Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 102-0137
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Public Act 102-0137


 

Public Act 0137 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 102-0137
 
HB3783 EnrolledLRB102 15016 CPF 20371 b

    AN ACT concerning safety.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
changing Section 22.59 as follows:
 
    (415 ILCS 5/22.59)
    Sec. 22.59. CCR surface impoundments.
    (a) The General Assembly finds that:
        (1) the State of Illinois has a long-standing policy
    to restore, protect, and enhance the environment,
    including the purity of the air, land, and waters,
    including groundwaters, of this State;
        (2) a clean environment is essential to the growth and
    well-being of this State;
        (3) CCR generated by the electric generating industry
    has caused groundwater contamination and other forms of
    pollution at active and inactive plants throughout this
    State;
        (4) environmental laws should be supplemented to
    ensure consistent, responsible regulation of all existing
    CCR surface impoundments; and
        (5) meaningful participation of State residents,
    especially vulnerable populations who may be affected by
    regulatory actions, is critical to ensure that
    environmental justice considerations are incorporated in
    the development of, decision-making related to, and
    implementation of environmental laws and rulemaking that
    protects and improves the well-being of communities in
    this State that bear disproportionate burdens imposed by
    environmental pollution.
    Therefore, the purpose of this Section is to promote a
healthful environment, including clean water, air, and land,
meaningful public involvement, and the responsible disposal
and storage of coal combustion residuals, so as to protect
public health and to prevent pollution of the environment of
this State.
    The provisions of this Section shall be liberally
construed to carry out the purposes of this Section.
    (b) No person shall:
        (1) cause or allow the discharge of any contaminants
    from a CCR surface impoundment into the environment so as
    to cause, directly or indirectly, a violation of this
    Section or any regulations or standards adopted by the
    Board under this Section, either alone or in combination
    with contaminants from other sources;
        (2) construct, install, modify, operate, or close any
    CCR surface impoundment without a permit granted by the
    Agency, or so as to violate any conditions imposed by such
    permit, any provision of this Section or any regulations
    or standards adopted by the Board under this Section; or
        (3) cause or allow, directly or indirectly, the
    discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking,
    or placing of any CCR upon the land in a place and manner
    so as to cause or tend to cause a violation this Section or
    any regulations or standards adopted by the Board under
    this Section; or .
        (4) construct, install, modify, or close a CCR surface
    impoundment in accordance with a permit issued under this
    Act without certifying to the Agency that all contractors,
    subcontractors, and installers utilized to construct,
    install, modify, or close a CCR surface impoundment are
    participants in:
            (A) a training program that is approved by and
        registered with the United States Department of
        Labor's Employment and Training Administration and
        that includes instruction in erosion control and
        environmental remediation; and
            (B) a training program that is approved by and
        registered with the United States Department of
        Labor's Employment and Training Administration and
        that includes instruction in the operation of heavy
        equipment and excavation.
        Nothing in this paragraph (4) shall be construed to
    require providers of construction-related professional
    services to participate in a training program approved by
    and registered with the United States Department of
    Labor's Employment and Training Administration.
        In this paragraph (4), "construction-related
    professional services" includes, but is not limited to,
    those services within the scope of: (i) the practice of
    architecture as regulated under the Illinois Architecture
    Practice Act of 1989; (ii) professional engineering as
    defined in Section 4 of the Professional Engineering
    Practice Act of 1989; (iii) the practice of a structural
    engineer as defined in Section 4 of the Structural
    Engineering Practice Act of 1989; or (iv) land surveying
    under the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989.
    (c) For purposes of this Section, a permit issued by the
Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency under Section 4005 of the federal Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act, shall be deemed to be a permit under this
Section and subsection (y) of Section 39.
    (d) Before commencing closure of a CCR surface
impoundment, in accordance with Board rules, the owner of a
CCR surface impoundment must submit to the Agency for approval
a closure alternatives analysis that analyzes all closure
methods being considered and that otherwise satisfies all
closure requirements adopted by the Board under this Act.
Complete removal of CCR, as specified by the Board's rules,
from the CCR surface impoundment must be considered and
analyzed. Section 3.405 does not apply to the Board's rules
specifying complete removal of CCR. The selected closure
method must ensure compliance with regulations adopted by the
Board pursuant to this Section.
    (e) Owners or operators of CCR surface impoundments who
have submitted a closure plan to the Agency before May 1, 2019,
and who have completed closure prior to 24 months after July
30, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171) this
amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly shall not be
required to obtain a construction permit for the surface
impoundment closure under this Section.
    (f) Except for the State, its agencies and institutions, a
unit of local government, or not-for-profit electric
cooperative as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier
Act, any person who owns or operates a CCR surface impoundment
in this State shall post with the Agency a performance bond or
other security for the purpose of: (i) ensuring closure of the
CCR surface impoundment and post-closure care in accordance
with this Act and its rules; and (ii) ensuring insuring
remediation of releases from the CCR surface impoundment. The
only acceptable forms of financial assurance are: a trust
fund, a surety bond guaranteeing payment, a surety bond
guaranteeing performance, or an irrevocable letter of credit.
