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1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
5changing Section 22.59 as follows:
 
6    (415 ILCS 5/22.59)
7    Sec. 22.59. CCR surface impoundments.
8    (a) The General Assembly finds that:
9        (1) the State of Illinois has a long-standing policy
10    to restore, protect, and enhance the environment,
11    including the purity of the air, land, and waters,
12    including groundwaters, of this State;
13        (2) a clean environment is essential to the growth and
14    well-being of this State;
15        (3) CCR generated by the electric generating industry
16    has caused groundwater contamination and other forms of
17    pollution at active and inactive plants throughout this
18    State;
19        (4) environmental laws should be supplemented to
20    ensure consistent, responsible regulation of all existing
21    CCR surface impoundments; and
22        (5) meaningful participation of State residents,
23    especially vulnerable populations who may be affected by

 

 

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1    regulatory actions, is critical to ensure that
2    environmental justice considerations are incorporated in
3    the development of, decision-making related to, and
4    implementation of environmental laws and rulemaking that
5    protects and improves the well-being of communities in
6    this State that bear disproportionate burdens imposed by
7    environmental pollution.
8    Therefore, the purpose of this Section is to promote a
9healthful environment, including clean water, air, and land,
10meaningful public involvement, and the responsible disposal
11and storage of coal combustion residuals, so as to protect
12public health and to prevent pollution of the environment of
13this State.
14    The provisions of this Section shall be liberally
15construed to carry out the purposes of this Section.
16    (b) No person shall:
17        (1) cause or allow the discharge of any contaminants
18    from a CCR surface impoundment into the environment so as
19    to cause, directly or indirectly, a violation of this
20    Section or any regulations or standards adopted by the
21    Board under this Section, either alone or in combination
22    with contaminants from other sources;
23        (2) construct, install, modify, operate, or close any
24    CCR surface impoundment without a permit granted by the
25    Agency, or so as to violate any conditions imposed by such
26    permit, any provision of this Section or any regulations

 

 

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1    or standards adopted by the Board under this Section; or
2        (3) cause or allow, directly or indirectly, the
3    discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking,
4    or placing of any CCR upon the land in a place and manner
5    so as to cause or tend to cause a violation this Section or
6    any regulations or standards adopted by the Board under
7    this Section.
8    (c) (Blank). For purposes of this Section, a permit issued
9by the Administrator of the United States Environmental
10Protection Agency under Section 4005 of the federal Resource
11Conservation and Recovery Act, shall be deemed to be a permit
12under this Section and subsection (y) of Section 39.
13    (d) Before commencing closure of a CCR surface
14impoundment, in accordance with Board rules, the owner of a
15CCR surface impoundment must submit to the Agency for approval
16a closure alternatives analysis that analyzes all closure
17methods being considered and that otherwise satisfies all
18closure requirements adopted by the Board under this Act.
19Complete removal of CCR, as specified by the Board's rules,
20from the CCR surface impoundment must be considered and
21analyzed. Section 3.405 does not apply to the Board's rules
22specifying complete removal of CCR. The selected closure
23method must ensure compliance with regulations adopted by the
24Board pursuant to this Section.
25    (e) Owners or operators of CCR surface impoundments who
26have submitted a closure plan to the Agency before May 1, 2019,

 

 

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1and who have completed closure prior to 24 months after July
230, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171) this
3amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly shall not be
4required to obtain a construction permit for the surface
5impoundment closure under this Section.
6    (f) Except for the State, its agencies and institutions, a
7unit of local government, or not-for-profit electric
8cooperative as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier
9Act, any person who owns or operates a CCR surface impoundment
10in this State shall post with the Agency a performance bond or
11other security for the purpose of: (i) ensuring closure of the
12CCR surface impoundment and post-closure care in accordance
13with this Act and its rules; and (ii) insuring remediation of
14releases from the CCR surface impoundment. The only acceptable
15forms of financial assurance are: a trust fund, a surety bond
16guaranteeing payment, a surety bond guaranteeing performance,
17or an irrevocable letter of credit.
18        (1) The cost estimate for the post-closure care of a
19    CCR surface impoundment shall be calculated using a
20    30-year post-closure care period or such longer period as
21    may be approved by the Agency under Board or federal
22    rules.
23        (2) The Agency is authorized to enter into such
24    contracts and agreements as it may deem necessary to carry
25    out the purposes of this Section. Neither the State, nor
26    the Director, nor any State employee shall be liable for

 

 

