Full Text of HB4648 93rd General Assembly
HB4648 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 HB4648
Introduced 02/04/04, by Thomas Holbrook SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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420 ILCS 44/5 |
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420 ILCS 44/10 |
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420 ILCS 44/15 |
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420 ILCS 44/20 |
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420 ILCS 44/25 |
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420 ILCS 44/30 |
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420 ILCS 44/35 |
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420 ILCS 44/45 |
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420 ILCS 44/50 |
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420 ILCS 44/55 |
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420 ILCS 44/60 |
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420 ILCS 44/65 |
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420 ILCS 44/70 |
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Amends the Radon Industry Licensing Act. Changes references in the Act from the "Department of Nuclear Safety" to the "Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Provides that it is grounds for disciplinary action against a licensee to fail to pay child support orders. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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HB4648 |
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LRB093 18304 BDD 44009 b |
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| AN ACT concerning public health.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Radon Industry Licensing Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing Sections 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 45, 50, 55, 60, | 6 |
| 65, and 70 as follows:
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| (420 ILCS 44/5)
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| Sec. 5. Legislative declaration. The General Assembly | 9 |
| declares that it is
in the interest of the people of Illinois | 10 |
| to establish a comprehensive program
for determining the extent | 11 |
| to which radon and radon progeny are present
in dwellings and | 12 |
| other buildings in Illinois at concentrations
levels that pose | 13 |
| a
potential risk to the occupants and for determining measures | 14 |
| that can be taken
to reduce and prevent such risk. The General | 15 |
| Assembly also finds that public
concerns over the dangers from | 16 |
| radon and radon progeny may give rise to
unscrupulous practices | 17 |
| that exploit those concerns but do not mitigate the
dangers | 18 |
| from radon and radon progeny.
It is therefore declared to be
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| the public policy of this State that in order to
safeguard the | 20 |
| health, property, and public welfare of its citizens, persons
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| engaged in the
business of measuring
detecting the presence of | 22 |
| radon or radon progeny in dwellings and
reducing the presence | 23 |
| of radon and radon progeny in the indoor
atmosphere
shall be | 24 |
| regulated by the State through licensing requirements.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/10)
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| Sec. 10. Primary responsibility with Illinois Emergency | 28 |
| Management Agency
Department of Nuclear Safety . The
Illinois | 29 |
| Emergency Management Agency
Department shall have primary | 30 |
| responsibility for coordination, oversight, and
implementation | 31 |
| of all State functions in matters concerning the presence,
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LRB093 18304 BDD 44009 b |
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| effects, measurement, and mitigation of risks of radon and | 2 |
| radon progeny in
dwellings and other buildings. The Department | 3 |
| of Natural Resources,
the Environmental Protection Agency, the | 4 |
| Department of Public Health, and other
State agencies shall | 5 |
| consult and cooperate with the Agency
Department as requested | 6 |
| and
as necessary to fulfill the purposes of this Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/15)
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| Sec. 15. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the | 10 |
| context
requires otherwise:
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| (a) "Agency" means the Illinois Emergency Management | 12 |
| Agency
"Department" means the Illinois Department of Nuclear | 13 |
| Safety .
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| (b) "Client" means any person who contracts for measurement | 15 |
| or mitigation services. | 16 |
| (c) "Director" means the Director of the Illinois Emergency | 17 |
| Management Agency.
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| (d)
(b) "Interfere" means to adversely or potentially
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| adversely impact the successful completion of an indoor radon | 20 |
| measurement by
changing the radon or radon progeny | 21 |
| concentrations or altering the performance
of measurement | 22 |
| equipment or an indoor radon mitigation system installation or
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| operation.
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| (e)
(c) "Laboratory analysis" means the act of analyzing | 25 |
| the
determining radon or radon
progeny concentrations with
in | 26 |
| air, water, soil, or passive radon testing devices , or the act | 27 |
| of calibrating radon or radon progeny measurement devices, or
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| the act of exposing radon or radon progeny devices to known | 29 |
| concentrations of
radon or radon progeny as a compensated | 30 |
| service.
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| (f)
(d) "Mitigation" means the act of repairing or altering | 32 |
| a building or
building design for the purpose in whole or in | 33 |
| part of reducing the
concentration of radon in the indoor | 34 |
| atmosphere.
