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91_SB0765
LRB9106025ACtm
1 AN ACT to amend the Environmental Protection Act by
2 changing Section 42.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended
6 by changing Section 42 as follows:
7 (415 ILCS 5/42) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1042)
8 Sec. 42. Civil penalties.
9 (a) Except as provided in this Section, any person that
10 violates any provision of this Act or any regulation adopted
11 by the Board, or any permit or term or condition thereof, or
12 that violates any determination or order of the Board
13 pursuant to this Act, shall be liable to a civil penalty of
14 not to exceed $50,000 for the violation and an additional
15 civil penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for each day during
16 which the violation continues; the such penalties may, upon
17 order of the Board or a court of competent jurisdiction, be
18 made payable to the Environmental Protection Trust Fund, to
19 be used in accordance with the provisions of the
20 Environmental Protection Trust Fund Act.
21 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of
22 this Section:
23 (1) Any person that violates Section 12(f) of this
24 Act or any NPDES permit or term or condition thereof, or
25 any filing requirement, regulation or order relating to
26 the NPDES permit program, shall be liable to a civil
27 penalty of not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation.
28 (2) Any person that violates Section 12(g) of this
29 Act or any UIC permit or term or condition thereof, or
30 any filing requirement, regulation or order relating to
31 the State UIC program for all wells, except Class II
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1 wells as defined by the Board under this Act, shall be
2 liable to a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per day of
3 violation; provided, however, that any person who commits
4 such violations relating to the State UIC program for
5 Class II wells, as defined by the Board under this Act,
6 shall be liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed
7 $10,000 for the violation and an additional civil penalty
8 of not to exceed $1,000 for each day during which the
9 violation continues.
10 (3) Any person that violates Sections 21(f), 21(g),
11 21(h) or 21(i) of this Act, or any RCRA permit or term or
12 condition thereof, or any filing requirement, regulation
13 or order relating to the State RCRA program, shall be
14 liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed $25,000 per
15 day of violation.
16 (4) In an administrative citation action under
17 Section 31.1 of this Act, any person found to have
18 violated any provision of subsection (o) or (p) of
19 Section 21 of this Act shall pay a civil penalty of $500
20 for each violation of each such provision, plus any
21 hearing costs incurred by the Board and the Agency. Such
22 penalties shall be made payable to the Environmental
23 Protection Trust Fund, to be used in accordance with the
24 provisions of the Environmental Protection Trust Fund
25 Act; except that if a unit of local government issued the
26 administrative citation, 50% of the civil penalty shall
27 be payable to the unit of local government.
28 (5) Any person who violates subsection 6 of Section
29 39.5 of this Act or any CAAPP permit, or term or
30 condition thereof, or any fee or filing requirement, or
31 any duty to allow or carry out inspection, entry or
32 monitoring activities, or any regulation or order
33 relating to the CAAPP shall be liable for a civil penalty
34 not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation.
-3- LRB9106025ACtm
1 (b.5) In lieu of the penalties set forth in subsections
2 (a) and (b) of this Section, any person who fails to file, in
3 a timely manner, toxic chemical release forms with the Agency
4 pursuant to Section 25b-2 of this Act shall be liable for a
5 civil penalty of $100 per day for each day the forms are
6 late, not to exceed a maximum total penalty of $6,000. This
7 daily penalty shall begin accruing on the thirty-first day
8 after the date that the person receives the warning notice
9 issued by the Agency pursuant to Section 25b-6 of this Act;
10 and the penalty shall be paid to the Agency. The daily
11 accrual of penalties shall cease as of January 1 of the
12 following year. All penalties collected by the Agency
13 pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the
14 Environmental Protection Permit and Inspection Fund.
15 (c) Any person that violates this Act, or an order or
16 other determination of the Board under this Act and causes
17 the death of fish or aquatic life shall, in addition to the
18 other penalties provided by this Act, be liable to pay to the
19 State an additional sum for the reasonable value of the fish
20 or aquatic life destroyed. Any money so recovered shall be
21 placed in the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State Treasury.
22 (d) The penalties provided for in this Section may be
23 recovered in a civil action.
24 (e) The State's Attorney of the county in which the
25 violation occurred, or the Attorney General, may, at the
26 request of the Agency or on his own motion, institute a civil
27 action for an injunction to restrain violations of this Act.
28 (f) The State's Attorney of the county in which the
29 violation occurred, or the Attorney General, shall bring such
30 actions in the name of the people of the State of Illinois.
31 Without limiting any other authority which may exist for the
32 awarding of attorney's fees and costs, the Board or a court
33 of competent jurisdiction may award costs and reasonable
34 attorney's fees, including the reasonable costs of expert
-4- LRB9106025ACtm
1 witnesses and consultants, to the State's Attorney or the
2 Attorney General in a case where he has prevailed against a
3 person who has committed a wilful, knowing or repeated
4 violation of the Act.
5 Any funds collected under this subsection (f) in which
6 the Attorney General has prevailed shall be deposited in the
7 Hazardous Waste Fund created in Section 22.2 of this Act. Any
8 funds collected under this subsection (f) in which a State's
9 Attorney has prevailed shall be retained by the county in
10 which he serves.
11 (g) All final orders imposing civil penalties pursuant
12 to this Section shall prescribe the time for payment of such
13 penalties. If any such penalty is not paid within the time
14 prescribed, interest on such penalty at the rate set forth in
15 subsection (a) of Section 1003 of the Illinois Income Tax
16 Act, shall be paid for the period from the date payment is
17 due until the date payment is received. However, if the time
18 for payment is stayed during the pendency of an appeal,
19 interest shall not accrue during such stay.
20 (h) In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be
21 imposed under subdivisions (a), (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), or
22 (b)(5) of this Section, the Board is authorized to consider
23 any matters of record in mitigation or aggravation of
24 penalty, including but not limited to the following factors:
25 (1) the duration and gravity of the violation;
26 (2) the presence or absence of due diligence on the
27 part of the violator in attempting to comply with
28 requirements of this Act and regulations thereunder or to
29 secure relief therefrom as provided by this Act;
30 (3) any economic benefits accrued by the violator
31 because of delay in compliance with requirements;
32 (4) the amount of monetary penalty which will serve
33 to deter further violations by the violator and to
34 otherwise aid in enhancing voluntary compliance with this
-5- LRB9106025ACtm
1 Act by the violator and other persons similarly subject
2 to the Act; and
3 (5) the number, proximity in time, and gravity of
4 previously adjudicated violations of this Act by the
5 violator.
6 (Source: P.A. 90-773, eff. 8-14-98.)