Sen. Scott M. Bennett

Filed: 4/15/2021

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1086

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1086 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
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

 

 

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1    pollution at active and inactive plants throughout this
2    State;
3        (4) environmental laws should be supplemented to
4    ensure consistent, responsible regulation of all existing
5    CCR surface impoundments; and
6        (5) meaningful participation of State residents,
7    especially vulnerable populations who may be affected by
8    regulatory actions, is critical to ensure that
9    environmental justice considerations are incorporated in
10    the development of, decision-making related to, and
11    implementation of environmental laws and rulemaking that
12    protects and improves the well-being of communities in
13    this State that bear disproportionate burdens imposed by
14    environmental pollution.
15    Therefore, the purpose of this Section is to promote a
16healthful environment, including clean water, air, and land,
17meaningful public involvement, and the responsible disposal
18and storage of coal combustion residuals, so as to protect
19public health and to prevent pollution of the environment of
20this State.
21    The provisions of this Section shall be liberally
22construed to carry out the purposes of this Section.
23    (b) No person shall:
24        (1) cause or allow the discharge of any contaminants
25    from a CCR surface impoundment into the environment so as
26    to cause, directly or indirectly, a violation of this

 

 

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1    Section or any regulations or standards adopted by the
2    Board under this Section, either alone or in combination
3    with contaminants from other sources;
4        (2) construct, install, modify, operate, or close any
5    CCR surface impoundment without a permit granted by the
6    Agency, or so as to violate any conditions imposed by such
7    permit, any provision of this Section or any regulations
8    or standards adopted by the Board under this Section; or
9        (3) cause or allow, directly or indirectly, the
10    discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking,
11    or placing of any CCR upon the land in a place and manner
12    so as to cause or tend to cause a violation this Section or
13    any regulations or standards adopted by the Board under
14    this Section.
15    (c) (Blank). For purposes of this Section, a permit issued
16by the Administrator of the United States Environmental
17Protection Agency under Section 4005 of the federal Resource
18Conservation and Recovery Act, shall be deemed to be a permit
19under this Section and subsection (y) of Section 39.
20    (d) Before commencing closure of a CCR surface
21impoundment, in accordance with Board rules, the owner of a
22CCR surface impoundment must submit to the Agency for approval
23a closure alternatives analysis that analyzes all closure
24methods being considered and that otherwise satisfies all
25closure requirements adopted by the Board under this Act.
26Complete removal of CCR, as specified by the Board's rules,

 

 

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1from the CCR surface impoundment must be considered and
2analyzed. Section 3.405 does not apply to the Board's rules
3specifying complete removal of CCR. The selected closure
4method must ensure compliance with regulations adopted by the
5Board pursuant to this Section.
6    (e) Owners or operators of CCR surface impoundments who
7have submitted a closure plan to the Agency before May 1, 2019,
8and who have completed closure prior to 24 months after July
930, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171) this
10amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly shall not be
11required to obtain a construction permit for the surface
12impoundment closure under this Section.
13    (f) Except for the State, its agencies and institutions, a
14unit of local government, or not-for-profit electric
15cooperative as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier
16Act, any person who owns or operates a CCR surface impoundment
17in this State shall post with the Agency a performance bond or
18other security for the purpose of: (i) ensuring closure of the
19CCR surface impoundment and post-closure care in accordance
20with this Act and its rules; and (ii) insuring remediation of
21releases from the CCR surface impoundment. The only acceptable
22forms of financial assurance are: a trust fund, a surety bond
23guaranteeing payment, a surety bond guaranteeing performance,
24or an irrevocable letter of credit.
25        (1) The cost estimate for the post-closure care of a
26    CCR surface impoundment shall be calculated using a

 

 

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1    30-year post-closure care period or such longer period as
2    may be approved by the Agency under Board or federal
3    rules.
4        (2) The Agency is authorized to enter into such
5    contracts and agreements as it may deem necessary to carry
6    out the purposes of this Section. Neither the State, nor
7    the Director, nor any State employee shall be liable for
8    any damages or injuries arising out of or resulting from
9    any action taken under this Section.
10        (3) The Agency shall have the authority to approve or
11    disapprove any performance bond or other security posted
12    under this subsection. Any person whose performance bond
13    or other security is disapproved by the Agency may contest
14    the disapproval as a permit denial appeal pursuant to
15    Section 40.
16    (g) The Board shall adopt rules establishing construction
17permit requirements, operating permit requirements, design
18standards, reporting, financial assurance, and closure and
19post-closure care requirements for CCR surface impoundments.
20Not later than 8 months after July 30, 2019 (the effective date
21of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of the 101st
22General Assembly the Agency shall propose, and not later than
23one year after receipt of the Agency's proposal the Board
24shall adopt, rules under this Section. The rules must, at a
25minimum:
26        (1) be at least as protective and comprehensive as the

