "construction-related
11    professional services" includes, but is not limited to,
12    those services within the scope of: (i) the practice of
13    architecture as regulated under the Illinois Architecture
14    Practice Act of 1989; (ii) professional engineering as
15    defined in Section 4 of the Professional Engineering
16    Practice Act of 1989; (iii) the practice of a structural
17    engineer as defined in Section 4 of the Structural
18    Engineering Practice Act of 1989; or (iv) land surveying
19    under the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989.
20    (c) For purposes of this Section, a permit issued by the
21Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
22Agency under Section 4005 of the federal Resource Conservation
23and Recovery Act, shall be deemed to be a permit under this
24Section and subsection (y) of Section 39.
25    (d) Before commencing closure of a CCR surface
26impoundment, in accordance with Board rules, the owner of a

 

 

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1CCR surface impoundment must submit to the Agency for approval
2a closure alternatives analysis that analyzes all closure
3methods being considered and that otherwise satisfies all
4closure requirements adopted by the Board under this Act.
5Complete removal of CCR, as specified by the Board's rules,
6from the CCR surface impoundment must be considered and
7analyzed. Section 3.405 does not apply to the Board's rules
8specifying complete removal of CCR. The selected closure
9method must ensure compliance with regulations adopted by the
10Board pursuant to this Section.
11    (e) Owners or operators of CCR surface impoundments who
12have submitted a closure plan to the Agency before May 1, 2019,
13and who have completed closure prior to 24 months after July
1430, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171) this
15amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly shall not be
16required to obtain a construction permit for the surface
17impoundment closure under this Section.
18    (f) Except for the State, its agencies and institutions, a
19unit of local government, or not-for-profit electric
20cooperative as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier
21Act, any person who owns or operates a CCR surface impoundment
22in this State shall post with the Agency a performance bond or
23other security for the purpose of: (i) ensuring closure of the
24CCR surface impoundment and post-closure care in accordance
25with this Act and its rules; and (ii) ensuring insuring
26remediation of releases from the CCR surface impoundment. The

 

 

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1only acceptable forms of financial assurance are: a trust
2fund, a surety bond guaranteeing payment, a surety bond
3guaranteeing performance, or an irrevocable letter of credit.
4        (1) The cost estimate for the post-closure care of a
5    CCR surface impoundment shall be calculated using a
6    30-year post-closure care period or such longer period as
7    may be approved by the Agency under Board or federal
8    rules.
9        (2) The Agency is authorized to enter into such
10    contracts and agreements as it may deem necessary to carry
11    out the purposes of this Section. Neither the State, nor
12    the Director, nor any State employee shall be liable for
13    any damages or injuries arising out of or resulting from
14    any action taken under this Section.
15        (3) The Agency shall have the authority to approve or
16    disapprove any performance bond or other security posted
17    under this subsection. Any person whose performance bond
18    or other security is disapproved by the Agency may contest
19    the disapproval as a permit denial appeal pursuant to
20    Section 40.
21    (g) The Board shall adopt rules establishing construction
22permit requirements, operating permit requirements, design
23standards, reporting, financial assurance, and closure and
24post-closure care requirements for CCR surface impoundments.
25Not later than 8 months after July 30, 2019 (the effective date
26of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of the 101st

 

 

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1General Assembly the Agency shall propose, and not later than
2one year after receipt of the Agency's proposal the Board
3shall adopt, rules under this Section. The rules must, at a
4minimum:
5        (1) be at least as protective and comprehensive as the
6    federal regulations or amendments thereto promulgated by
7    the Administrator of the United States Environmental
8    Protection Agency in Subpart D of 40 CFR 257 governing CCR
9    surface impoundments;
10        (2) specify the minimum contents of CCR surface
11    impoundment construction and operating permit
12    applications, including the closure alternatives analysis
13    required under subsection (d);
14        (3) specify which types of permits include
15    requirements for closure, post-closure, remediation and
16    all other requirements applicable to CCR surface
17    impoundments;
18        (4) specify when permit applications for existing CCR
19    surface impoundments must be submitted, taking into
20    consideration whether the CCR surface impoundment must
21    close under the RCRA;
22        (5) specify standards for review and approval by the
23    Agency of CCR surface impoundment permit applications;
24        (6) specify meaningful public participation procedures
25    for the issuance of CCR surface impoundment construction
26    and operating permits, including, but not limited to,

 

 

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1    public notice of the submission of permit applications, an
2    opportunity for the submission of public comments, an
3    opportunity for a public hearing prior to permit issuance,
4    and a summary and response of the comments prepared by the
5    Agency;
6        (7) prescribe the type and amount of the performance
7    bonds or other securities required under subsection (f),
8    and the conditions under which the State is entitled to
9    collect moneys from such performance bonds or other
10    securities;
11        (8) specify a procedure to identify areas of
12    environmental justice concern in relation to CCR surface
13    impoundments;
14        (9) specify a method to prioritize CCR surface
15    impoundments required to close under RCRA if not otherwise
16    specified by the United States Environmental Protection
17    Agency, so that the CCR surface impoundments with the
18    highest risk to public health and the environment, and
19    areas of environmental justice concern are given first
20    priority;
21        (10) define when complete removal of CCR is achieved
22    and specify the standards for responsible removal of CCR
23    from CCR surface impoundments, including, but not limited
24    to, dust controls and the protection of adjacent surface
25    water and groundwater; and
26        (11) describe the process and standards for

 

 

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1    identifying a specific alternative source of groundwater
2    pollution when the owner or operator of the CCR surface
3    impoundment believes that groundwater contamination on the
4    site is not from the CCR surface impoundment.
5    (h) Any owner of a CCR surface impoundment that generates
6CCR and sells or otherwise provides coal combustion byproducts
7pursuant to Section 3.135 shall, every 12 months, post on its
8publicly available website a report specifying the volume or
9weight of CCR, in cubic yards or tons, that it sold or provided
10during the past 12 months.
11    (i) The owner of a CCR surface impoundment shall post all
12closure plans, permit applications, and supporting
13documentation, as well as any Agency approval of the plans or
14applications on its publicly available website.
15    (j) The owner or operator of a CCR surface impoundment
16shall pay the following fees:
17        (1) An initial fee to the Agency within 6 months after
18    July 30, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171)
19    this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly of:
20            $50,000 for each closed CCR surface impoundment;
21        and
22            $75,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that have
23        not completed closure.
24        (2) Annual fees to the Agency, beginning on July 1,
25    2020, of:
26            $25,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has

 

 

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1        not completed closure; and
2            $15,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has
3        completed closure, but has not completed post-closure
4        care.
5    (k) All fees collected by the Agency under subsection (j)
6shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Permit
7and Inspection Fund.
8    (l) The Coal Combustion Residual Surface Impoundment
9Financial Assurance Fund is created as a special fund in the
10State treasury. Any moneys forfeited to the State of Illinois
11from any performance bond or other security required under
12this Section shall be placed in the Coal Combustion Residual
13Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund and shall, upon
14approval by the Governor and the Director, be used by the
15Agency for the purposes for which such performance bond or
16other security was issued. The Coal Combustion Residual
17Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund is not subject to
18the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 5 of the State
19Finance Act.
20    (m) The provisions of this Section shall apply, without
21limitation, to all existing CCR surface impoundments and any
22CCR surface impoundments constructed after July 30, 2019 (the
23effective date of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of
24the 101st General Assembly, except to the extent prohibited by
25the Illinois or United States Constitutions.
26(Source: P.A. 101-171, eff. 7-30-19; revised 10-22-19.)
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.".