Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB0123
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Full Text of HB0123  99th General Assembly

HB0123enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
HB0123 EnrolledLRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Fluorspar and Underground Limestone Mines
5Act is amended by changing Section 1 as follows:
 
6    (225 ILCS 710/1)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4201)
7    Sec. 1. Application of Act; short title; definitions.
8    (a) This Act shall apply to all mines in the State of
9Illinois producing minerals within the meaning of that term, as
10hereinafter defined.
11    (b) This Act may be cited as the Fluorspar and Underground
12Limestone Mines Act.
13    (c) For the purpose of this Act the singular numbers when
14in reference to persons, acts, objects and things of whatsoever
15kind and description shall, whenever the context will permit,
16be taken and held to import and include the plural number and
17the plural number shall similarly be taken and held to import
18and include the singular, and terms that impart the masculine
19gender shall be taken to impart and include the feminine gender
20as well.
21    (d) The term "mine," when used in the Act, shall include
22prospects, openings and open-cuts and workings, and shall
23embrace any and all parts of the property of such "mine" and

 

 

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1mining plant on the surface or underground, that contribute
2directly or indirectly to the mining and handling of minerals.
3    Provided, that when a group of workings in proximity to one
4another and under one management are administered as distinct
5units each working shall be considered a separate mine.
6    (e) The term "mineral" when used in this Act shall mean
7whatever is recognized by the standard authorities as mineral,
8whether metalliferous or non-metalliferous, but shall not be
9held to embrace or include silica, granite, marble, salt, sand,
10gravel, clay, rock, coal, lignite, gas, oil or any substance
11extracted in solution or in the molten state through bore
12holes.
13    (f) The term "operator" when used in this Act shall mean
14the person, firm, or body corporate, in immediate possession of
15any mine and its accessories as owner or lessee thereof, and as
16such responsible for the condition and management thereof.
17    (g) The term "superintendent" when used in this Act shall
18mean the person having the immediate supervision of the mine.
19    (h) The term "mine foreman" when used in this Act shall
20mean the person who at any one time is charged with the general
21direction of the underground work.
22    (i) The term "inspector" when used in this Act shall
23signify the official State Inspector.
24    (j) The words "excavation" and "workings" when used in this
25Act shall signify any and all parts of a mine excavated or
26being excavated, including shafts, raises, tunnels, adits,

 

 

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1open-cuts, and all working places, whether abandoned or in use.
2    (k) Whenever the expression "number of men" or "average
3number of men" employed in a mine are used in this Act as
4defining or constituting classes of mines to which this Act or
5any specific section, clauses, provision or rule thereof, does
6or does not apply, such expressions shall be construed to mean
7the average number of individuals employed during the previous
8year as shown by the returns to the mine inspector or by the
9books or pay roll of the mine, or by all of such means and such
10average number shall be determined by dividing the total number
11of man shifts by the number of days the mine worked during such
12period.
13    (l) The term "explosive" or "explosives" as used in this
14Act shall be held to mean and to include any chemical or any
15mechanical mixture that contains any oxidizing and combustible
16units or other ingredients in such proportions, quantities, or
17packing that an ignition by fire, by friction, by concussion,
18by percussion or by detonation of any part of the compound or
19mixture may cause such a sudden generation of highly heated
20gases that the resultant gaseous pressures are capable of
21producing destructive effect on contiguous objects or of
22destroying life or limb.
23    (m) The term "person" when used in this Act shall be held
24to mean and include a firm or body corporate as well as natural
25persons.
26    (n) The term "underground" as used in this Act shall be

 

 

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1held to mean "within the limits of" any mine working or
2excavation and shall not exclude such workings or excavations
3as may not be covered over by rock or earth.
4    (o) The term "employees" and "men employed" shall be held
5to mean all individuals receiving compensation from the
6operator, directly or indirectly, for labor or services
7performed in connection with the mine and shall include
8contractors, lessors, lessees, tributers, or any one similarly
9employed.
10(Source: P.A. 88-185.)
 