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| (g)
(e) "Person" means entities, including, but not limited |
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| to, an individual, company, corporation, firm, group, | 2 |
| association, partnership,
joint venture, trust, or government | 3 |
| agency or subdivision.
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| (h)
(f) "Radon" means a gaseous radioactive decay product | 5 |
| of uranium
or thorium.
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| (i)
(g) "Radon contractor" or "contractor" means a person | 7 |
| licensed to perform
radon or
radon progeny mitigation or to | 8 |
| perform radon measurements of
to detect radon or
radon progeny | 9 |
| in an indoor atmosphere.
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| (j)
(h) "Radon progeny" means any combination of the | 11 |
| radioactive decay products
of radon.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/20)
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| Sec. 20. General powers.
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| (a) The Agency
Department may undertake
projects to | 16 |
| determine whether and to what extent radon and radon progeny | 17 |
| are
present in dwellings and other buildings, to determine to | 18 |
| what
extent their presence constitutes a risk to public health, | 19 |
| and to determine
what measures are effective in reducing and | 20 |
| preventing the risk to public
health.
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| (b) In addition
to other powers granted under this Act, the | 22 |
| Agency
Department is authorized to:
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| (1) Establish a program for measuring radon or radon | 24 |
| progeny in dwellings
and other buildings.
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| (2) Conduct surveys and studies in cooperation with the | 26 |
| Department of
Natural Resources and the Department of | 27 |
| Public Health to determine the
distribution and | 28 |
| concentration of radon or radon progeny in dwellings and
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| other buildings and the associated health risk and to | 30 |
| evaluate
measures that may be used to mitigate a present or | 31 |
| potential health risk.
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| (3) Enter into dwellings and other buildings with the | 33 |
| consent of the owner
or occupant to engage in monitoring | 34 |
| activities or to conduct remedial action
studies or | 35 |
| programs.
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| (4) Enter into contracts for projects undertaken | 2 |
| pursuant to subsection
(a).
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| (5) Enter into agreements with other departments, | 4 |
| agencies, and
subdivisions of
the federal government, the | 5 |
| State, and units of local government to implement
this Act.
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| (6) Establish training and educational programs.
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| (7) Apply for, accept, and use grants or other | 8 |
| financial assistance and
accept and use gifts of money or | 9 |
| property to implement this Act.
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| (8) Provide technical assistance to persons and to | 11 |
| other State
departments,
agencies, political subdivisions, | 12 |
| units of local government, and
school
districts.
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| (9) Prescribe forms for application for a license
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| licensure .
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| (10) Establish the minimum qualifications for
a | 16 |
| license
licensure , including requirements for examinations | 17 |
| or performance testing, and
issue licenses to persons found | 18 |
| to be qualified.
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| (10.5) Investigate any unlicensed activity.
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| (11) Conduct hearings or proceedings to revoke, | 21 |
| suspend, or
refuse to
issue
or renew a license, or assess | 22 |
| civil penalties.
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| (12) Adopt rules for the administration and
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| enforcement of this Act.
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| (13) Establish by rule fees to recover the cost of the | 26 |
| application and inspection
fees for the licensing program.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-387, eff. 8-16-01.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/25)
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| Sec. 25. License requirement. Beginning January 1, 1998, no | 30 |
| person
shall sell a device or
perform a service for | 31 |
| compensation to detect the presence of radon or radon
progeny | 32 |
| in the indoor atmosphere , perform laboratory analysis, or | 33 |
| perform a service to reduce the
presence of radon or radon
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| progeny in the indoor atmosphere unless the
person has been | 35 |
| licensed by the
Agency
Department . The application procedures |
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| for a license
licensure shall be established
by rule of the | 2 |
| Agency
Department . This Section does not apply to retail stores | 3 |
| that only sell or distribute radon sampling devices but are not | 4 |
| engaged in a relationship with the client for other services | 5 |
| such as home inspection or representation as in a real estate | 6 |
| transaction and that do not perform laboratory analysis, | 7 |
| measurement, or mitigation services.
