State Government Administration Committee

Filed: 3/21/2007

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1467

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1467 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4     "AN ACT concerning safety."; and
 
5 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
6 following:
 
7     "Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
8 changing Section 22.15a as follows:
 
9     (415 ILCS 5/22.15a)
10     Sec. 22.15a. Open dumping cleanup program.
11     (a) Upon making a finding that (i) open dumping, (ii) a
12 structure condemned by a unit of local government, or (iii) a
13 vacant piece of property condemned by a unit of local
14 government poses a threat to the public health or to the
15 environment, the Agency may take whatever preventive or

 

 

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1 corrective action is necessary or appropriate to end that
2 threat. The This preventive or corrective action may consist of
3 any or all of the following:
4         (1) Removing waste or structures from the site.
5         (2) Removing soil and water contamination that is
6     related to waste at the site.
7         (3) Installing devices to monitor and control
8     groundwater and surface water contamination that is
9     related to waste at the site.
10         (4) Taking any other actions that are authorized by
11     Board regulations.
12     (b) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the
13 Agency may undertake a consensual removal action for the
14 removal of up to 20 cubic yards of waste, or, in the case of a
15 condemned structure, the entire mass of structural material
16 comprising the condemned structure, at no cost to the owner of
17 the property where the open dumping has occurred or on which
18 the condemned structure is located in accordance with the
19 following requirements:
20         (1) Actions under this subsection must be taken
21     pursuant to a written agreement between the Agency and the
22     owner of the property unless the property is condemned by a
23     unit of local government.
24         (2) The written agreement must at a minimum specify:
25             (A) that the owner relinquishes any claim of an
26         ownership interest in any waste that is removed and in

 

 

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1         any proceeds from its sale;
2             (B) that waste will no longer be allowed to
3         accumulate at the site in a manner that constitutes
4         open dumping;
5             (C) that the owner will hold harmless the Agency
6         and any employee or contractor used by the Agency to
7         effect the removal for any damage to property incurred
8         during the course of action under this subsection,
9         except for damage incurred by gross negligence or
10         intentional misconduct; and
11             (D) any conditions imposed upon or assistance
12         required from the owner to assure that the waste is so
13         located or arranged as to facilitate its removal.
14         (3) The Agency may establish by rule the conditions and
15     priorities for the removal of waste or structures under
16     this subsection (b).
17         (4) The Agency must prescribe the form of written
18     agreements under this subsection (b).
19     (c) The Agency may provide notice to the owner of property
20 where open dumping or condemnation has occurred whenever the
21 Agency finds that the open dumping or condemned structure poses
22 a threat to public health or the environment. The notice
23 provided by the Agency must include the identified preventive
24 or corrective action and must provide an opportunity for the
25 owner to perform the action.
26     (d) In accordance with constitutional limitations, the

 

 

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1 Agency may enter, at all reasonable times, upon any private or
2 public property for the purpose of taking any preventive or
3 corrective action that is necessary and appropriate under this
4 Section whenever the Agency finds that the open dumping or the
5 condemned structure poses a threat to the public health or to
6 the environment.
7     (e) Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law and
8 subject only to the defenses set forth in subsection (g) of
9 this Section, the following persons shall be liable for all
10 costs of corrective or preventive action incurred by the State
11 of Illinois as a result of actions taken under this Section
12 open dumping, including the reasonable costs of collection:
13         (1) any person with an ownership interest in property
14     where open dumping has occurred;
15         (2) any person with an ownership or leasehold interest
16     in the property at the time the open dumping occurred;
17         (3) any person who transported waste that was open
18     dumped at the property; and
19         (4) any person who open dumped at the property; and .
20         (5) any person who owns a condemned structure that is
21     treated under subsection (b) of this Section.
22     Any moneys received by the Agency under this subsection (e)
23 must be deposited into the Subtitle D Management Fund.
24     (f) Any person liable to the Agency for costs incurred
25 under subsection (e) of this Section may be liable to the State
26 of Illinois for punitive damages in an amount at least equal to

 

 

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1 and not more than 3 times the costs incurred by the State if
2 that person failed, without sufficient cause, to take
3 preventive or corrective action under the notice issued under
4 subsection (c) of this Section.
5     (g) There shall be no liability under subsection (e) of
6 this Section for a person otherwise liable who can establish by
7 a preponderance of the evidence that the hazard created by the
8 open dumping or condemned structure was caused solely by:
9         (1) an act of God;
10         (2) an act of war; or
11         (3) an act or omission of a third party other than an
12     employee or agent and other than a person whose act or
13     omission occurs in connection with a contractual
14     relationship with the person otherwise liable. For the
15     purposes of this paragraph, "contractual relationship"
16     includes, but is not limited to, land contracts, deeds, and
17     other instruments transferring title or possession, unless
18     the real property upon which the open dumping occurred was
19     acquired by the defendant after the open dumping or
20     condemnation occurred and one or more of the following
21     circumstances is also established by a preponderance of the
22     evidence:
23             (A) at the time the defendant acquired the
24         property, the defendant did not know and had no reason
25         to know that any open dumping or condemnation had
26         occurred and the defendant undertook, at the time of

 

 

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1         acquisition, all appropriate inquiries into the
2         previous ownership and uses of the property consistent
3         with good commercial or customary practice in an effort
4         to minimize liability;
5             (B) the defendant is a government entity that
6         acquired the property by escheat or through any other
7         involuntary transfer or acquisition, or through the
8         exercise of eminent domain authority by purchase or
9         condemnation; or
10             (C) the defendant acquired the property by
11         inheritance or bequest.
12     (h) Nothing in this Section shall affect or modify the
13 obligations or liability of any person under any other
14 provision of this Act, federal law, or State law, including the
15 common law, for injuries, damages, or losses resulting from the
16 circumstances leading to Agency action under this Section.
17     (i) The costs and damages provided for in this Section may
18 be imposed by the Board in an action brought before the Board
19 in accordance with Title VIII of this Act, except that
20 subsection (c) of Section 33 of this Act shall not apply to any
21 such action.
22     (j) Except for willful and wanton misconduct, neither the
23 State, the Director, nor any State employee shall be liable for
24 any damages or injuries arising out of or resulting from any
25 act or omission occurring under the provisions of Public Act
26 94-272 or this amendatory Act of the 95th 94th General

 

 

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1 Assembly.
2     (k) Before taking preventive or corrective action under
3 this Section, the Agency shall consider whether the open
4 dumping or conditions giving rise to the condemnation:
5         (1) occurred on public land;
6         (2) occurred on a public right-of-way;
7         (3) occurred in a park or natural area;
8         (4) occurred in an environmental justice area;
9         (5) was caused or allowed by persons other than the
10     owner of the site;
11         (6) creates the potential for groundwater
12     contamination;
13         (7) creates the potential for surface water
14     contamination;
15         (8) creates the potential for disease vectors;
16         (9) creates a fire hazard; or
17         (10) preventive or corrective action by the Agency has
18     been requested by a unit of local government.
19     In taking preventive or corrective action under this
20 Section, the Agency shall not expend more than $50,000 at any
21 single site in response to open dumping or a condemned
22 structure unless: (i) the Director determines that the open
23 dumping or condemned structure poses an imminent and
24 substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or the
25 environment; or (ii) the General Assembly appropriates more
26 than $50,000 for preventive or corrective action in response to

 

 

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1 the open dumping or condemned structure, in which case the
2 Agency may spend the appropriated amount.
3 (Source: P.A. 94-272, eff. 7-19-05.)
 
4     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
5 becoming law.".