Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 095-0941
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Public Act 095-0941


 

Public Act 0941 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 095-0941
 
HB3446 Enrolled LRB095 08750 KBJ 28934 b

    AN ACT concerning public health.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
changing Section 7 as follows:
 
    (5 ILCS 140/7)  (from Ch. 116, par. 207)
    Sec. 7. Exemptions.
    (1) The following shall be exempt from inspection and
copying:
        (a) Information specifically prohibited from
    disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations
    adopted under federal or State law.
        (b) Information that, if disclosed, would constitute a
    clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless
    the disclosure is consented to in writing by the individual
    subjects of the information. The disclosure of information
    that bears on the public duties of public employees and
    officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal
    privacy. Information exempted under this subsection (b)
    shall include but is not limited to:
            (i) files and personal information maintained with
        respect to clients, patients, residents, students or
        other individuals receiving social, medical,
        educational, vocational, financial, supervisory or
        custodial care or services directly or indirectly from
        federal agencies or public bodies;
            (ii) personnel files and personal information
        maintained with respect to employees, appointees or
        elected officials of any public body or applicants for
        those positions;
            (iii) files and personal information maintained
        with respect to any applicant, registrant or licensee
        by any public body cooperating with or engaged in
        professional or occupational registration, licensure
        or discipline;
            (iv) information required of any taxpayer in
        connection with the assessment or collection of any tax
        unless disclosure is otherwise required by State
        statute;
            (v) information revealing the identity of persons
        who file complaints with or provide information to
        administrative, investigative, law enforcement or
        penal agencies; provided, however, that identification
        of witnesses to traffic accidents, traffic accident
        reports, and rescue reports may be provided by agencies
        of local government, except in a case for which a
        criminal investigation is ongoing, without
        constituting a clearly unwarranted per se invasion of
        personal privacy under this subsection; and
            (vi) the names, addresses, or other personal
        information of participants and registrants in park
        district, forest preserve district, and conservation
        district programs.
        (c) Records compiled by any public body for
    administrative enforcement proceedings and any law
    enforcement or correctional agency for law enforcement
    purposes or for internal matters of a public body, but only
    to the extent that disclosure would:
            (i) interfere with pending or actually and
        reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings
        conducted by any law enforcement or correctional
        agency;
            (ii) interfere with pending administrative
        enforcement proceedings conducted by any public body;
            (iii) deprive a person of a fair trial or an
        impartial hearing;
            (iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a
        confidential source or confidential information
        furnished only by the confidential source;
            (v) disclose unique or specialized investigative
        techniques other than those generally used and known or
        disclose internal documents of correctional agencies
        related to detection, observation or investigation of
        incidents of crime or misconduct;
            (vi) constitute an invasion of personal privacy
        under subsection (b) of this Section;
            (vii) endanger the life or physical safety of law
        enforcement personnel or any other person; or
            (viii) obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation.
        (d) Criminal history record information maintained by
    State or local criminal justice agencies, except the
    following which shall be open for public inspection and
    copying:
            (i) chronologically maintained arrest information,
        such as traditional arrest logs or blotters;
            (ii) the name of a person in the custody of a law
        enforcement agency and the charges for which that
        person is being held;
            (iii) court records that are public;
            (iv) records that are otherwise available under
        State or local law; or
            (v) records in which the requesting party is the
        individual identified, except as provided under part
        (vii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this
        Section.
        "Criminal history record information" means data
    identifiable to an individual and consisting of
    descriptions or notations of arrests, detentions,
    indictments, informations, pre-trial proceedings, trials,
    or other formal events in the criminal justice system or
    descriptions or notations of criminal charges (including
    criminal violations of local municipal ordinances) and the
    nature of any disposition arising therefrom, including
    sentencing, court or correctional supervision,
    rehabilitation and release. The term does not apply to
    statistical records and reports in which individuals are
    not identified and from which their identities are not
    ascertainable, or to information that is for criminal
    investigative or intelligence purposes.
        (e) Records that relate to or affect the security of
    correctional institutions and detention facilities.
        (f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations,
    memoranda and other records in which opinions are
    expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except
    that a specific record or relevant portion of a record
    shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and
    identified by the head of the public body. The exemption
    provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those records
    of officers and agencies of the General Assembly that
    pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.
