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