Public Act 100-0146
 
HB3048 EnrolledLRB100 08189 MJP 18285 b

    AN ACT concerning safety.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Low-Level Radioactive Waste
Management Act is amended by changing Sections 10.2, 10.3,
12.1, and 14 as follows:
 
    (420 ILCS 20/10.2)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 241-10.2)
    Sec. 10.2. Selection Creation of Low-Level Radioactive
Waste Task Group; adoption of criteria; selection of site for
characterization.
    (a) (Blank). There is hereby created the Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Task Group consisting of the Directors of the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Natural
Resources, and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (or
their designees) and 6 additional members designated by the
Governor. The 6 additional members shall:
        (1) be confirmed by the Senate; and
        (2) receive compensation of $300 per day for their
    services on the Task Group unless they are officers or
    employees of the State, in which case they shall receive no
    additional compensation.
    Four of the additional members shall have expertise in the
field of geology, hydrogeology, or hydrology. Of the 2
remaining additional members, one shall be a member of the
public with experience in environmental matters and one shall
have at least 5 years experience in local government. The
Directors of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Department of Natural Resources, and the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency (or their designees) shall receive no
additional compensation for their service on the Task Group.
All members of the Task Group shall be compensated for their
expenses. The Governor shall designate the chairman of the Task
Group. Upon adoption of the criteria under subsection (b) of
this Section, the Directors of the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency
shall be replaced on the Task Group by members designated by
the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The members
designated to replace the Directors of the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency
shall have such expertise as the Governor may determine. The
members of the Task Group shall be members until they resign,
are replaced by the Governor, or the Task Group is abolished.
Except as provided in this Act, the Task Group shall be subject
to the Open Meetings Act and the Illinois Administrative
Procedure Act. Any action required to be taken by the Task
Group under this Act shall be taken by a majority vote of its
members. An identical vote by 5 members of the Task Group shall
constitute a majority vote.
    (b) (Blank). To protect the public health, safety and
welfare, the Task Group shall develop proposed criteria for
selection of a site for a regional disposal facility. Principal
criteria shall relate to the geographic, geologic,
seismologic, tectonic, hydrologic, and other scientific
conditions best suited for a regional disposal facility.
Supplemental criteria may relate to land use (including (i) the
location of existing underground mines and (ii) the exclusion
of State parks, State conservation areas, and other State owned
lands identified by the Task Group), economics,
transportation, meteorology, and any other matter identified
by the Task Group as relating to desirable conditions for a
regional disposal facility. All of the criteria shall be as
specific as possible.
    The chairman of the Task Group shall publish a notice of
availability of the proposed criteria in the State newspaper,
make copies of the proposed criteria available without charge
to the public, and hold public hearings to receive comments on
the proposed criteria. Written comments on the proposed
criteria may be submitted to the chairman of the Task Group
within a time period to be determined by the Task Group. Upon
completion of the review of timely submitted comments on the
proposed criteria, the Task Group shall adopt criteria for
selection of a site for a regional disposal facility. Adoption
of the criteria is not subject to the Illinois Administrative
Procedure Act. The chairman of the Task Group shall provide
copies of the criteria to the Governor, the President and
Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader
of the House, and all county boards in the State of Illinois
and shall make copies of the criteria available without charge
to the public.
    (c) (Blank). Upon adoption of the criteria, the Director of
Natural Resources shall direct the Scientific Surveys to screen
the State of Illinois. By September 30, 1997, the Scientific
Surveys shall (i) complete a Statewide screening of the State
using available information and the Surveys' geography-based
information system to produce individual and composite maps
showing the application of individual criteria; (ii) complete
the evaluation of all land volunteered before the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1997 to determine whether any of
the volunteered land appears likely to satisfy the criteria;
(iii) document the results of the screening and volunteer site
evaluations in a written report and submit the report to the
chairman of the Task Group and to the Director; and (iv)
transmit to the Task Group and to the Agency, in a form
specified by the Task Group and the Agency, all information and
documents assembled by the Scientific Surveys in performing the
obligations of the Scientific Surveys under this Act. Upon
completion of the screening and volunteer site evaluation
process, the Director of the Department of Natural Resources
shall be replaced on the Task Group by a member appointed by
the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The member appointed
to replace the Director of the Department of Natural Resources
shall have expertise that the Governor determines to be
appropriate.