This Section does not | 8 |
| apply to
persons selling or
distributing, but not placing, | 9 |
| radon sampling devices supplied by a laboratory
if the results | 10 |
| of the laboratory analysis are reported directly to the owner | 11 |
| or
occupant of the building sampled.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/30)
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| Sec. 30. Reporting of information. Within 45 days after | 15 |
| testing for
radon or radon progeny, a
person
performing the | 16 |
| testing shall report to his or her client
the owner or occupant | 17 |
| of the building
the
results of the testing. In addition, if the | 18 |
| client is not the owner or occupant of the building, a person | 19 |
| shall report to the owner or occupant upon request. To the | 20 |
| extent that the testing results contain
information pertaining
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| to the medical condition of an identified individual or the | 22 |
| concentration
level of radon
or radon progeny in an
identified | 23 |
| dwelling, information obtained by the Agency
Department
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| pursuant to this
Act is exempt from the disclosure requirements | 25 |
| of the Freedom of Information
Act, except that the
Department | 26 |
| shall make the information available to the identified | 27 |
| individual or
the owner or occupant on request.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/35)
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| Sec. 35. Penalties.
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| (a) A person required to be licensed under Section 25 of | 32 |
| this Act who
sells a device or performs a service without being | 33 |
| properly licensed under this
Act may be assessed a civil | 34 |
| penalty by the Agency not to the exclusion of any other penalty |
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| authorized by law
shall, in addition to any other penalty | 2 |
| provided by law, pay a civil
penalty to the
Department in an | 3 |
| amount not to exceed $5,000, for each offense, as determined
by
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| the Agency
Department . Any person assessed a civil penalty | 5 |
| under this Section shall
be afforded an opportunity for hearing | 6 |
| in accordance with Agency
Department
regulations prior to final | 7 |
| action by the Agency
Department . The civil penalty must be
paid | 8 |
| within 30 days after the order becomes a final and binding | 9 |
| administrative
determination.
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| (b) A person who violates a provision of this
Act shall be | 11 |
| guilty of a business offense and may
shall be
fined not less | 12 |
| than $500 nor more than $1,000 for the first offense and shall
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| be
guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a subsequent offense.
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| Each day that a violation continues constitutes a
separate | 15 |
| offense. A
licensed radon contractor found guilty of a | 16 |
| violation of
a provision of this Act may
shall automatically
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| have his or her license terminated
by the Agency
Department .
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| (Source: P.A. 92-387, eff. 8-16-01.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/45)
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| Sec. 45. Grounds for disciplinary action. The Agency
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| Department may refuse to
issue or to renew, or may revoke, | 22 |
| suspend, place on probation, reprimand or
take other | 23 |
| disciplinary action as the Agency
Department may deem proper, | 24 |
| including
fines not to exceed $1,000 for each violation, with | 25 |
| regard to any license for
any one or combination of the | 26 |
| following causes:
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| (a) Violation of this Act or its rules.
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| (b) Conviction of a crime under the laws of any United | 29 |
| States jurisdiction
that is
a felony or a misdemeanor, an | 30 |
| essential element of which is
dishonesty, or of any crime that | 31 |
| directly relates to the practice of
detecting or reducing the | 32 |
| presence of radon or radon progeny.
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| (c) Making a misrepresentation for the purpose of obtaining | 34 |
| a license.
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| (d) Professional incompetence or gross negligence in the |
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| practice of
detecting or reducing the presence of radon or | 2 |
| radon progeny.
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| (e) Gross malpractice, prima facie evidence of which may be | 4 |
| a conviction or
judgment of malpractice in a court of competent | 5 |
| jurisdiction.
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| (f) Aiding or assisting another person in violating a | 7 |
| provision of this
Act or its rules.
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| (g) Failing, within 60 days, to provide information in | 9 |
| response to a written
request made by the Agency Department | 10 |
| that has been sent by certified or registered
mail to the | 11 |
| licensee's last known address.
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| (h) Engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or unprofessional | 13 |
| conduct of a
character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the | 14 |
| public.
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| (i) Habitual or excessive use or addiction to alcohol, | 16 |
| narcotics,
stimulants,
or any other chemical agent or drug that | 17 |
| results in the inability to practice
with reasonable judgment, | 18 |
| skill, or safety.
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| (j) Discipline by another United States jurisdiction or | 20 |
| foreign nation, if
at least
one of the grounds for the | 21 |
| discipline is the same or substantially equivalent
to those set | 22 |
| forth in this Section.