        (1) The cost estimate for the post-closure care of a
    CCR surface impoundment shall be calculated using a
    30-year post-closure care period or such longer period as
    may be approved by the Agency under Board or federal
    rules.
        (2) The Agency is authorized to enter into such
    contracts and agreements as it may deem necessary to carry
    out the purposes of this Section. Neither the State, nor
    the Director, nor any State employee shall be liable for
    any damages or injuries arising out of or resulting from
    any action taken under this Section.
        (3) The Agency shall have the authority to approve or
    disapprove any performance bond or other security posted
    under this subsection. Any person whose performance bond
    or other security is disapproved by the Agency may contest
    the disapproval as a permit denial appeal pursuant to
    Section 40.
    (g) The Board shall adopt rules establishing construction
permit requirements, operating permit requirements, design
standards, reporting, financial assurance, and closure and
post-closure care requirements for CCR surface impoundments.
Not later than 8 months after July 30, 2019 (the effective date
of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of the 101st
General Assembly the Agency shall propose, and not later than
one year after receipt of the Agency's proposal the Board
shall adopt, rules under this Section. The rules must, at a
minimum:
        (1) be at least as protective and comprehensive as the
    federal regulations or amendments thereto promulgated by
    the Administrator of the United States Environmental
    Protection Agency in Subpart D of 40 CFR 257 governing CCR
    surface impoundments;
        (2) specify the minimum contents of CCR surface
    impoundment construction and operating permit
    applications, including the closure alternatives analysis
    required under subsection (d);
        (3) specify which types of permits include
    requirements for closure, post-closure, remediation and
    all other requirements applicable to CCR surface
    impoundments;
        (4) specify when permit applications for existing CCR
    surface impoundments must be submitted, taking into
    consideration whether the CCR surface impoundment must
    close under the RCRA;
        (5) specify standards for review and approval by the
    Agency of CCR surface impoundment permit applications;
        (6) specify meaningful public participation procedures
    for the issuance of CCR surface impoundment construction
    and operating permits, including, but not limited to,
    public notice of the submission of permit applications, an
    opportunity for the submission of public comments, an
    opportunity for a public hearing prior to permit issuance,
    and a summary and response of the comments prepared by the
    Agency;
        (7) prescribe the type and amount of the performance
    bonds or other securities required under subsection (f),
    and the conditions under which the State is entitled to
    collect moneys from such performance bonds or other
    securities;
        (8) specify a procedure to identify areas of
    environmental justice concern in relation to CCR surface
    impoundments;
        (9) specify a method to prioritize CCR surface
    impoundments required to close under RCRA if not otherwise
    specified by the United States Environmental Protection
    Agency, so that the CCR surface impoundments with the
    highest risk to public health and the environment, and
    areas of environmental justice concern are given first
    priority;
        (10) define when complete removal of CCR is achieved
    and specify the standards for responsible removal of CCR
    from CCR surface impoundments, including, but not limited
    to, dust controls and the protection of adjacent surface
    water and groundwater; and
        (11) describe the process and standards for
    identifying a specific alternative source of groundwater
    pollution when the owner or operator of the CCR surface
    impoundment believes that groundwater contamination on the
    site is not from the CCR surface impoundment.
    (h) Any owner of a CCR surface impoundment that generates
CCR and sells or otherwise provides coal combustion byproducts
pursuant to Section 3.135 shall, every 12 months, post on its
publicly available website a report specifying the volume or
weight of CCR, in cubic yards or tons, that it sold or provided
during the past 12 months.
    (i) The owner of a CCR surface impoundment shall post all
closure plans, permit applications, and supporting
documentation, as well as any Agency approval of the plans or
applications on its publicly available website.
    (j) The owner or operator of a CCR surface impoundment
shall pay the following fees:
        (1) An initial fee to the Agency within 6 months after
    July 30, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171)
    this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly of:
            $50,000 for each closed CCR surface impoundment;
        and
            $75,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that have
        not completed closure.
        (2) Annual fees to the Agency, beginning on July 1,
    2020, of:
            $25,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has
        not completed closure; and
            $15,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has
        completed closure, but has not completed post-closure
        care.
    (k) All fees collected by the Agency under subsection (j)
shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Permit
and Inspection Fund.
    (l) The Coal Combustion Residual Surface Impoundment
Financial Assurance Fund is created as a special fund in the
State treasury. Any moneys forfeited to the State of Illinois
from any performance bond or other security required under
this Section shall be placed in the Coal Combustion Residual
Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund and shall, upon
approval by the Governor and the Director, be used by the
Agency for the purposes for which such performance bond or
other security was issued. The Coal Combustion Residual
Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund is not subject to
the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 5 of the State
Finance Act.
    (m) The provisions of this Section shall apply, without
limitation, to all existing CCR surface impoundments and any
CCR surface impoundments constructed after July 30, 2019 (the
effective date of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of
the 101st General Assembly, except to the extent prohibited by
the Illinois or United States Constitutions.
(Source: P.A. 101-171, eff. 7-30-19; revised 10-22-19.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 7/23/2021