    (c-3) (Blank). By December 1, 2000, the Department of
Nuclear Safety (now the Illinois Emergency Management Agency),
in consultation with the Task Group, waste generators, and any
interested counties and municipalities and after holding 3
public hearings throughout the State, shall prepare a report
regarding, at a minimum, the impact and ramifications, if any,
of the following factors and circumstances on the siting,
design, licensure, development, construction, operation,
closure, and post-closure care of a regional disposal facility:
        (1) the federal, state, and regional programs for the
    siting, development, and operation of disposal facilities
    for low-level radioactive wastes and the nature, extent,
    and likelihood of any legislative or administrative
    changes to those programs;
        (2) (blank);
        (3) the current and most reliable projections
    regarding the costs of the siting, design, development,
    construction, operation, closure, decommissioning, and
    post-closure care of a regional disposal facility;
        (4) the current and most reliable estimates of the
    total volume of low-level radioactive waste that will be
    disposed at a regional disposal facility in Illinois and
    the projected annual volume amounts;
        (5) the nature and extent of the available, if any,
    storage and disposal facilities outside the region of the
    Compact for storage and disposal of low-level radioactive
    waste generated from within the region of the Compact; and
        (6) the development and implementation of a voluntary
    site selection process in which land may be volunteered for
    the regional disposal facility jointly by landowners and
    (i) the municipality in which the land is located, (ii)
    every municipality within 1 1/2 miles of the land if the
    land is not within a municipality, or (iii) the county or
    counties in which the land is located if the land is not
    within a municipality and not within 1 1/2 miles of a
    municipality. The Director shall provide copies of the
    report to the Governor, the President and Minority Leader
    of the Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the
    House. The Director shall also publish a notice of
    availability of the report in the State newspaper and make
    copies of the report available without charge to the
    public.
    (c-5) The Following submittal of the report pursuant to
subsection (c-3) of this Section, the Agency may adopt rules
establishing a site selection process for a the regional
disposal facility. In developing rules, the Agency shall, at a
minimum, consider the following:
        (1) A comprehensive and open process under which the
    land for sites recommended and proposed by the contractor
    under subsection (e) of this Section shall be volunteered
    lands as provided in this Section. Land may be volunteered
    for the regional disposal facility jointly by landowners
    and (i) the municipality in which the land is located, (ii)
    every municipality with 1 1/2 miles of the land if the land
    is not within a municipality, or (iii) the county or
    counties in which the land is located if the land is not
    within a municipality and not within 1 1/2 miles of a
    municipality.
        (2) Utilization of the State screening and volunteer
    site evaluation reports report prepared by the Scientific
    Surveys under subsection (c) of this Section for the
    purpose of determining whether proposed sites appear
    likely to satisfy the site selection criteria.
        (3) Coordination of the site selection process with the
    projected annual and total volume of low-level radioactive
    waste to be disposed at the regional disposal facility as
    identified in the report prepared under subsection (c-3) of
    this Section.
    The site selection process established under this
subsection shall require the contractor selected by the Agency
pursuant to Sections 5 and 10 of this Act to propose one site
to the Agency Task Group for approval under subsections (d)
through (i) of this Section.
    No proposed site shall be selected as the site for the
regional disposal facility unless it satisfies the site
selection criteria established by the Task Group under
subsection (b) of this Section.
    (d) The contractor selected by the Agency under Sections 5
and 10 of this Act shall conduct evaluations, including
possible intrusive field investigations, of the sites and
locations identified under the site selection process
established under subsection (c-5) of this Section.
    (e) Upon completion of the site evaluations, the contractor
selected by the Agency shall identify one site of at least 640
acres that appears promising for development of the regional
disposal facility in compliance with the site selection
criteria established by the Task Group pursuant to subsection
(b) of this Section. The contractor may conduct any other
evaluation of the site identified under this subsection that
the contractor deems appropriate to determine whether the site
satisfies the criteria adopted under subsection (b) of this
Section. Upon completion of the evaluations under this
subsection, the contractor shall prepare and submit to the
Agency a report on the evaluation of the identified site,
including a recommendation as to whether the identified site
should be further considered for selection as a site for the
regional disposal facility. A site so recommended for further
consideration is hereinafter referred to as a "proposed site".