        (g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial
    information obtained from a person or business where the
    trade secrets or information are proprietary, privileged
    or confidential, or where disclosure of the trade secrets
    or information may cause competitive harm, including:
            (i) All information determined to be confidential
        under Section 4002 of the Technology Advancement and
        Development Act.
            (ii) All trade secrets and commercial or financial
        information obtained by a public body, including a
        public pension fund, from a private equity fund or a
        privately held company within the investment portfolio
        of a private equity fund as a result of either
        investing or evaluating a potential investment of
        public funds in a private equity fund. The exemption
        contained in this item does not apply to the aggregate
        financial performance information of a private equity
        fund, nor to the identity of the fund's managers or
        general partners. The exemption contained in this item
        does not apply to the identity of a privately held
        company within the investment portfolio of a private
        equity fund, unless the disclosure of the identity of a
        privately held company may cause competitive harm.
    Nothing contained in this paragraph (g) shall be construed
to prevent a person or business from consenting to disclosure.
        (h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or
    agreement, including information which if it were
    disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an advantage
    to any person proposing to enter into a contractor
    agreement with the body, until an award or final selection
    is made. Information prepared by or for the body in
    preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an
    award or final selection is made.
        (i) Valuable formulae, computer geographic systems,
    designs, drawings and research data obtained or produced by
    any public body when disclosure could reasonably be
    expected to produce private gain or public loss. The
    exemption for "computer geographic systems" provided in
    this paragraph (i) does not extend to requests made by news
    media as defined in Section 2 of this Act when the
    requested information is not otherwise exempt and the only
    purpose of the request is to access and disseminate
    information regarding the health, safety, welfare, or
    legal rights of the general public.
        (j) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination
    data used to administer an academic examination or
    determined the qualifications of an applicant for a license
    or employment.
        (k) Architects' plans, engineers' technical
    submissions, and other construction related technical
    documents for projects not constructed or developed in
    whole or in part with public funds and the same for
    projects constructed or developed with public funds, but
    only to the extent that disclosure would compromise
    security, including but not limited to water treatment
    facilities, airport facilities, sport stadiums, convention
    centers, and all government owned, operated, or occupied
    buildings.
        (l) Library circulation and order records identifying
    library users with specific materials.
        (m) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the
    public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the
    public body makes the minutes available to the public under
    Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.
        (n) Communications between a public body and an
    attorney or auditor representing the public body that would
    not be subject to discovery in litigation, and materials
    prepared or compiled by or for a public body in
    anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative
    proceeding upon the request of an attorney advising the
    public body, and materials prepared or compiled with
    respect to internal audits of public bodies.
        (o) Information received by a primary or secondary
    school, college or university under its procedures for the
    evaluation of faculty members by their academic peers.
        (p) Administrative or technical information associated
    with automated data processing operations, including but
    not limited to software, operating protocols, computer
    program abstracts, file layouts, source listings, object
    modules, load modules, user guides, documentation
    pertaining to all logical and physical design of
    computerized systems, employee manuals, and any other
    information that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the
    security of the system or its data or the security of
    materials exempt under this Section.
        (q) Documents or materials relating to collective
    negotiating matters between public bodies and their
    employees or representatives, except that any final
    contract or agreement shall be subject to inspection and
    copying.
        (r) Drafts, notes, recommendations and memoranda
    pertaining to the financing and marketing transactions of
    the public body. The records of ownership, registration,
    transfer, and exchange of municipal debt obligations, and
    of persons to whom payment with respect to these
    obligations is made.
        (s) The records, documents and information relating to
    real estate purchase negotiations until those negotiations
    have been completed or otherwise terminated. With regard to
    a parcel involved in a pending or actually and reasonably
    contemplated eminent domain proceeding under the Eminent
    Domain Act, records, documents and information relating to
    that parcel shall be exempt except as may be allowed under
    discovery rules adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court. The
    records, documents and information relating to a real
    estate sale shall be exempt until a sale is consummated.
        (t) Any and all proprietary information and records
    related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk
    management association or self-insurance pool or jointly
    self-administered health and accident cooperative or pool.
        (u) Information concerning a university's adjudication
    of student or employee grievance or disciplinary cases, to
    the extent that disclosure would reveal the identity of the
    student or employee and information concerning any public
    body's adjudication of student or employee grievances or
