101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB4971

 

Introduced 2/18/2020, by Rep. Sonya M. Harper

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
415 ILCS 60/24.1  from Ch. 5, par. 824.1

    Amends the Illinois Pesticide Act. Increases administrative penalties based on stated ranges of total violation points. Provides that beginning January 1, 2021 and each January 1 thereafter, the amounts of administrative penalties shall be adjusted by the Department of Agriculture based on the annual change in the Consumer Price Index. Requires the updated penalty amounts to be made available to the public on the Department's website.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB4971LRB101 20397 JWD 69946 b

1    AN ACT concerning safety.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Pesticide Act is amended by
5changing Section 24.1 as follows:
 
6    (415 ILCS 60/24.1)  (from Ch. 5, par. 824.1)
7    Sec. 24.1. Administrative actions and penalties.
8    (1) The Director is authorized after an opportunity for an
9administrative hearing to suspend, revoke, or modify any
10license, permit, special order, registration, or certification
11issued under this Act. This action may be taken in addition to
12or in lieu of monetary penalties assessed as set forth in this
13Section. When it is in the interest of the people of the State
14of Illinois, the Director may, upon good and sufficient
15evidence, suspend the registration, license, or permit until a
16hearing has been held. In such cases, the Director shall issue
17an order in writing setting forth the reasons for the
18suspension. Such order shall be served personally on the person
19or by registered or certified mail sent to the person's
20business address as shown in the latest notification to the
21Department. When such an order has been issued by the Director,
22the person may request an immediate hearing.
23    (2) Before initiating hearing proceedings, the Director

 

 

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1may issue an advisory letter to a violator of this Act or its
2rules and regulations when the violation points total 6 or
3less, as determined by the Department by the Use and Violation
4Criteria established in this Section. When the Department
5determines that the violation points total more than 6 but not
6more than 13, the Director shall issue a warning letter to the
7violator.
8    (3) The hearing officer upon determination of a violation
9or violations shall assess one or more of the following
10penalties:
11        (A) For any person applying pesticides without a
12    license or misrepresenting certification or failing to
13    comply with conditions of an agrichemical facility permit
14    or failing to comply with the conditions of a written
15    authorization for land application of agrichemical
16    contaminated soils or groundwater, a penalty of $500 shall
17    be assessed for the first offense and $1,000 for the second
18    and subsequent offenses.
19        (B) For violations of a stop use order imposed by the
20    Director, the penalty shall be $2500.
21        (C) For violations of a stop sale order imposed by the
22    Director, the penalty shall be $1500 for each individual
23    item of the product found in violation of the order.
24        (D) For selling restricted use pesticides to a
25    non-certified applicator the penalty shall be $1000.
26        (E) For selling restricted use pesticides without a

 

 

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1    dealer's license the penalty shall be $1,000.
2        (F) For constructing or operating without an
3    agrichemical facility permit after receiving written
4    notification, the penalty shall be $500 for the first
5    offense and $1,000 for the second and subsequent offenses.
6        (G) For violations of the Act and Rules and
7    Regulations, administrative penalties will be based upon
8    the total violation points as determined by the Use and
9    Violation Criteria as set forth in paragraph (4) of this
10    Section. The monetary penalties shall be as follows:
11Total Violation PointsMonetary Penalties
1212-13 $500
1314-16  $1,000 $750
1417-19 $2,500 $1000
1520-22 20-21 $5,000 $2500
1623-25 22-25 $7,500 $5000
1726-29 $10,000 $7500
1830 and above$15,000 $10,000
19        (H) Beginning on January 1, 2021, and every January 1
20    thereafter, the monetary penalties described in paragraph
21    (3)(G) shall automatically be increased or decreased, by a
22    percentage equal to the percentage change in the All Items
23    Consumer Index for All Urban Consumers for the U.S. City
24    Average, 1982-84=100 (CPI-U) published by the Bureau of
25    Labor and Statistics of the United States Department of
26    Labor during the preceding 12-month calendar year. The

 

 