 

 

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1    federal regulations or amendments thereto promulgated by
2    the Administrator of the United States Environmental
3    Protection Agency in Subpart D of 40 CFR 257 governing CCR
4    surface impoundments;
5        (2) specify the minimum contents of CCR surface
6    impoundment construction and operating permit
7    applications, including the closure alternatives analysis
8    required under subsection (d);
9        (3) specify which types of permits include
10    requirements for closure, post-closure, remediation and
11    all other requirements applicable to CCR surface
12    impoundments;
13        (4) specify when permit applications for existing CCR
14    surface impoundments must be submitted, taking into
15    consideration whether the CCR surface impoundment must
16    close under the RCRA;
17        (5) specify standards for review and approval by the
18    Agency of CCR surface impoundment permit applications;
19        (6) specify meaningful public participation procedures
20    for the issuance of CCR surface impoundment construction
21    and operating permits, including, but not limited to,
22    public notice of the submission of permit applications, an
23    opportunity for the submission of public comments, an
24    opportunity for a public hearing prior to permit issuance,
25    and a summary and response of the comments prepared by the
26    Agency;

 

 

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1        (7) prescribe the type and amount of the performance
2    bonds or other securities required under subsection (f),
3    and the conditions under which the State is entitled to
4    collect moneys from such performance bonds or other
5    securities;
6        (8) specify a procedure to identify areas of
7    environmental justice concern in relation to CCR surface
8    impoundments;
9        (9) specify a method to prioritize CCR surface
10    impoundments required to close under RCRA if not otherwise
11    specified by the United States Environmental Protection
12    Agency, so that the CCR surface impoundments with the
13    highest risk to public health and the environment, and
14    areas of environmental justice concern are given first
15    priority;
16        (10) define when complete removal of CCR is achieved
17    and specify the standards for responsible removal of CCR
18    from CCR surface impoundments, including, but not limited
19    to, dust controls and the protection of adjacent surface
20    water and groundwater; and
21        (11) describe the process and standards for
22    identifying a specific alternative source of groundwater
23    pollution when the owner or operator of the CCR surface
24    impoundment believes that groundwater contamination on the
25    site is not from the CCR surface impoundment.
26    (h) Any owner of a CCR surface impoundment that generates

 

 

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1CCR and sells or otherwise provides coal combustion byproducts
2pursuant to Section 3.135 shall, every 12 months, post on its
3publicly available website a report specifying the volume or
4weight of CCR, in cubic yards or tons, that it sold or provided
5during the past 12 months.
6    (i) The owner of a CCR surface impoundment shall post all
7closure plans, permit applications, and supporting
8documentation, as well as any Agency approval of the plans or
9applications on its publicly available website.
10    (j) The owner or operator of a CCR surface impoundment
11shall pay the following fees:
12        (1) An initial fee to the Agency within 6 months after
13    July 30, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-171)
14    this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly of:
15            $50,000 for each closed CCR surface impoundment;
16        and
17            $75,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that have
18        not completed closure.
19        (2) Annual fees to the Agency, beginning on July 1,
20    2020, of:
21            $25,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has
22        not completed closure; and
23            $15,000 for each CCR surface impoundment that has
24        completed closure, but has not completed post-closure
25        care.
26    (k) All fees collected by the Agency under subsection (j)

 

 

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1shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Permit
2and Inspection Fund.
3    (l) The Coal Combustion Residual Surface Impoundment
4Financial Assurance Fund is created as a special fund in the
5State treasury. Any moneys forfeited to the State of Illinois
6from any performance bond or other security required under
7this Section shall be placed in the Coal Combustion Residual
8Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund and shall, upon
9approval by the Governor and the Director, be used by the
10Agency for the purposes for which such performance bond or
11other security was issued. The Coal Combustion Residual
12Surface Impoundment Financial Assurance Fund is not subject to
13the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 5 of the State
14Finance Act.
15    (m) The provisions of this Section shall apply, without
16limitation, to all existing CCR surface impoundments and any
17CCR surface impoundments constructed after July 30, 2019 (the
18effective date of Public Act 101-171) this amendatory Act of
19the 101st General Assembly, except to the extent prohibited by
20the Illinois or United States Constitutions.
21(Source: P.A. 101-171, eff. 7-30-19; revised 10-22-19.)
 
22    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
23becoming law.".