Public Act 90-0209 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0209
HB1144 Enrolled LRB9002064DPccA
AN ACT to create the Laser System Act of 1997, amending
and repealing named Acts.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Laser System Act of 1997.
Section 5. Public policy. Whereas laser systems can be
instrumental in the improvement of the health and welfare of
the public if properly utilized, and may be destructive or
detrimental if improperly or carelessly employed, it is
hereby declared to be the public policy of this State to
encourage the constructive uses of laser systems and to
prohibit uses that are or may be detrimental to human health
and safety. It is further in the public interest to consult
nationally accepted standards in the promulgation and
enforcement of statutes, rules, and regulations.
Section 10. Legislative purpose. It is the purpose of
this Act to provide for a program of effective regulation of
laser systems for the protection of human health, welfare,
and safety. The Department shall therefore regulate laser
systems under this Act to ensure the safe use and operation
of those systems.
Section 15. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act,
unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) "Department" means the Illinois Department of
Nuclear Safety.
(2) "Director" means the Director of Nuclear
Safety.
(3) "FDA" means the Food and Drug Administration of
the United States Department of Health and Human
Services.
(4) "Laser installation" means a location or
facility where laser systems are produced, stored,
disposed of, or used for any purpose.
(5) "Laser machine" means a device that is capable
of producing laser radiation when associated controlled
devices are operated.
(6) "Laser radiation" means an electromagnetic
radiation emitted from a laser system and includes all
reflected radiation, any secondary radiation, or other
forms of energy resulting from the primary laser beam.
(7) "Laser system" means a device, machine,
equipment, or other apparatus that applies a source of
energy to a gas, liquid, crystal, or other solid
substances or combination thereof in a manner that
electromagnetic radiations of a relatively uniform wave
length are amplified and emitted in a cohesive beam
capable of transmitting the energy developed in a manner
that may be harmful to living tissues, including but not
limited to electromagnetic waves in the range of visible,
infrared, or ultraviolet light. Such systems in schools,
colleges, occupational schools, and State colleges and
other State institutions are also included in the
definition of "laser systems".
(8) "Operator" is an individual, group of
individuals, partnership, firm, corporation, or
association conducting the business or activities carried
on within a laser installation.
Section 20. Registration requirements. An operator of a
laser installation, unless otherwise exempted, shall register
the installation with the Department before the installation
is placed in operation. The registration shall be filed
annually on a form prescribed by the Department. If any
change occurs in a laser installation, the change or changes
shall be registered with the Department within 30 days. If
registering a change in each source of laser radiation or the
type or strength of each source of radiation is impractical,
the Department, upon request of the operator, may approve
blanket registration of the installation. Laser
installations registered with the Department on the effective
date of this Act shall retain their registration.
Registration of a laser installation shall not imply
approval of manufacture, storage, use, handling, operation,
or disposal of laser systems or laser radiation, but shall
serve merely as notice to the Department of the location and
character of radiation sources in this State.
Section 25. Exemptions. The registration requirements of
this Act shall not apply to the following:
(1) a laser system that is not considered to be an
acute hazard to the skin and eyes from direct radiation
as determined by the FDA classification scheme
established in 21 C.F.R. Section 1040.10.
(2) a laser system being transported on railroad
cars, motor vehicles, aircraft, or vessels in conformity
with rules adopted by an agency having jurisdiction over
safety during transportation, or laser systems that have
been installed on aircraft, munitions, or other equipment
that is subject to the regulations of, and approved by an
appropriate agency of, the federal government.
(3) a laser system where the hazard to public
health, in the opinion of the Department, is absent or
negligible.
Section 30. Registration fee. The Department may
establish by rule a registration fee for operators of laser
machines required to register under this Act. The Director
may by rule exempt public institutions from the registration
fee requirement. Registration fees assessed shall be due and
payable within 60 days after the date of billing. If, after
60 days, the registration fee is not paid, the Department may
issue an order directing the operator of the installation to
cease use of the laser machines for which the fee is
outstanding or take other appropriate enforcement action as
provided in Section 36 of the Radiation Protection Act of
1990. An order issued by the Department shall afford the
operator a right to a hearing before the Department. A
written request for a hearing must be served on the
Department within 10 days of notice of the order. If the
operator fails to file a timely request for a hearing with
the Department, the operator shall be deemed to have waived
his or her right to a hearing. All moneys received by the
Department under this Act shall be deposited into the
Radiation Protection Fund and are not refundable. Pursuant to
appropriation, moneys deposited into the Fund may be used by
the Department to administer and enforce this Act.