    (f) (Blank). A report completed under subsection (e) of
this Section that recommends a proposed site shall also be
submitted to the chairman of the Task Group. Within 45 days
following receipt of a report, the chairman of the Task Group
shall publish in newspapers of general circulation in the
county or counties in which a proposed site is located a notice
of the availability of the report and a notice of a public
meeting. The chairman of the Task Group shall also, within the
45-day period, provide copies of the report and the notice to
the Governor, the President and Minority Leader of the Senate,
the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House, members of the
General Assembly from the legislative district or districts in
which a proposed site is located, the county board or boards of
the county or counties containing a proposed site, and each
city, village, and incorporated town within a 5 mile radius of
a proposed site. The chairman of the Task Group shall make
copies of the report available without charge to the public.
    (g) The The chairman of the Task Group shall convene at
least one public meeting on each proposed site. At the public
meeting or meetings, the contractor selected by the Agency
shall present the results of the evaluation of the proposed
site. The Task Group shall receive such other written and oral
information about the proposed site that may be submitted at
the meeting. Following the meeting, the Task Group shall decide
whether the proposed site satisfies the criteria adopted under
subsection (b) of this Section. If the Task Group determines
that the proposed site does not satisfy the criteria, the
Agency may require a contractor to submit a further report
pursuant to subsection (e) of this Section proposing another
site from the locations identified under the site selection
process established pursuant to subsection (c-5) of this
Section as likely to satisfy the criteria. The Following notice
and distribution of the report as required by subsection (f) of
this Section, the new proposed site shall be the subject of a
public meeting under this subsection. The contractor selected
by the Agency shall propose additional sites, and the Task
Group shall conduct additional public meetings, until the
Agency Task Group has approved a proposed site recommended by a
contractor as satisfying the criteria adopted under subsection
(b) of this Section. In the event that the Agency Task Group
does not approve any of the proposed sites recommended by the
contractor under this subsection, as satisfying the criteria
adopted under subsection (b) of this Section, the Task Group
shall immediately suspend all work and the Agency shall prepare
a study containing, at a minimum, the Agency's recommendations
regarding the viability of the site selection process
established pursuant to this Act, based on the factors and
circumstances specified in items (1) through (6) of subsection
(c-3) of Section 10.2. The Agency shall provide copies of the
study to the Governor, the President and Minority Leader of the
Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House. The
Agency shall also publish a notice of availability of the study
in the State newspaper and make copies of the report available
without charge to the public.
    (h) (Blank).
    (i) Upon the Agency's approval Task Group's decision that a
proposed site satisfies the criteria adopted under subsection
(b) of this Section, the contractor shall proceed with the
characterization and licensure of the proposed site under
Section 10.3 of this Act and the Task Group shall immediately
suspend all work, except as otherwise specifically required in
subsection (b) of Section 10.3 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
 
    (420 ILCS 20/10.3)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 241-10.3)
    Sec. 10.3. Site characterization; license application;
adjudicatory hearing; exclusivity.
    (a) If the contractor chosen under Sections 5 and 10,
following characterization, determines that the proposed site
is appropriate for the development of a regional disposal
facility, (i) the contractor shall submit to the Agency an
application for a license to construct and operate the facility
at the selected site and (ii) the Task Group shall be abolished
and its records transferred to the Agency.