    disciplinary cases, except for the final outcome of the
    cases.
        (v) Course materials or research materials used by
    faculty members.
        (w) Information related solely to the internal
    personnel rules and practices of a public body.
        (x) Information contained in or related to
    examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by,
    on behalf of, or for the use of a public body responsible
    for the regulation or supervision of financial
    institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is
    otherwise required by State law.
        (y) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
    under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities Act.
        (z) Manuals or instruction to staff that relate to
    establishment or collection of liability for any State tax
    or that relate to investigations by a public body to
    determine violation of any criminal law.
        (aa) Applications, related documents, and medical
    records received by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
    Procedures Board and any and all documents or other records
    prepared by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
    Procedures Board or its staff relating to applications it
    has received.
        (bb) Insurance or self insurance (including any
    intergovernmental risk management association or self
    insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management
    information, records, data, advice or communications.
        (cc) Information and records held by the Department of
    Public Health and its authorized representatives relating
    to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible
    disease or any information the disclosure of which is
    restricted under the Illinois Sexually Transmissible
    Disease Control Act.
        (dd) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
    under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing Act.
        (ee) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55 of
    the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying
    Qualifications Based Selection Act.
        (ff) Security portions of system safety program plans,
    investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists, data, or
    information compiled, collected, or prepared by or for the
    Regional Transportation Authority under Section 2.11 of
    the Regional Transportation Authority Act or the St. Clair
    County Transit District under the Bi-State Transit Safety
    Act.
        (gg) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
    and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois Prepaid
    Tuition Act.
        (hh) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
    under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
        (ii) Beginning July 1, 1999, information that would
    disclose or might lead to the disclosure of secret or
    confidential information, codes, algorithms, programs, or
    private keys intended to be used to create electronic or
    digital signatures under the Electronic Commerce Security
    Act.
        (jj) Information contained in a local emergency energy
    plan submitted to a municipality in accordance with a local
    emergency energy plan ordinance that is adopted under
    Section 11-21.5-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
        (kk) Information and data concerning the distribution
    of surcharge moneys collected and remitted by wireless
    carriers under the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety
    Act.
        (ll) Vulnerability assessments, security measures, and
    response policies or plans that are designed to identify,
    prevent, or respond to potential attacks upon a community's
    population or systems, facilities, or installations, the
    destruction or contamination of which would constitute a
    clear and present danger to the health or safety of the
    community, but only to the extent that disclosure could
    reasonably be expected to jeopardize the effectiveness of
    the measures or the safety of the personnel who implement
    them or the public. Information exempt under this item may
    include such things as details pertaining to the
    mobilization or deployment of personnel or equipment, to
    the operation of communication systems or protocols, or to
    tactical operations.
        (mm) Maps and other records regarding the location or
    security of generation, transmission, distribution,
    storage, gathering, treatment, or switching facilities
    owned by a utility or by the Illinois Power Agency.
        (nn) Law enforcement officer identification
    information or driver identification information compiled
    by a law enforcement agency or the Department of
    Transportation under Section 11-212 of the Illinois
    Vehicle Code.
        (oo) Records and information provided to a residential
    health care facility resident sexual assault and death
    review team or the Executive Council under the Abuse
    Prevention Review Team Act.
        (pp) Information provided to the predatory lending
    database created pursuant to Article 3 of the Residential
    Real Property Disclosure Act, except to the extent
    authorized under that Article.
        (qq) Defense budgets and petitions for certification
    of compensation and expenses for court appointed trial
    counsel as provided under Sections 10 and 15 of the Capital
    Crimes Litigation Act. This subsection (qq) shall apply
    until the conclusion of the trial of the case, even if the
    prosecution chooses not to pursue the death penalty prior
    to trial or sentencing.
        (rr) Information contained in or related to proposals,
    bids, or negotiations related to electric power
    procurement under Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency
    Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act that
    is determined to be confidential and proprietary by the
    Illinois Power Agency or by the Illinois Commerce
    Commission.
        (ss) Information that is prohibited from being
    disclosed under Section 4 of the Illinois Health and
    Hazardous Substances Registry Act.
    (2) This Section does not authorize withholding of
information or limit the availability of records to the public,
except as stated in this Section or otherwise provided in this
Act.
(Source: P.A. 94-280, eff. 1-1-06; 94-508, eff. 1-1-06; 94-664,
eff. 1-1-06; 94-931, eff. 6-26-06; 94-953, eff. 6-27-06;
94-1055, eff. 1-1-07; 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 95-481, eff.
8-28-07.)
 
