Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-0369
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Public Act 094-0369


 

Public Act 0369 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


 


 
Public Act 094-0369
 
HB1549 Enrolled LRB094 08376 RSP 41086 b

    AN ACT concerning public health.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Radon Industry Licensing Act is amended by
changing Sections 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 45, 50, 55, 60,
65, and 70 as follows:
 
    (420 ILCS 44/5)
    Sec. 5. Legislative declaration. The General Assembly
declares that it is in the interest of the people of Illinois
to establish a comprehensive program for determining the extent
to which radon and radon progeny are present in dwellings and
other buildings in Illinois at concentrations levels that pose
a potential risk to the occupants and for determining measures
that can be taken to reduce and prevent such risk. The General
Assembly also finds that public concerns over the dangers from
radon and radon progeny may give rise to unscrupulous practices
that exploit those concerns but do not mitigate the dangers
from radon and radon progeny. It is therefore declared to be
the public policy of this State that in order to safeguard the
health, property, and public welfare of its citizens, persons
engaged in the business of measuring detecting the presence of
radon or radon progeny in dwellings and reducing the presence
of radon and radon progeny in the indoor atmosphere shall be
regulated by the State through licensing requirements.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/10)
    Sec. 10. Primary responsibility with Illinois Emergency
Management Agency Department of Nuclear Safety. The Illinois
Emergency Management Agency Department shall have primary
responsibility for coordination, oversight, and implementation
of all State functions in matters concerning the presence,
effects, measurement, and mitigation of risks of radon and
radon progeny in dwellings and other buildings. The Department
of Natural Resources, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Department of Public Health, and other State agencies shall
consult and cooperate with the Agency Department as requested
and as necessary to fulfill the purposes of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/15)
    Sec. 15. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
context requires otherwise:
    (a) "Agency" means the Illinois Emergency Management
Agency "Department" means the Illinois Department of Nuclear
Safety.
    (b) "Client" means any person who contracts for measurement
or mitigation services.
    (c) "Director" means the Director of the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency.
    (d) (b) "Interfere" means to adversely or potentially
adversely impact the successful completion of an indoor radon
measurement by changing the radon or radon progeny
concentrations or altering the performance of measurement
equipment or an indoor radon mitigation system installation or
operation.
    (e) (c) "Laboratory analysis" means the act of analyzing
the determining radon or radon progeny concentrations with in
air, water, soil, or passive radon testing devices, or the act
of calibrating radon or radon progeny measurement devices, or
the act of exposing radon or radon progeny devices to known
concentrations of radon or radon progeny as a compensated
service.
    (f) (d) "Mitigation" means the act of repairing or altering
a building or building design for the purpose in whole or in
part of reducing the concentration of radon in the indoor
atmosphere.
    (g) (e) "Person" means entities, including, but not limited
to, an individual, company, corporation, firm, group,
association, partnership, joint venture, trust, or government
agency or subdivision.
    (h) (f) "Radon" means a gaseous radioactive decay product
of uranium or thorium.
    (i) (g) "Radon contractor" or "contractor" means a person
licensed to perform radon or radon progeny mitigation or to
perform radon measurements of to detect radon or radon progeny
in an indoor atmosphere.
    (j) (h) "Radon progeny" means any combination of the
radioactive decay products of radon.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/20)
    Sec. 20. General powers.
    (a) The Agency Department may undertake projects to
determine whether and to what extent radon and radon progeny
are present in dwellings and other buildings, to determine to
what extent their presence constitutes a risk to public health,
and to determine what measures are effective in reducing and
preventing the risk to public health.
    (b) In addition to other powers granted under this Act, the
Agency Department is authorized to:
        (1) Establish a program for measuring radon or radon
    progeny in dwellings and other buildings.
        (2) Conduct surveys and studies in cooperation with the
    Department of Natural Resources and the Department of
    Public Health to determine the distribution and
    concentration of radon or radon progeny in dwellings and
    other buildings and the associated health risk and to
    evaluate measures that may be used to mitigate a present or
    potential health risk.
        (3) Enter into dwellings and other buildings with the
    consent of the owner or occupant to engage in monitoring
    activities or to conduct remedial action studies or
    programs.
        (4) Enter into contracts for projects undertaken
    pursuant to subsection (a).
        (5) Enter into agreements with other departments,