    (b) If the contractor determines, following or at any time
during characterization of a the site proposed under Section
10.2 of this Act, that the proposed site is not appropriate for
the development of a regional disposal facility, the Agency may
require the contractor to propose an additional site to the
Task Group from the locations identified under the site
selection process established under subsection (c-5) of
Section 10.2 that is likely to satisfy the criteria adopted
under subsection (b) of Section 10.2. The new proposed site
shall be the subject of public notice, distribution, and public
meeting conducted by the Agency Task Group under the procedures
set forth in subsections (f) and (g) of Section 10.2 of this
Act. The contractor selected by the Agency shall propose
additional sites and the Agency Task Group shall conduct
additional public meetings until (i) the Task Group has
approved a proposed site recommended by a contractor as
satisfying the criteria adopted under subsection (b) of Section
10.2, and (ii) the contractor has determined, following
characterization, that the site is appropriate for the
development of the regional disposal facility. Upon the
selection of a proposed site under this subsection, (i) the
contractor shall submit to the Agency an application for a
license to construct and operate a regional disposal facility
at the selected site and (ii) the Task Group shall be abolished
and its records transferred to the Agency.
    (c) The Agency shall review the license application filed
pursuant to Section 8 and subsections (a) and (b) of this
Section in accordance with its rules and the agreement between
the State of Illinois and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
under Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act. If the Agency
determines that the license should be issued, the Agency shall
publish in the State newspaper a notice of intent to issue the
license. Objections to issuance of the license may be filed
within 90 days of publication of the notice. Upon receipt of
objections, the Director shall appoint a hearing officer who
shall conduct an adjudicatory hearing on the objections. The
burden of proof at the hearing shall be on the person filing
the objections. Upon completion of the hearing, the hearing
officer shall recommend to the Director whether the license
should be issued. The decision of the Director to issue or deny
the license may be appealed under Section 18.
    (d) The procedures, criteria, terms, and conditions set
forth in this Act, and in the rules adopted under this Act, for
the treatment, storage, and disposal of low-level radioactive
waste and for the siting, licensure, design, construction,
maintenance, operation, closure, decommissioning, and
post-closure care of the regional disposal facility shall be
the exclusive procedures, criteria, terms, and conditions for
those matters.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
 
    (420 ILCS 20/12.1)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 241-12.1)
    Sec. 12.1. Grants; community agreements.
    (a) The Director may make grants to the county or counties
containing a site proposed under subsection (d) of Section 10.2
and may make grants to any municipality containing or within
1.5 miles of a proposed site. The grants may be used for any
lawful purposes, including technical reviews of the proposed
site and participation in public meetings the meeting held
during the site selection process under subsection (g) of
Section 10.2.
    (b) The Director may make grants to the county or counties
containing a site to be characterized under Section 10.3 and
may make a grant to any municipality containing or within 1.5
miles of any such site. The grants may be used for any lawful
purposes, including review of site characterization work,
participation in an adjudicatory hearing under subsection (c)
of Section 10.3, and negotiation of an agreement under
subsection (c) of this Section.
    (c) The Director may enter into one or more community
agreements with the county or counties containing a site for
which a license application has been submitted under Section
10.3. The Director may also enter into one or more community
agreements with any municipality containing or within 1.5 miles
of a site for which a license application has been submitted
under Section 10.3. An agreement under this subsection may
include, but need not be limited to, matters of technical and
socioeconomic concern regarding the development, operation,
closure, and post-closure care of the disposal facility to be
constructed at the site.
(Source: P.A. 90-29, eff. 6-26-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 20/14)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 241-14)
    Sec. 14. Waste management funds.
    (a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special
fund to be known as the "Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility
Development and Operation Fund". All monies within the
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Development and Operation
Fund shall be invested by the State Treasurer in accordance
with established investment practices. Interest earned by such
investment shall be returned to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste
Facility Development and Operation Fund. Except as otherwise
provided in this subsection, the Agency shall deposit 80% of
all receipts from the fees required under subsections (a) and
(b) of Section 13 in the State Treasury to the credit of this
Fund. Beginning July 1, 1997, and until December 31 of the year
in which the Agency Task Group approves a proposed site under
Section 10.3, the Agency Department shall deposit all fees
collected under subsections (a) and (b) of Section 13 of this
Act into the Fund. Subject to appropriation, the Agency is
authorized to expend all moneys in the Fund in amounts it deems
necessary for:
        (1) hiring personnel and any other operating and
    contingent expenses necessary for the proper
    administration of this Act;
        (2) contracting with any firm for the purpose of
    carrying out the purposes of this Act;
        (3) grants to the Central Midwest Interstate Low-Level
    Radioactive Waste Commission;
        (4) hiring personnel, contracting with any person, and
    meeting any other expenses incurred by the Agency in
    fulfilling its responsibilities under the Radioactive
    Waste Compact Enforcement Act;
        (5) activities under Sections 10, 10.2 and 10.3;
        (6) payment of fees in lieu of taxes to a local
    government having within its boundaries a regional
    disposal facility;
        (7) payment of grants to counties or municipalities
    under Section 12.1; and
        (8) fulfillment of obligations under a community
    agreement under Section 12.1.