    Section 10. The Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances
Registry Act is amended by adding Section 9.1 and by changing
Sections 3, 4, 9, and 12 as follows:
 
    (410 ILCS 525/3)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6703)
    Sec. 3. For the purposes of this Act, unless the context
requires otherwise:
    (a) "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public
Health.
    (b) "Director" means the Director of the Illinois
Department of Public Health.
    (c) "Council" means the Health and Hazardous Substances
Coordinating Council created by this Act.
    (d) "Registry" means the Illinois Health and Hazardous
Substances Registry established by the Department of Public
Health under Section 6 of this Act.
    (e) "Cancer" means all malignant neoplasms, regardless of
the tissue of origin, including malignant lymphoma and
leukemia.
    (f) "Cancer incidence" means a medical diagnosis of cancer,
consisting of a record of cases of cancer and specified cases
of tumorous or precancerous diseases which occur in Illinois,
and such other information concerning these cases as the
Department deems necessary or appropriate in order to conduct
thorough and complete epidemiological surveys of cancer and
cancer-related diseases in Illinois.
    (g) "Occupational disease" includes but is not limited to
all occupational diseases covered by the Workers' Occupational
Diseases Act.
    (h) "Hazardous substances" means a hazardous substance as
defined in the Environmental Protection Act.
    (i) "Hazardous substances incident" includes but is not
limited to a spill, fire, or accident involving hazardous
substances, illegal disposal, transportation, or use of
hazardous substances, and complaints or permit violations
involving hazardous substances.
    (j) "Company profile" includes but is not limited to the
name of any company operating in the State of Illinois which
generates, uses, disposes of or transports hazardous
substances, identification of the types of permits issued in
such company's name relating to transactions involving
hazardous substances, inventory of hazardous substances
handled by such company, and the manner in which such hazardous
substances are used, disposed of, or transported by the
company.
    (k)  "Hazardous nuclear material" means (1) any source or
special nuclear material intended for use or used as an energy
source in a production or utilization facility as defined in
Sec. 11.v. or 11.cc. of the federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954
as amended; (2) any fuel which has been discharged from such a
facility following irradiation, the constituent elements of
which have not been separated by reprocessing; or (3) any
by-product material resulting from operation of such a
facility.
    (l) (1) "Adverse pregnancy outcome" includes but is not
limited to birth defects, fetal loss, infant mortality, low
birth weight, selected life-threatening conditions, and other
developmental disabilities as defined by the Department.
    (m) "News medium" means any newspaper or other periodical
issued at regular intervals, whether in print or electronic
format, and having a general circulation; a news service,
whether in print or electronic format; a radio station, a
television station; a television network; a community antenna
television service; and any person or corporation engaged in
the making of news reels or other motion picture news for
public showing.
    (n) "Researcher" means an individual who is affiliated with
or supported by universities, academic centers, research
institutions, hospitals, and governmental entities who conduct
scientific research or investigation on human diseases.
(Source: P.A. 85-831.)
 