    agencies, and subdivisions of the federal government, the
    State, and units of local government to implement this Act.
        (6) Establish training and educational programs.
        (7) Apply for, accept, and use grants or other
    financial assistance and accept and use gifts of money or
    property to implement this Act.
        (8) Provide technical assistance to persons and to
    other State departments, agencies, political subdivisions,
    units of local government, and school districts.
        (9) Prescribe forms for application for a license
    licensure.
        (10) Establish the minimum qualifications for a
    license licensure, including requirements for examinations
    or performance testing, and issue licenses to persons found
    to be qualified.
        (10.5) Investigate any unlicensed activity.
        (11) Conduct hearings or proceedings to revoke,
    suspend, or refuse to issue or renew a license, or assess
    civil penalties.
        (12) Adopt rules for the administration and
    enforcement of this Act.
        (13) Establish by rule fees to recover the cost of the
    application and inspection fees for the licensing program.
(Source: P.A. 92-387, eff. 8-16-01.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/25)
    Sec. 25. License requirement. Beginning January 1, 1998, no
person shall sell a device or perform a service for
compensation to detect the presence of radon or radon progeny
in the indoor atmosphere, perform laboratory analysis, or
perform a service to reduce the presence of radon or radon
progeny in the indoor atmosphere unless the person has been
licensed by the Agency Department. The application procedures
for a license licensure shall be established by rule of the
Agency Department. This Section does not apply to retail stores
that only sell or distribute radon sampling devices but are not
engaged in a relationship with the client for other services
such as home inspection or representation as in a real estate
transaction and that do not perform laboratory analysis,
measurement, or mitigation services. This Section does not
apply to persons selling or distributing, but not placing,
radon sampling devices supplied by a laboratory if the results
of the laboratory analysis are reported directly to the owner
or occupant of the building sampled.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/30)
    Sec. 30. Reporting of information. Within 45 days after
testing for radon or radon progeny, a person performing the
testing shall report to his or her client the owner or occupant
of the building the results of the testing. In addition, if the
client is not the owner or occupant of the building, a person
shall report to the owner or occupant upon request. To the
extent that the testing results contain information pertaining
to the medical condition of an identified individual or the
concentration level of radon or radon progeny in an identified
dwelling, information obtained by the Agency Department
pursuant to this Act is exempt from the disclosure requirements
of the Freedom of Information Act, except that the Agency
Department shall make the information available to the
identified individual or the owner or occupant on request.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/35)
    Sec. 35. Penalties.
    (a) A person required to be licensed under Section 25 of
this Act who sells a device or performs a service without being
properly licensed under this Act may be assessed a civil
penalty by the Agency not to the exclusion of any other penalty
authorized by law shall, in addition to any other penalty
provided by law, pay a civil penalty to the Department in an
amount not to exceed $5,000, for each offense, as determined by
the Agency Department. Any person assessed a civil penalty
under this Section shall be afforded an opportunity for hearing
in accordance with Agency Department regulations prior to final
action by the Agency Department. The civil penalty must be paid
within 30 days after the order becomes a final and binding
administrative determination.
    (b) A person who violates a provision of this Act shall be
guilty of a business offense and may shall be fined not less
than $500 nor more than $1,000 for the first offense and shall
be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a subsequent offense.
Each day that a violation continues constitutes a separate
offense. A licensed radon contractor found guilty of a
violation of a provision of this Act may shall automatically
have his or her license terminated by the Agency Department.
(Source: P.A. 92-387, eff. 8-16-01.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/45)
    Sec. 45. Grounds for disciplinary action. The Agency
Department may refuse to issue or to renew, or may revoke,
suspend, place on probation, reprimand or take other
disciplinary action as the Agency Department may deem proper,
including fines not to exceed $1,000 for each violation, with
regard to any license for any one or combination of the
following causes:
    (a) Violation of this Act or its rules.
    (b) Conviction of a crime under the laws of any United
States jurisdiction that is a felony or a misdemeanor, an
essential element of which is dishonesty, or of any crime that
directly relates to the practice of detecting or reducing the
presence of radon or radon progeny.
    (c) Making a misrepresentation for the purpose of obtaining
a license.
    (d) Professional incompetence or gross negligence in the
practice of detecting or reducing the presence of radon or
radon progeny.
    (e) Gross malpractice, prima facie evidence of which may be