    In spending monies pursuant to such appropriations, the
Agency shall to the extent practicable avoid duplicating
expenditures made by any firm pursuant to a contract awarded
under this Section. On or before March 1, 1989 and on or before
October 1 of 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993, the Department
of Nuclear Safety (now the Illinois Emergency Management
Agency) shall deliver to the Governor, the President and
Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader
of the House, and each of the generators that have contributed
during the preceding State fiscal year to the Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Facility Development and Operation Fund a
financial statement, certified and verified by the Director,
which details all receipts and expenditures from the fund
during the preceding State fiscal year; provided that the
report due on or before March 1, 1989 shall detail all receipts
and expenditures from the fund during the period from July 1,
1988 through January 31, 1989. The financial statements shall
identify all sources of income to the fund and all recipients
of expenditures from the fund, shall specify the amounts of all
the income and expenditures, and shall indicate the amounts of
all the income and expenditures, and shall indicate the purpose
for all expenditures.
    (b) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special
fund to be known as the "Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility
Closure, Post-Closure Care and Compensation Fund". All monies
within the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Closure,
Post-Closure Care and Compensation Fund shall be invested by
the State Treasurer in accordance with established investment
practices. Interest earned by such investment shall be returned
to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Closure,
Post-Closure Care and Compensation Fund. The Agency shall
deposit 20% of all receipts from the fees required under
subsections (a) and (b) of Section 13 of this Act in the State
Treasury to the credit of this Fund, except that, pursuant to
subsection (a) of Section 14 of this Act, there shall be no
such deposit into this Fund between July 1, 1997 and December
31 of the year in which the Agency Task Group approves a
proposed site pursuant to Section 10.3 of this Act. All
deposits into this Fund shall be held by the State Treasurer
separate and apart from all public money or funds of this
State. Subject to appropriation, the Agency is authorized to
expend any moneys in this Fund in amounts it deems necessary
for:
        (1) decommissioning and other procedures required for
    the proper closure of the regional disposal facility;
        (2) monitoring, inspecting, and other procedures
    required for the proper closure, decommissioning, and
    post-closure care of the regional disposal facility;
        (3) taking any remedial actions necessary to protect
    human health and the environment from releases or
    threatened releases of wastes from the regional disposal
    facility;
        (4) the purchase of facility and third-party liability
    insurance necessary during the institutional control
    period of the regional disposal facility;
        (5) mitigating the impacts of the suspension or
    interruption of the acceptance of waste for disposal;
        (6) compensating any person suffering any damages or
    losses to a person or property caused by a release from the
    regional disposal facility as provided for in Section 15;
    and
        (7) fulfillment of obligations under a community
    agreement under Section 12.1.
    On or before March 1 of each year, the Agency shall deliver
to the Governor, the President and Minority Leader of the
Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House, and each
of the generators that have contributed during the preceding
State fiscal year to the Fund a financial statement, certified
and verified by the Director, which details all receipts and
expenditures from the Fund during the preceding State fiscal
year. The financial statements shall identify all sources of
income to the Fund and all recipients of expenditures from the
Fund, shall specify the amounts of all the income and
expenditures, and shall indicate the amounts of all the income
and expenditures, and shall indicate the purpose for all
expenditures.
    (c) (Blank).
    (d) The Agency may accept for any of its purposes and
functions any donations, grants of money, equipment, supplies,
materials, and services from any state or the United States, or
from any institution, person, firm or corporation. Any donation
or grant of money received after January 1, 1986 shall be
deposited in either the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility
Development and Operation Fund or the Low-Level Radioactive
Waste Facility Closure, Post-Closure Care and Compensation
Fund, in accordance with the purpose of the grant.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)