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1    AN ACT concerning utilities.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Gas Pipeline Safety Act is amended
5by adding Sections 2.08, 2.09, 2.10, 2.11, and 7.5 and by
6changing Section 7 as follows:
 
7    (220 ILCS 20/2.08 new)
8    Sec. 2.08. Notice of probable violation. "Notice of
9probable violation" or "NOPV" means a written notice,
10satisfying the criteria set forth in Section 7.5 of this Act,
11given by the pipeline safety manager to a person who engages in
12the transportation of gas or who owns or operates pipeline
13facilities that identifies a failure of such person to comply
14with the provisions of this Act, the federal Natural Gas
15Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, or any Commission order or rule
16issued under this Act and may recommend a penalty in connection
17therewith, subject to the terms of this Act.
 
18    (220 ILCS 20/2.09 new)
19    Sec. 2.09. Pipeline safety manager. "Pipeline safety
20manager" means the manager of the Commission's Pipeline Safety
21Program or other staff of the Commission assigned to gas
22pipeline safety issues.
 

 

 

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1    (220 ILCS 20/7)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 557)
2    Sec. 7. Penalties; action for penalties; Commission
3approval of penalties.
4    (a) Any person violating paragraph (a) of Section 6 of this
5Act or any rule or order issued under this Act is subject to a
6civil penalty not to exceed the maximum penalties established
7by Section 60122(a)(1) of Title 49 of the United States Code
8for each day the violation persists. Such civil penalties do
9not apply to a violation with respect to a pipeline facility in
10existence on the effective date of this Act unless such
11violation persists one year from the effective date.
12    (b) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the Commission
13or, subject to this Act, by the pipeline safety manager. In
14determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed
15upon in compromise, the Commission or, subject to this Act, the
16pipeline safety manager, as the case may be, shall consider the
17appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of
18the person charged, the gravity of the violation, and the good
19faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve
20compliance, after notification of a violation. The amount of
21the penalty when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon
22in compromise, shall be paid or may be deducted from any sums
23owing by the State of Illinois to the person charged pursuant
24to the terms and conditions of the NOPV or the agreed
25compromise or Commission order, as the case may be, or may be

 

 

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1recovered in a civil action in accordance with paragraph (c) of
2this Section 7. Unless specifically stated otherwise in the
3terms and conditions of any compromise agreement, any
4compromise of a penalty recommended in an NOPV by the person
5charged shall not be deemed to be an admission of liability.
6    (c) Actions to recover penalties under this Act shall be
7brought in the name of the People of the State of Illinois in
8the circuit court in and for the county in which the cause or
9some part thereof, arose or in which the corporation complained
10of, if any, has its principal place of business or in which the
11person, if any, complained of, resides. All penalties recovered
12by the State in any action shall be paid into the general fund
13of the State Treasury. The action shall be commenced and
14prosecuted to final judgment by the Attorney General on behalf
15of the Commission. In all such actions, the procedure and rules
16of evidence shall conform with the Civil Practice Law and other
17rules of court governing civil trials.
18    (d) In addition the Commission may proceed under Section
194-202 of the Public Utilities Act, either by mandamus or
20injunction, to secure compliance with its rules, regulations
21and orders issued under this Act.
22    (e) Any person penalized under this Section is not subject,
23for the same cause, to any other penalty provided in the Public
24Utilities Act.
25    (f) In the event any penalty recommended by the pipeline
26safety manager is paid by the person charged in the applicable

 

 

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1NOPV in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section or in
2accordance with the terms and conditions of a compromise,
3agreed upon by such person and the pipeline safety manager,
4then the pipeline safety manager shall report, and request
5approval of, each such payment of a recommended penalty or
6agreed compromise, as the case may be, to the Commission at a
7public meeting of the Commission and shall also post such
8report on the Commission's website as a public document subject
9to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the Public Utilities
10Act. Whenever such report and request for approval shall be
11made to the Commission, the Commission shall have the power,
12and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon
13its own motion, upon reasonable notice given within 45 days
14after such report and request for approval was made at a public
15meeting of the Commission, to enter upon a hearing concerning
16the propriety of the applicable NOPV, payment, or compromise.
17In the event the Commission does not exercise this power within
18the 45-day period, the payment or agreed compromise referenced
19in the report shall be deemed approved by the Commission by
20operation of law at the expiration of the 45-day period and the
21NOPV and related investigation shall be deemed closed.
22(Source: P.A. 91-814, eff. 6-13-00.)
 
23    (220 ILCS 20/7.5 new)
24    Sec. 7.5. NOPV; Commission hearing.
25    (a) For the purposes of this Section, "violation" means a

 

 

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1failure to comply with any provision of this Act or any
2Commission order or rule issued under this Act.
3    (b) After investigation and determination of a probable
4violation, the pipeline safety manager may issue and deposit in
5the United States mail an NOPV. Any NOPV so issued and mailed
6may also be posted on the Commission's website as a public
7document, subject to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the
8Public Utilities Act.
9    (c) An NOPV shall set forth, at a minimum, the following:
10(1) the date the NOPV was issued and deposited in the United
11States mail; (2) a description of the violation or violations
12alleged; (3) the date and location of the safety incident, if
13applicable, related to each alleged violation; (4) a detailed
14description of the circumstances that support the
15determination of each proposed violation; (5) a detailed
16description of the corrective action required with respect to
17each proposed violation; (6) the amount of the penalty, if any,
18recommended with respect to each proposed violation; (7) the
19applicable recommended deadline for payment of each proposed
20penalty and for completion of each proposed corrective action
21(in no event shall any recommended deadline be less than 30
22days after the date of the NOPV); (8) notification that any
23such recommended deadline may be extended by mutual agreement
24of the parties for the purpose of facilitating settlement or
25compromise; and (9) a brief description of the procedures by
26which any recommended penalty or proposed corrective action may

 

 

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1be challenged at the Commission or approved pursuant to
2subsection (f) of Section 7.
3    (d) Payment in full of each of the recommended penalties
4and full completion of each of the proposed corrective actions,
5as identified in the NOPV and in accordance with the terms and
6conditions set forth in the NOPV, including without limitation
7the respective recommended deadlines set forth in the NOPV for
8such payment or completion, shall constitute a final resolution
9of the NOPV, subject to the approval by the Commission of the
10recommended penalty and payment in accordance with subsection
11(f) of Section 7.
12    (e) If one or more of the alleged violations set forth in
13an NOPV is contested, then the Commission shall have the power
14and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon
15its own motion, upon reasonable notice, to enter upon a hearing
16under this Act concerning the incident referenced in the NOPV,
17in accordance with Article X of the Public Utilities Act. If a
18recommended penalty is not paid prior to the deadline
19recommended in the NOPV or other mutually agreed upon date, or
20if one or more of the proposed corrective actions set forth in
21an NOPV is not fully and timely completed in accordance with
22the terms and conditions set forth in the NOPV, the NOPV shall
23be deemed contested.
24    (f) The Commission shall have the power to adopt rules to
25implement this Section to the extent the Commission deems such
26rules necessary or desirable.
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.