Public Act 098-0526
 
SB1458 EnrolledLRB098 02584 AMC 32589 b

    AN ACT concerning utilities.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Gas Pipeline Safety Act is amended
by adding Sections 2.08, 2.09, 2.10, 2.11, and 7.5 and by
changing Section 7 as follows:
 
    (220 ILCS 20/2.08 new)
    Sec. 2.08. Notice of probable violation. "Notice of
probable violation" or "NOPV" means a written notice,
satisfying the criteria set forth in Section 7.5 of this Act,
given by the pipeline safety manager to a person who engages in
the transportation of gas or who owns or operates pipeline
facilities that identifies a failure of such person to comply
with the provisions of this Act, the federal Natural Gas
Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, or any Commission order or rule
issued under this Act and may recommend a penalty in connection
therewith, subject to the terms of this Act.
 
    (220 ILCS 20/2.09 new)
    Sec. 2.09. Pipeline safety manager. "Pipeline safety
manager" means the manager of the Commission's Pipeline Safety
Program or other staff of the Commission assigned to gas
pipeline safety issues.
 
    (220 ILCS 20/7)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 557)
    Sec. 7. Penalties; action for penalties; Commission
approval of penalties.
    (a) Any person violating paragraph (a) of Section 6 of this
Act or any rule or order issued under this Act is subject to a
civil penalty not to exceed the maximum penalties established
by Section 60122(a)(1) of Title 49 of the United States Code
for each day the violation persists. Such civil penalties do
not apply to a violation with respect to a pipeline facility in
existence on the effective date of this Act unless such
violation persists one year from the effective date.
    (b) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the Commission
or, subject to this Act, by the pipeline safety manager. In
determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed
upon in compromise, the Commission or, subject to this Act, the
pipeline safety manager, as the case may be, shall consider the
appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of
the person charged, the gravity of the violation, and the good
faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve
compliance, after notification of a violation. The amount of
the penalty when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon
in compromise, shall be paid or may be deducted from any sums
owing by the State of Illinois to the person charged pursuant
to the terms and conditions of the NOPV or the agreed
compromise or Commission order, as the case may be, or may be
recovered in a civil action in accordance with paragraph (c) of
this Section 7. Unless specifically stated otherwise in the
terms and conditions of any compromise agreement, any
compromise of a penalty recommended in an NOPV by the person
charged shall not be deemed to be an admission of liability.
    (c) Actions to recover penalties under this Act shall be
brought in the name of the People of the State of Illinois in
the circuit court in and for the county in which the cause or
some part thereof, arose or in which the corporation complained
of, if any, has its principal place of business or in which the
person, if any, complained of, resides. All penalties recovered
by the State in any action shall be paid into the general fund
of the State Treasury. The action shall be commenced and
prosecuted to final judgment by the Attorney General on behalf
of the Commission. In all such actions, the procedure and rules
of evidence shall conform with the Civil Practice Law and other
rules of court governing civil trials.
    (d) In addition the Commission may proceed under Section
4-202 of the Public Utilities Act, either by mandamus or
injunction, to secure compliance with its rules, regulations
and orders issued under this Act.
    (e) Any person penalized under this Section is not subject,
for the same cause, to any other penalty provided in the Public
Utilities Act.
    (f) In the event any penalty recommended by the pipeline
safety manager is paid by the person charged in the applicable
NOPV in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section or in
accordance with the terms and conditions of a compromise,
agreed upon by such person and the pipeline safety manager,
then the pipeline safety manager shall report, and request
approval of, each such payment of a recommended penalty or
agreed compromise, as the case may be, to the Commission at a
public meeting of the Commission and shall also post such
report on the Commission's website as a public document subject
to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the Public Utilities
Act. Whenever such report and request for approval shall be
made to the Commission, the Commission shall have the power,
and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon
its own motion, upon reasonable notice given within 45 days
after such report and request for approval was made at a public
meeting of the Commission, to enter upon a hearing concerning
the propriety of the applicable NOPV, payment, or compromise.
In the event the Commission does not exercise this power within
the 45-day period, the payment or agreed compromise referenced
in the report shall be deemed approved by the Commission by
operation of law at the expiration of the 45-day period and the
NOPV and related investigation shall be deemed closed.
(Source: P.A. 91-814, eff. 6-13-00.)
 
    (220 ILCS 20/7.5 new)
    Sec. 7.5. NOPV; Commission hearing.
    (a) For the purposes of this Section, "violation" means a
failure to comply with any provision of this Act or any
Commission order or rule issued under this Act.
    (b) After investigation and determination of a probable
violation, the pipeline safety manager may issue and deposit in
the United States mail an NOPV. Any NOPV so issued and mailed
may also be posted on the Commission's website as a public
document, subject to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the
Public Utilities Act.
    (c) An NOPV shall set forth, at a minimum, the following:
(1) the date the NOPV was issued and deposited in the United
States mail; (2) a description of the violation or violations
alleged; (3) the date and location of the safety incident, if
applicable, related to each alleged violation; (4) a detailed
description of the circumstances that support the
determination of each proposed violation; (5) a detailed
description of the corrective action required with respect to
each proposed violation; (6) the amount of the penalty, if any,
recommended with respect to each proposed violation; (7) the
applicable recommended deadline for payment of each proposed
penalty and for completion of each proposed corrective action
(in no event shall any recommended deadline be less than 30
days after the date of the NOPV); (8) notification that any
such recommended deadline may be extended by mutual agreement
of the parties for the purpose of facilitating settlement or
compromise; and (9) a brief description of the procedures by
which any recommended penalty or proposed corrective action may
be challenged at the Commission or approved pursuant to
subsection (f) of Section 7.
    (d) Payment in full of each of the recommended penalties
and full completion of each of the proposed corrective actions,
as identified in the NOPV and in accordance with the terms and
conditions set forth in the NOPV, including without limitation
the respective recommended deadlines set forth in the NOPV for
such payment or completion, shall constitute a final resolution
of the NOPV, subject to the approval by the Commission of the
recommended penalty and payment in accordance with subsection
(f) of Section 7.
    (e) If one or more of the alleged violations set forth in
an NOPV is contested, then the Commission shall have the power
and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon
its own motion, upon reasonable notice, to enter upon a hearing
under this Act concerning the incident referenced in the NOPV,
in accordance with Article X of the Public Utilities Act. If a
recommended penalty is not paid prior to the deadline
recommended in the NOPV or other mutually agreed upon date, or
if one or more of the proposed corrective actions set forth in
an NOPV is not fully and timely completed in accordance with
the terms and conditions set forth in the NOPV, the NOPV shall
be deemed contested.
    (f) The Commission shall have the power to adopt rules to
implement this Section to the extent the Commission deems such
rules necessary or desirable.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.