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| (k) Directly or indirectly giving to or receiving from a | 24 |
| person , firm,
corporation, partnership, or association any | 25 |
| fee, commission, rebate, or other
form of compensation for a | 26 |
| professional service not actually or personally
rendered.
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| (l) A finding by the Agency
Department that the licensee | 28 |
| has violated the terms of a license , after having his or her
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| license
placed on probationary status, has violated the terms | 30 |
| of probation .
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| (m) Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, either | 32 |
| within or
outside of this State, of a violation of a law | 33 |
| governing the practice of
detecting or reducing the presence of | 34 |
| radon or radon progeny if the Agency
Department
determines | 35 |
| after investigation that
the person has not been sufficiently | 36 |
| rehabilitated to warrant the public
trust.
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| (n) A finding by the Agency
Department that a license
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| licensure has been applied for or
obtained by fraudulent
means.
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| (o) Practicing or attempting to practice under a name other | 4 |
| than the full
name as shown on the license or any other | 5 |
| authorized name.
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| (p) Gross and willful overcharging for professional | 7 |
| services, including
filing false statements for collection of | 8 |
| fees or moneys for which services are
not rendered.
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| (q) Failure to file a return or to pay the tax, penalty, or | 10 |
| interest shown
in a filed return, or to pay any final | 11 |
| assessment of tax, penalty, or interest,
as required by a tax | 12 |
| Act administered by the Department of Revenue,
until such time | 13 |
| as the requirements of any such tax Act are satisfied.
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| (r) Failure to repay
The Department shall deny an original | 15 |
| or renewal license under this Act
to a
person who has defaulted | 16 |
| on an educational loans
loan guaranteed by the Illinois
Student | 17 |
| Assistance
State Scholarship Commission , as provided in | 18 |
| Section 2005-85 of the Department of Revenue Law of the Civil | 19 |
| Administrative Code of Illinois . However, the Agency
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| Department may issue an original or
renewal license if the | 21 |
| person in default has established a satisfactory
repayment
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| record as determined by the Illinois State Scholarship | 23 |
| Commission.
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| (s) Failure to meet child support orders, as provided in | 25 |
| Section 10-65 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/50)
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| Sec. 50. Summary suspension. The Director may
summarily | 29 |
| suspend the license of a radon contractor without a hearing,
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| simultaneously with the institution of proceedings for a | 31 |
| hearing, if the
Director finds that evidence in his or her | 32 |
| possession indicates that
continuation of the contractor in
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| practice would constitute an imminent danger to the public. If
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| the Director summarily suspends a license without a hearing, a | 35 |
| hearing by the
Agency
Department shall be held within 30 days |
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| after the suspension has occurred and
shall be concluded | 2 |
| without appreciable delay.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/55)
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| Sec. 55. Liability. The Agency
Department and other persons
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| under contract or agreement with the Agency
Department under | 7 |
| this Act, and their
officers,
agents, and employees, shall not | 8 |
| be liable for
conduct in the course of administering or | 9 |
| enforcing this
Act unless the conduct was malicious.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/60)
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| Sec. 60. Deposit of moneys. All moneys received by the | 13 |
| Agency
Department under
this Act shall be deposited into the | 14 |
| Radiation Protection Fund and are not
refundable. Moneys | 15 |
| deposited into the Fund may be used by the Agency
Department ,
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| pursuant to appropriation, for the administration and | 17 |
| enforcement of this Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/65)
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| Sec. 65. Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The | 21 |
| provisions of the
Illinois Administrative Procedure Act are | 22 |
| hereby expressly adopted and shall
apply to all administrative | 23 |
| rules and procedures of the Agency
Department under this
Act, | 24 |
| except that Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative
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| Procedure Act, relating to procedures for rulemaking, does not | 26 |
| apply
to the adoption of any rule required by federal law in | 27 |
| connection with which
the Agency
Department is precluded from | 28 |
| exercising any discretion.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
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| (420 ILCS 44/70)
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| Sec. 70. Administrative Review Law. All final | 32 |
| administrative decisions of
the Agency
Department under this |
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| Act shall be subject to judicial review under
the provisions of
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| the Administrative Review Law
and its rules. The term | 3 |
| "administrative
decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the | 4 |
| Code of Civil Procedure.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 |
| becoming law.
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