Section 35. Department rules. The Department is
authorized to adopt rules for the administration and
enforcement of this Act and to enter upon, inspect, and
investigate the premises and operations of all laser systems
of this State, whether or not the systems are required to be
registered by this Act. In adopting rules authorized by this
Section and in exempting certain laser systems from the
registration requirements of Section 20, the Department may
seek advice and consultation from engineers, physicists,
physicians, or other persons with special knowledge of laser
systems and of the medical and biological effects of laser
systems.
Section 40. Reports of accidental injuries. The operator
of a laser system shall promptly report to the Department an
accidental injury to an individual in the course of use,
handling, operation, manufacture, or discharge of a laser
system.
Section 45. Department authority in case of immediate
threat to health. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this Act, whenever the Department finds that a condition
exists that constitutes an immediate threat to the public
health or safety, the Department is authorized to do all of
the following:
(a) Enter onto public or private property and take
possession of or require the immediate cessation of use
of laser systems that pose an immediate threat to health
or safety.
(b) Enter an order for abatement of a violation of
a provision of this Act or a rule adopted or an order
issued under this Act that requires immediate action to
protect the public health or safety. The order shall
recite the existence of the immediate threat and the
findings of the Department pertaining to the threat. The
order shall direct a response that the Department
determines appropriate under the circumstances, including
but not limited to all of the following:
(1) Discontinuance of the violation.
(2) Rendering the laser system inoperable.
(3) Impounding of a laser system possessed by
a person engaging in the violation.
Such order shall be effective immediately but shall
include notice of the time and place of a public hearing
before the Department to be held within 30 days of the
date of the order to assure the justification of the
order. On the basis of the public hearing, the Department
shall continue its order in effect, revoke it, or modify
it. Any party affected by an order of the Department
shall have the right to waive the public hearing
proceedings.
(c) Direct the Attorney General to obtain an
injunction against a person responsible for causing or
allowing the continuance of the immediate threat to
health or safety.
Section 50. Public nuisance; injunctive relief. The
conducting of any business or the carrying on of activities
within a laser installation without registering a laser
installation or without complying with the provisions of this
Act relating to the laser installation is declared to be
inimical to the public welfare and public safety and to
constitute a public nuisance. It is the duty of the Attorney
General, upon the request of the Department, to bring an
action in the name of the People of the State of Illinois to
enjoin an operator from unlawfully engaging in the business
or activity conducted within the laser installation until the
operator of the installation complies with the provisions of
this Act. This injunctive remedy shall be in addition to, and
not in lieu of, any criminal penalty provided in this Act.
Section 55. Penalties. An operator who fails to comply
with the provisions of this Act is guilty of a Class B
misdemeanor. Each day an operator fails to comply with the
provisions of this Act constitutes a separate offense.
Section 60. 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 Department of
Nuclear Safety under this Act, except that Section 5 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
Department is precluded from exercising any discretion.
Section 65. Administrative Review Law. All final
administrative decisions of the 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.
Section 70. The Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
amended by changing Section 71 as follows:
(20 ILCS 2005/71) (from Ch. 127, par. 63b17)
(This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a
delayed effective date)
Sec. 71. Department powers.
A. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall exercise,
administer and enforce all rights, powers and duties vested
in the Department of Public Health by the following named
Acts or Sections thereof:
1. The Radiation Installation Act.
2. The Radiation Protection Act of 1990.
3. The Radioactive Waste Storage Act.
4. The Personnel Radiation Monitoring Act.
5. The Laser System Act of 1997.
6. The Illinois Nuclear Safety Preparedness Act.
B. All the rights, powers and duties vested in the
Director of Public Health by "An Act to create the Illinois
Commission on Atomic Energy, defining the powers and duties
of the Commission, and making an appropriation therefor",
effective September 10, 1971, as amended, are transferred to
the Director of Nuclear Safety. The Director of Nuclear
Safety, after the effective date this amendatory Act of 1980,
shall serve as an ex officio member of the Illinois
Commission on Atomic Energy in the place and stead of the
Director of Public Health.
C. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall exercise,
administer and enforce all rights, powers and duties:
1. Vested in the Office of the State Fire Marshal
by the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety Act, to the
extent the rights, powers, and duties relate to nuclear
steam-generating facilities.
2. As relating to nuclear steam-generating
facilities, vested in the Board of Boiler and Pressure
Vessel Rules by the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety
Act, which includes but are not limited to the
formulation of definitions, rules and regulations for the
safe and proper construction, installation, repair, use,
and operation of nuclear steam-generating facilities, the
adoption of rules for already installed nuclear
steam-generating facilities, the adoption of rules for
accidents in nuclear steam-generating facilities, the
examination for or suspension of inspectors' licenses of
the facilities and the hearing of appeals from decisions
relating to the facilities.
3. As relating to nuclear steam-generating
facilities, vested in the State Fire Marshal or the Chief
Inspector by the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety Act,
which include but are not limited to the employment of
inspectors of nuclear steam-generating facilities,
issuance or suspension of their commissions, prosecution
of the Act or rules promulgated thereunder for violations
by nuclear steam-generating facilities, maintenance of
inspection records of all the facilities, publication of
rules relating to the facilities, having free access to
the facilities, issuance of inspection certificates of
the facilities and the furnishing of bonds conditioned
upon the faithful performance of their duties. The
Director of Nuclear Safety may designate a Chief
Inspector, or other inspectors, as he deems necessary to
perform the functions transferred by this subsection C.
The transfer of rights, powers, and duties specified in
the immediately preceding paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 is limited
to the program transferred by this amendatory Act of 1980 and
shall not be deemed to abolish or diminish the exercise of
those same rights, powers, and duties by the Office of the
State Fire Marshal, the Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel
Rules, the State Fire Marshal, or the Chief Inspector with
respect to programs retained by the Office of the State Fire
Marshal.
D. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall exercise,
administer, and enforce all rights, powers and duties vested
in the Environmental Protection Agency by paragraphs a, b, c,
d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, and r of Section 4
and Sections 30-45 inclusive of the Environmental Protection
Act, to the extent that these powers relate to standards of
the Pollution Control Board adopted under subsection K of
this Section. The transfer of rights, powers, and duties
specified in this paragraph is limited to the program
transferred by this amendatory Act of 1980 and shall not be
deemed to abolish or diminish the exercise of those same
rights, powers, and duties by the Environmental Protection
Agency with respect to programs retained by the Environmental
Protection Agency.
E. The Department of Nuclear Safety, in lieu of the
Department of Public Health, shall register, license,
inspect, and control radiation sources and shall purchase,
lease, accept, or acquire lands, buildings and grounds where
radioactive wastes can be disposed, and to supervise and
regulate the operation of the disposal sites.
F. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall have primary
responsibility to formulate a comprehensive emergency
preparedness and response plan for any nuclear accident, and
shall develop such a plan in cooperation with the Illinois
Emergency Management Agency. The Department of Nuclear Safety
shall also train and maintain an emergency response team.
G. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall formulate a
comprehensive plan regarding the transportation of nuclear
and radioactive materials in Illinois. The Department shall
have primary responsibility for all State governmental
regulation of the transportation of nuclear and radioactive
materials, insofar as the regulation pertains to the public
health and safety. This responsibility shall include but not
be limited to the authority to oversee and coordinate
regulatory functions performed by the Department of
Transportation, the Department of State Police, and the
Illinois Commerce Commission.
H. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall formulate a
comprehensive plan regarding disposal of nuclear and
radioactive materials in this State. The Department shall
establish minimum standards for disposal sites, shall
evaluate and publicize potential effects on the public health
and safety, and shall report to the Governor and General
Assembly all violations of the adopted standards. In
carrying out this function, the Department of Nuclear Safety
shall work in cooperation with the Illinois Commission on
Atomic Energy and the Radiation Protection Advisory Council.
I. The Department of Nuclear Safety, in cooperation with
the Department of Natural Resources, shall study (a) the
impact and cost of nuclear power and compare these to the
impact and cost of alternative sources of energy, (b) the
potential effects on the public health and safety of all
radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants, and (c) all
other factors that bear on the use of nuclear power or on
nuclear safety. The Department shall formulate a general
nuclear policy for the State based on the findings of the
study. The policy shall include but not be limited to the
feasibility of continued use of nuclear power, effects of the
use of nuclear power on the public health and safety, minimum
acceptable standards for the location of any future nuclear
power plants, and rules and regulations for the reporting by
public utilities of radioactive emissions from power plants.