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1    updated monetary penalties resulting from each annual
2    adjustment shall be made available to the public via the
3    Department's official website, by January 1 of the calendar
4    year for which the new monetary penalties apply. When
5    calculating the monetary penalties, the Department shall
6    round down to the nearest whole dollar. A complaint
7    received by the Department, which results in a monetary
8    penalty under paragraph (3)(G), shall have the monetary
9    penalty applied based on the calendar year in which the
10    complaint was received.
11    (4) The following Use and Violation Criteria establishes
12the point value which shall be compiled to determine the total
13violation points and administrative actions or monetary
14penalties to be imposed as set forth in paragraph (3)(G) of
15this Section:
16        (A) Point values shall be assessed upon the harm or
17    loss incurred.
18            (1) A point value of 1 shall be assessed for the
19        following:
20                (a) Exposure to a pesticide by plants, animals
21            or humans with no symptoms or damage noted.
22                (b) Fraudulent sales practices or
23            representations with no apparent monetary losses
24            involved.
25            (2) A point value of 2 shall be assessed for the
26        following:

 

 

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1                (a) Exposure to a pesticide which resulted in:
2                    (1) Plants or property showing signs of
3                damage including but not limited to leaf curl,
4                burning, wilting, spotting, discoloration, or
5                dying.
6                    (2) Garden produce or an agricultural crop
7                not being harvested on schedule.
8                    (3) Fraudulent sales practices or
9                representations resulting in losses under
10                $500.
11            (3) A point value of 4 shall be assessed for the
12        following:
13                (a) Exposure to a pesticide resulting in a
14            human experiencing headaches, nausea, eye
15            irritation and such other symptoms which persisted
16            less than 3 days.
17                (b) Plant or property damage resulting in a
18            loss below $1000.
19                (c) Animals exhibiting symptoms of pesticide
20            poisoning including but not limited to eye or skin
21            irritations or lack of coordination.
22                (d) Death to less than 5 animals.
23                (e) Fraudulent sales practices or
24            representations resulting in losses from $500 to
25            $2000.
26            (4) A point value of 6 shall be assessed for the

 

 

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1        following:
2                (a) Exposure to a pesticide resulting in a
3            human experiencing headaches, nausea, eye
4            irritation and such other symptoms which persisted
5            3 or more days.
6                (b) Plant or property damage resulting in a
7            loss of $1000 or more.
8                (c) Death to 5 or more animals.
9                (d) Fraudulent sales practices or
10            representations resulting in losses over $2000.
11        (B) Point values shall be assessed based upon the
12    signal word on the label of the chemical involved:
     
13Point ValueSignal Word
14 1  Caution
15 2  Warning
16 4  Danger/Poison
17        (C) Point values shall be assessed based upon the
18degree of responsibility.
19Point ValueDegree of Responsibility
202Accidental (such as equipment malfunction)
214Negligence
2210Knowingly
23        (D) Point values shall be assessed based upon the
24violator's history for the previous 3 years:
25Point ValueRecord

 

 

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12Advisory letter
23Warning letter
35
4
5
6 Previous criminal conviction of this Act or administrative violation resulting in a monetary penalty
77
8 Certification, license or registration currently suspended or revoked
9        (E) Point values shall be assessed based upon the
10violation type:
11(1) Application Oriented:
12Point ValueViolation
131Inadequate records
142Lack of supervision
152Faulty equipment
16Use contrary to label directions:
172 a. resulting in exposure to applicator or operator
183
19 b. resulting in exposure to other persons or the environment
203
21 c. precautionary statements, sites, rates, restricted use requirements
223Water contamination

 

 

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13 Storage or disposal contrary to label directions
23Pesticide drift
34Direct application to a non-target site
46Falsification of records
56
6 Failure to secure a permit or violation of permit or special order
7(2) Product Oriented:
8Point ValueViolation
96Pesticide not registered
104 Product label claims differ from approved label
114
12 Product composition (active ingredients differs from that of approved label)
134Product not colored as required
144
15
16 Misbranding as set forth in Sec. 5 of the Act (4 points will be assessed for each count)
17        (5) Any penalty not paid within 60 days of notice from
18    the Department shall be submitted to the Attorney General's
19    Office for collection. Failure to pay a penalty shall also
20    be grounds for suspension or revocation of permits,

 

 

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1    licenses and registrations.
2        (6) Private applicators, except those private
3    applicators who have been found by the Department to have
4    committed a "use inconsistent with the label" as defined in
5    subsection 40 of Section 4 of this Act, are exempt from the
6    Use and Violation Criteria point values.
7(Source: P.A. 90-403, eff. 8-15-97.)