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1    any damages or injuries arising out of or resulting from
2    any action taken under this Section.
3        (3) The Agency shall have the authority to approve or
4    disapprove any performance bond or other security posted
5    under this subsection. Any person whose performance bond
6    or other security is disapproved by the Agency may contest
7    the disapproval as a permit denial appeal pursuant to
8    Section 40.
9    (g) The Board shall adopt rules establishing construction
10permit requirements, operating permit requirements, design
11standards, reporting, financial assurance, and closure and
12post-closure care requirements for CCR surface impoundments.
13Not later than 8 months after July 30, 2019 (the effective date
14of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of the 101st
15General Assembly the Agency shall propose, and not later than
16one year after receipt of the Agency's proposal the Board
17shall adopt, rules under this Section. The rules must, at a
18minimum:
19        (1) be at least as protective and comprehensive as the
20    federal regulations or amendments thereto promulgated by
21    the Administrator of the United States Environmental
22    Protection Agency in Subpart D of 40 CFR 257 governing CCR
23    surface impoundments;
24        (2) specify the minimum contents of CCR surface
25    impoundment construction and operating permit
26    applications, including the closure alternatives analysis

 

 

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1    required under subsection (d);
2        (3) specify which types of permits include
3    requirements for closure, post-closure, remediation and
4    all other requirements applicable to CCR surface
5    impoundments;
6        (4) specify when permit applications for existing CCR
7    surface impoundments must be submitted, taking into
8    consideration whether the CCR surface impoundment must
9    close under the RCRA;
10        (5) specify standards for review and approval by the
11    Agency of CCR surface impoundment permit applications;
12        (6) specify meaningful public participation procedures
13    for the issuance of CCR surface impoundment construction
14    and operating permits, including, but not limited to,
15    public notice of the submission of permit applications, an
16    opportunity for the submission of public comments, an
17    opportunity for a public hearing prior to permit issuance,
18    and a summary and response of the comments prepared by the
19    Agency;
20        (7) prescribe the type and amount of the performance
21    bonds or other securities required under subsection (f),
22    and the conditions under which the State is entitled to
23    collect moneys from such performance bonds or other
24    securities;
25        (8) specify a procedure to identify areas of
26    environmental justice concern in relation to CCR surface

 

 

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1    impoundments;
2        (9) specify a method to prioritize CCR surface
3    impoundments required to close under RCRA if not otherwise
4    specified by the United States Environmental Protection
5    Agency, so that the CCR surface impoundments with the
6    highest risk to public health and the environment, and
7    areas of environmental justice concern are given first
8    priority;
9        (10) define when complete removal of CCR is achieved
10    and specify the standards for responsible removal of CCR
11    from CCR surface impoundments, including, but not limited
12    to, dust controls and the protection of adjacent surface
13    water and groundwater; and
14        (11) describe the process and standards for
15    identifying a specific alternative source of groundwater
16    pollution when the owner or operator of the CCR surface
17    impoundment believes that groundwater contamination on the
18    site is not from the CCR surface impoundment.
19    (h) Any owner of a CCR surface impoundment that generates
20CCR and sells or otherwise provides coal combustion byproducts
21pursuant to Section 3.135 shall, every 12 months, post on its
22publicly available website a report specifying the volume or
23weight of CCR, in cubic yards or tons, that it sold or provided
24during the past 12 months.
25    (i) The owner of a CCR surface impoundment shall post all
26closure plans, permit applications, and supporting

 

 

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1documentation, as well as any Agency approval of the plans or
2applications on its publicly available website.
3    (j) The owner or operator of a CCR surface impoundment
4shall pay the following fees:
5        (1) An initial fee to the Agency within 6 months after
6    July 30, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171)
7    this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly of:
8            $50,000 for each closed CCR surface impoundment;
9        and
10            $75,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that have
11        not completed closure.
12        (2) Annual fees to the Agency, beginning on July 1,
13    2020, of:
14            $25,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has
15        not completed closure; and
16            $15,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has
17        completed closure, but has not completed post-closure
18        care.
19    (k) All fees collected by the Agency under subsection (j)
20shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Permit
21and Inspection Fund.
22    (l) The Coal Combustion Residual Surface Impoundment
23Financial Assurance Fund is created as a special fund in the
24State treasury. Any moneys forfeited to the State of Illinois
25from any performance bond or other security required under
26this Section shall be placed in the Coal Combustion Residual

 

 

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1Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund and shall, upon
2approval by the Governor and the Director, be used by the
3Agency for the purposes for which such performance bond or
4other security was issued. The Coal Combustion Residual
5Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund is not subject to
6the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 5 of the State
7Finance Act.
8    (m) The provisions of this Section shall apply, without
9limitation, to all existing CCR surface impoundments and any
10CCR surface impoundments constructed after July 30, 2019 (the
11effective date of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of
12the 101st General Assembly, except to the extent prohibited by
13the Illinois or United States Constitutions.
14(Source: P.A. 101-171, eff. 7-30-19; revised 10-22-19.)
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16becoming law.