The Department shall establish a reliable system for
communication between the public and the Department and for
dissemination of information by the Department. The
Department shall publicize the findings of all studies and
make the publications reasonably available to the public.
J. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall have primary
responsibility for the coordination and oversight of all
State governmental functions concerning the regulation of
nuclear power, including low level waste management,
environmental monitoring, and transportation of nuclear
waste. Functions performed on the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1980 by the Department of State Police,
Department of Transportation, and the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency in the area of nuclear safety may continue
to be performed by these agencies but under the direction of
the Department of Nuclear Safety. All other governmental
functions regulating nuclear safety shall be coordinated by
Department of Nuclear Safety.
K. The Department of Nuclear Safety shall enforce the
regulations promulgated by the Pollution Control Board under
Section 25b of the Environmental Protection Act. Under these
regulations the Department shall require that a person,
corporation, or public authority intending to construct a
nuclear steam-generating facility or a nuclear fuel
reprocessing plant file with the Department an environmental
feasibility report that incorporates the data provided in the
preliminary safety analysis required to be filed with the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
L. Personnel previously assigned to the programs
transferred from the Department of Public Health and the
Office of the State Fire Marshal are hereby transferred to
the Department of Nuclear Safety. The rights of the
employees, the State, and executive agencies under the
Personnel Code or any collective bargaining agreement, or
under any pension, retirement, or annuity plan shall not be
affected by this amendatory Act of 1980.
M. All books, records, papers, documents, property (real
or personal), unexpended appropriations and pending business
in any way pertaining to the rights, powers, and duties
transferred by this amendatory Act of 1980 shall be delivered
and transferred to the Department of Nuclear Safety.
N. All files, records, and data gathered by or under the
direction or authority of the Director under this Act shall
be made available to the Department of Public Health under
the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act.
O. The Department shall not issue or renew to any
individual any accreditation, certification, or registration
(but excluding registration under the Radiation Installation
Act) otherwise issued by the Department if the individual has
defaulted on an educational loan guaranteed by the Illinois
Student Assistance Commission; however, the Department may
issue or renew an accreditation, certification, or
registration if the individual has established a satisfactory
repayment record as determined by the Illinois Student
Assistance Commission. Additionally, any accreditation,
certification, or registration issued by the Department (but
excluding registration under the Radiation Installation Act)
may be suspended or revoked if the Department, after the
opportunity for a hearing under the appropriate
accreditation, certification, or registration Act, finds that
the holder has failed to make satisfactory repayment to the
Illinois Student Assistance Commission for a delinquent or
defaulted loan. For purposes of this Section, "satisfactory
repayment record" shall be defined by rule.
(Source: P.A. 89-411, eff. 6-1-96; 89-445, eff. 2-7-96;
revised 3-11-96.)
Section 75. The Radiation Protection Act of 1990 is
amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
(420 ILCS 40/35) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 210-35)
Sec. 35. Radiation Protection Fund; Federal Facilities
Compliance Fund.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), all
monies received by the Department under this Act shall be
deposited in the State Treasury and shall be set apart in a
special fund to be known as the "Radiation Protection Fund".
All monies within the Radiation Protection Fund shall be
invested by the State Treasurer in accordance with
established investment practices. Interest earned by such
investment shall be returned to the Radiation Protection
Fund. Monies deposited in this fund shall be expended by the
Director pursuant to appropriation only to support the
activities of the Department under this Act and as provided
in the Laser System Act of 1997.
(b) All moneys from the Federal Government or other
sources, public or private, received by the Department for
the purpose of carrying out a State role under the Federal
Facility Compliance Act of 1992 shall be set apart and
deposited into a special fund known as the "Federal
Facilities Compliance Fund" that is hereby created in the
State treasury. Subject to appropriation, the moneys in the
Fund shall be used for the purpose of carrying out a State
role under the Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992.
(Source: P.A. 87-838; 88-616, eff. 9-9-94.)
(420 ILCS 55/Act rep.)
Section 80. The Laser System Act is repealed.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.