11    Section 10. The Surface-Mined Land Conservation and
12Reclamation Act is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
 
13    (225 ILCS 715/8)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4509)
14    Sec. 8. Bond of operator; amount; sufficiency of surety;
15violations; compliance. Any bond herein provided to be filed
16with the Department by the operator shall be in such form as
17the Director prescribes, payable to the People of the State of
18Illinois, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully
19perform all requirements of this Act and comply with all rules
20of the Department made in accordance with the provisions of
21this Act. Such bond shall be signed by the operator as
22principal, and by a good and sufficient corporate surety,
23licensed to do business in Illinois, as surety. The penalty of
24such bond shall be an amount between $600 and $10,000 $5,000

 

 

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1per acre as determined by the Director for lands to be affected
2by surface mining, including slurry and gob disposal areas.
3Under circumstances where a written agreement between the
4operator and a third party require overburden to be removed,
5replaced, graded, and seeded in a manner that the necessary
6bond penalty exceeds $10,000 per acre, the Department shall
7require a bond amount sufficient to ensure the completion of
8the reclamation plan specified in the approved permit in the
9event of forfeiture. In no case shall the bond for the entire
10area under one permit be less than $600 per acre or $3,000,
11whichever is greater. Areas used for the disposal of slurry and
12gob shall continue under bond so long as they are in active
13use. In lieu of such bonds, the operator may deposit any
14combination of cash, certificates of deposits, government
15securities, or irrevocable letters of credit with the
16Department in an amount equal to that of the required surety
17bond on conditions as prescribed in this Section. The penalty
18of the bond or amount of other security shall be increased or
19reduced from time to time as provided in this Act. Such bond or
20security shall remain in effect until the affected lands have
21been reclaimed, approved and released by the Department except
22that when the Department determines that grading and covering
23with materials capable of supporting vegetation in accordance
24with the plan has been satisfactorily completed, the Department
25shall release the bond or security except the amount of $100
26per acre which shall be retained by the Department until the

 

 

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1reclamation according to Section 6 of this Act has been
2completed. Where an anticipated water impoundment has been
3approved by the Department in the reclamation plan, and the
4Department determines the impoundment will be satisfactorily
5completed upon completion of the operation, the bond covering
6such anticipated water impoundment area shall be released.
7    A bond filed as above prescribed shall not be cancelled by
8the surety except after not less than 90 days' notice to the
9Department.
10    If the license to do business in Illinois of any surety
11upon a bond filed with the Department pursuant to this Act
12shall be suspended or revoked, the operator, within 30 days
13after receiving notice thereof from the Department, shall
14substitute for such surety a good and sufficient corporate
15surety licensed to do business in Illinois. Upon failure of the
16operator to make substitution of surety as herein provided, the
17Department shall have the right to suspend the permit of the
18operator until such substitution has been made.
19    The Department shall give written notice to the operator of
20any violation of this Act or non-compliance with any of the
21rules and regulations promulgated by the Department hereunder
22and if corrective measures, approved by the Department, are not
23commenced within 45 days, the Department may proceed as
24provided in Section 11 of this Act to request forfeiture of the
25bond or security. The forfeiture shall be the amount of bond or
26security in effect at the time of default for each acre or

 

 

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1portion thereof with respect to which the operator has
2defaulted. Such forfeiture shall fully satisfy all obligations
3of the operator to reclaim the affected land under the
4provisions of this Act.
5    The Department shall have the power to reclaim, in keeping
6with the provisions of this Act, any affected land with respect
7to which a bond has been forfeited.
8    Whenever an operator shall have completed all requirements
9under the provisions of this Act as to any affected land, he
10shall notify the Department thereof. If the Department
11determines that the operator has completed reclamation
12requirements and refuse disposal requirements and has achieved
13results appropriate to the use for which the area was
14reclaimed, the Department shall release the operator from
15further obligations regarding such affected land and the
16penalty of the bond shall be reduced proportionately.
17    Bonding aggregate mining operations under permit by the
18State is an exclusive power and function of the State. A home
19rule unit may not require bonding of aggregate mining
20operations under permit by the State. This provision is a
21denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under
22subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
23Constitution of 1970.
24(Source: P.A. 91-938, eff. 1-11-01.)