    (410 ILCS 525/4)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6704)
    Sec. 4. (a) There is created the Health and Hazardous
Substances Coordinating Council, to be comprised of the
following persons ex officio or their designees: Dean of the
School of Public Health of the University of Illinois, Director
of Natural Resources, Director of Public Health, Director of
Labor, Director of Agriculture, Director of the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Director of Nuclear Safety.
    The University of Illinois School of Public Health shall
advise the Department in the design, function and utilization
of the Registry.
    (b) To facilitate the collection of cancer incidence
information, the Department, in consultation with the Advisory
Board of Cancer Control, shall have the authority to require
hospitals, laboratories or other facilities to report
incidences of cancer and other specified tumorous and
precancerous diseases to the Department, and to require the
submission of such other information pertaining to or in
connection with such reported cases as the Department deems
necessary or appropriate for the purposes of this Act. The
Department may promulgate rules or regulations specifying the
hospitals, laboratories or other facilities which are required
to submit information pursuant to this Section, the types of
information required to be submitted, methods of submitting
such information and any other detail deemed by the Department
to be necessary or appropriate for administration of this Act.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to compel any individual
to submit to a medical examination or supervision.
    (c) The Director shall by rule or regulation establish
standards or guidelines for ensuring the protection of
information made confidential or privileged under law.
    (d) The identity, or any group of facts that tends to lead
to the identity, of any person whose condition or treatment is
submitted to the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances
Registry is confidential and shall not be open to public
inspection or dissemination and is exempt from disclosure under
Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act. The following data
elements, alone or in combination, are confidential, shall not
be open to public inspection or dissemination, and are exempt
from disclosure under Section 7 of the Freedom of Information
Act: name, social security number, street address, email
address, telephone number, fax number, medical record number,
certificate/license number, reporting source (unless permitted
by the reporting facility), age (unless aggregated for 5 or
more years, ZIP code (unless aggregated for 5 or more years),
and diagnosis date (unless aggregated for one or more years for
the entire State or for 3 or more years for a single county).
Facts that tend to lead to the identity of a person include the
following: name, social security number, address, and any other
data element that, by itself or in combination with one or more
other data elements, tends to identify any person. The identity
of any person or persons claimed to be derived from cancer
registry data is not admissible in evidence, and no court shall
require information to be produced in discovery if it
determines that the information tends to lead to the identity
of any person. Information for specific research purposes may
be released in accordance with procedures established by the
Department. Except as provided by rule, and as part of an
epidemiologic investigation, an officer or employee of the
Department may interview a patient named in a report made under
this Act, or relatives of any such patient, only with the
express written consent of the patient.
    (e) Hospitals, laboratories, other facilities or
physicians shall not be held liable for the release of
information or confidential data to the Department in
accordance with this Act. The Department shall protect any
information made confidential or privileged under law.
(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96; 90-607, eff. 6-30-98.)
 
    (410 ILCS 525/9)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6709)
    Sec. 9. The Department shall utilize the Registry to
conduct research on the relationships between hazardous
substances, hazardous nuclear materials, and public health
issues. In consultation with the Council, the Director shall
establish guidelines for determining the specific questions
and areas to be researched. The guidelines shall specifically
include the question of the potential public health
significance of an increase in cancer incidence. Upon the
approval of the Council, the information contained in the
Registry shall be available to other State agencies wishing to
conduct research on these issues. Upon review and approval of
an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or its
equivalent on protection of human subjects in research, the
Department shall release data to researchers for purposes of
medical and scientific research consistent with the
fundamental purposes of the Registry.
(Source: P.A. 85-1218.)
 
    (410 ILCS 525/9.1 new)
    Sec. 9.1. Release of data to news media. Upon review and
approval of an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or
its equivalent on protection of human subjects in research, the
Department shall release data not otherwise available for
release under the Freedom of Information Act to news media for
purposes of public interest research consistent with the
fundamental purposes of the Registry.
 
    (410 ILCS 525/12)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6712)
    Sec. 12. All information contained in the Registry, as well
as all reports issued by the Department, including the annual
report, shall be made available to the public upon request;
provided, however, nothing in this Act permits public
disclosure of any information made confidential or privileged
pursuant to this Act or any other statute. Identification or
contact of individuals from public reports or data released
under the Freedom of Information Act is prohibited. The
Director may, by rule, establish fees to be charged to persons
or organizations other than State agencies for requested
summaries or analyses of data which are not otherwise included
in an annual report. The fees shall not be more than the cost
to the Department of supplying the requested information. The
Department shall make available on its web site
non-confidential public use databases for easy and direct
access and download by the public.
(Source: P.A. 90-607, eff. 6-30-98.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2008.

Effective Date: 8/29/2008