a conviction or judgment of malpractice in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
    (f) Aiding or assisting another person in violating a
provision of this Act or its rules.
    (g) Failing, within 60 days, to provide information in
response to a written request made by the Agency Department
that has been sent by certified or registered mail to the
licensee's last known address.
    (h) Engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or unprofessional
conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the
public.
    (i) Habitual or excessive use or addiction to alcohol,
narcotics, stimulants, or any other chemical agent or drug that
results in the inability to practice with reasonable judgment,
skill, or safety.
    (j) Discipline by another United States jurisdiction or
foreign nation, if at least one of the grounds for the
discipline is the same or substantially equivalent to those set
forth in this Section.
    (k) Directly or indirectly giving to or receiving from a
person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association any
fee, commission, rebate, or other form of compensation for a
professional service not actually or personally rendered.
    (l) A finding by the Agency Department that the licensee
has violated the terms of a license , after having his or her
license placed on probationary status, has violated the terms
of probation.
    (m) Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, either
within or outside of this State, of a violation of a law
governing the practice of detecting or reducing the presence of
radon or radon progeny if the Agency Department determines
after investigation that the person has not been sufficiently
rehabilitated to warrant the public trust.
    (n) A finding by the Agency Department that a license
licensure has been applied for or obtained by fraudulent means.
    (o) Practicing or attempting to practice under a name other
than the full name as shown on the license or any other
authorized name.
    (p) Gross and willful overcharging for professional
services, including filing false statements for collection of
fees or moneys for which services are not rendered.
    (q) Failure to file a return or to pay the tax, penalty, or
interest shown in a filed return, or to pay any final
assessment of tax, penalty, or interest, as required by a tax
Act administered by the Department of Revenue, until such time
as the requirements of any such tax Act are satisfied.
    (r) Failure to repay The Department shall deny an original
or renewal license under this Act to a person who has defaulted
on an educational loans loan guaranteed by the Illinois Student
Assistance State Scholarship Commission, as provided in
Section 80 of the Nuclear Safety Law of 2004. However, the
Agency Department may issue an original or renewal license if
the person in default has established a satisfactory repayment
record as determined by the Illinois Student Assistance State
Scholarship Commission.
    (s) Failure to meet child support orders, as provided in
Section 10-65 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
    (t) Failure to pay a fee or civil penalty properly assessed
by the Agency.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/50)
    Sec. 50. Summary suspension. The Director may summarily
suspend the license of a radon contractor without a hearing,
simultaneously with the institution of proceedings for a
hearing, if the Director finds that evidence in his or her
possession indicates that continuation of the contractor in
practice would constitute an imminent danger to the public. If
the Director summarily suspends a license without a hearing, a
hearing by the Agency Department shall be held within 30 days
after the suspension has occurred and shall be concluded
without appreciable delay.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/55)
    Sec. 55. Liability. The Agency Department and other persons
under contract or agreement with the Agency Department under
this Act, and their officers, agents, and employees, shall not
be liable for conduct in the course of administering or
enforcing this Act unless the conduct was malicious.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/60)
    Sec. 60. Deposit of moneys. All moneys received by the
Agency Department under this Act shall be deposited into the
Radiation Protection Fund and are not refundable. Moneys
deposited into the Fund may be used by the Agency Department,
pursuant to appropriation, for the administration and
enforcement of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/65)
    Sec. 65. Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The
provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act are
hereby expressly adopted and shall apply to all administrative
rules and procedures of the Agency Department under this Act,
except that Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative
Procedure Act, relating to procedures for rulemaking, does not
apply to the adoption of any rule required by federal law in
connection with which the Agency Department is precluded from
exercising any discretion.
(Source: P.A. 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
 
    (420 ILCS 44/70)
    Sec. 70. Administrative Review Law. All final
administrative decisions of the Agency Department under this
Act shall be subject to judicial review under the provisions of
the Administrative Review Law and its rules. The term
"administrative decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the
Code of Civil Procedure.
(Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 7/29/2005