Sen. Michael Noland

Filed: 4/15/2013

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1458

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1458 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
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

 

 

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1therewith, subject to the terms of this Act.
 
2    (220 ILCS 20/2.09 new)
3    Sec. 2.09. Pipeline safety manager. "Pipeline safety
4manager" means the manager of the Commission's Pipeline Safety
5Program or other staff of the Commission assigned to gas
6pipeline safety issues.
 
7    (220 ILCS 20/7)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 557)
8    Sec. 7. Penalties; action for penalties; Commission
9approval of penalties.
10    (a) Any person violating paragraph (a) of Section 6 of this
11Act or any rule or order issued under this Act is subject to a
12civil penalty not to exceed the maximum penalties established
13by Section 60122(a)(1) of Title 49 of the United States Code
14for each day the violation persists. Such civil penalties do
15not apply to a violation with respect to a pipeline facility in
16existence on the effective date of this Act unless such
17violation persists one year from the effective date.
18    (b) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the Commission
19or, subject to this Act, by the pipeline safety manager. In
20determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed
21upon in compromise, the Commission or, subject to this Act, the
22pipeline safety manager, as the case may be, shall consider the
23appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of
24the person charged, the gravity of the violation, and the good

 

 

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1faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve
2compliance, after notification of a violation. The amount of
3the penalty when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon
4in compromise, shall be paid or may be deducted from any sums
5owing by the State of Illinois to the person charged pursuant
6to the terms and conditions of the NOPV or the agreed
7compromise or Commission order, as the case may be, or may be
8recovered in a civil action in accordance with paragraph (c) of
9this Section 7. Unless specifically stated otherwise in the
10terms and conditions of any compromise agreement, any
11compromise of a penalty recommended in an NOPV by the person
12charged shall not be deemed to be an admission of liability.
13    (c) Actions to recover penalties under this Act shall be
14brought in the name of the People of the State of Illinois in
15the circuit court in and for the county in which the cause or
16some part thereof, arose or in which the corporation complained
17of, if any, has its principal place of business or in which the
18person, if any, complained of, resides. All penalties recovered
19by the State in any action shall be paid into the general fund
20of the State Treasury. The action shall be commenced and
21prosecuted to final judgment by the Attorney General on behalf
22of the Commission. In all such actions, the procedure and rules
23of evidence shall conform with the Civil Practice Law and other
24rules of court governing civil trials.
25    (d) In addition the Commission may proceed under Section
264-202 of the Public Utilities Act, either by mandamus or

 

 

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1injunction, to secure compliance with its rules, regulations
2and orders issued under this Act.
3    (e) Any person penalized under this Section is not subject,
4for the same cause, to any other penalty provided in the Public
5Utilities Act.
6    (f) In the event any penalty recommended by the pipeline
7safety manager is paid by the person charged in the applicable
8NOPV in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section or in
9accordance with the terms and conditions of a compromise,
10agreed upon by such person and the pipeline safety manager,
11then the pipeline safety manager shall report, and request
12approval of, each such payment of a recommended penalty or
13agreed compromise, as the case may be, to the Commission at a
14public meeting of the Commission and shall also post such
15report on the Commission's website as a public document subject
16to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the Public Utilities
17Act. Whenever such report and request for approval shall be
18made to the Commission, the Commission shall have the power,
19and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon
20its own motion, upon reasonable notice given within 45 days
21after such report and request for approval was made at a public
22meeting of the Commission, to enter upon a hearing concerning
23the propriety of the applicable NOPV, payment, or compromise.
24In the event the Commission does not exercise this power within
25the 45-day period, the payment or agreed compromise referenced
26in the report shall be deemed approved by the Commission by

 

 

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1operation of law at the expiration of the 45-day period and the
2NOPV and related investigation shall be deemed closed.
3(Source: P.A. 91-814, eff. 6-13-00.)
 
4    (220 ILCS 20/7.5 new)
5    Sec. 7.5. NOPV; Commission hearing.
6    (a) For the purposes of this Section "violation" means a
7failure to comply with any provision of this Act or any
8Commission order or rule issued under this Act.
9    (b) After investigation and determination of a probable
10violation, the pipeline safety manager may issue and deposit in
11the United States mail an NOPV. Any NOPV so issued and mailed
12may also be posted on the Commission's website as a public
13document, subject to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the
14Public Utilities Act.
15    (c) An NOPV shall set forth, at a minimum, the following:
16(1) the date the NOPV was issued and deposited in the United
17States mail; (2) a description of the violation or violations
18alleged; (3) the date and location of the safety incident, if
19applicable, related to each alleged violation; (4) a detailed
20description of the circumstances that support the
21determination of each proposed violation; (5) a detailed
22description of the corrective action required with respect to
23each proposed violation; (6) the amount of the penalty, if any,
24recommended with respect to each proposed violation; (7) the
25applicable recommended deadline for payment of each proposed

 

 

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1penalty and for completion of each proposed corrective action
2(in no event shall any recommended deadline be less than 30
3days after the date of the NOPV); (8) notification that any
4such recommended deadline may be extended by mutual agreement
5of the parties for the purpose of facilitating settlement or
6compromise; and (9) a brief description of the procedures by
7which any recommended penalty or proposed corrective action may
8be challenged at the Commission or approved pursuant to
9subsection (f) of Section 7.
10    (d) Payment in full of each of the recommended penalties
11and full completion of each of the proposed corrective actions,
12as identified in the NOPV and in accordance with the terms and
13conditions set forth in the NOPV, including without limitation
14the respective recommended deadlines set forth in the NOPV for
15such payment or completion, shall constitute a final resolution
16of the NOPV, subject to the approval by the Commission of the
17recommended penalty and payment in accordance with subsection
18(f) of Section 7.
19    (e) If one or more of the alleged violations set forth in
20an NOPV is contested, then the Commission shall have the power
21and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon
22its own motion, upon reasonable notice, to enter upon a hearing
23under this Act concerning the incident referenced in the NOPV,
24in accordance with Article X of the Public Utilities Act. If a
25recommended penalty is not paid prior to the deadline
26recommended in the NOPV or other mutually agreed upon date, or

 

 

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1if one or more of the proposed corrective actions set forth in
2an NOPV is not fully and timely completed in accordance with
3the terms and conditions set forth in the NOPV, the NOPV shall
4be deemed contested.
5    (f) The Commission shall have the power to adopt rules to
6implement this Section, to the extent the Commission deems such
7rules necessary or desirable.
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9becoming law.".