093_SB1003enr

 
SB1003 Enrolled                      LRB093 03180 AMC 03197 b

 1        AN ACT concerning environmental protection.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.   The Environmental Protection Act is amended
 5    by adding Section 9.11 as follows:

 6        (415 ILCS 5/9.11 new)
 7        Sec. 9.11. Great Lakes Areas of Concern; mercury.
 8        (a)  The General Assembly finds that:
 9             (1)  The government of the United States of  America
10        and the government of Canada have entered into agreements
11        on  Great  Lakes  water quality by signature of the Great
12        Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978, which was  amended
13        by Protocol signed on November 18, 1987.
14             (2)  The  government of the United States of America
15        and the government of Canada,  in  cooperation  with  the
16        state   and  provincial  governments,  were  required  to
17        designate geographic areas, called Areas of Concern, that
18        fail to meet the general or specific  objectives  of  the
19        Great  Lakes  Water  Quality  Agreement,  and  where such
20        failure has caused or is likely to  cause  impairment  of
21        beneficial  use  or failure of the ability of the area to
22        support aquatic life.
23             (3)  The government of the United States of  America
24        and  the government of Canada have identified 43 Areas of
25        Concern, 26 of which are in waters of the  United  States
26        of America and 17 of which are in the waters of Canada.
27             (4)  Waukegan  Harbor  in Illinois was designated an
28        Area of  Concern  in  1981  by  the  International  Joint
29        Commission,  the  United  States Environmental Protection
30        Agency, and the Illinois Environmental Protection  Agency
31        as  a  result  of  the  discovery  of  5  beneficial  use
 
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 1        impairments,  as  defined  in  Annex 2 of the Great Lakes
 2        Water Quality Agreement.  Beneficial use  impairments  at
 3        the  Waukegan  Harbor  Area of Concern were identified as
 4        the restrictions  on  fish  consumption,  degradation  of
 5        benthos, restrictions on dredging activities, degradation
 6        of phytoplankton and zooplankton populations, and loss of
 7        fish and wildlife habitat.
 8             (5)  The  government of the United States of America
 9        and the government of Canada cooperate with the state and
10        provincial governments to  ensure  that  remedial  action
11        plans  are  developed to restore all impaired uses to the
12        Areas of Concern.
13             (6)  Mercury has been  identified  as  a  persistent
14        bioaccumulative  contaminant  of  concern  throughout the
15        Great Lakes, including Lake Michigan, resulting in health
16        advisories and restrictions on fish consumption.
17             (7)  The thermal treatment of sludge creates mercury
18        emissions.
19        (b)  The Agency shall not issue any  permit  to  develop,
20    construct, or operate, within one mile of any portion of Lake
21    Michigan  that  has  been designated an Area of Concern under
22    the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement as of  the  effective
23    date  of  this  Section, any site or facility for the thermal
24    treatment of sludge, unless  the  applicant  submits  to  the
25    Agency  proof  that  the  site or facility has received local
26    siting approval from the governing body of  the  municipality
27    in  which  the site or facility is proposed to be located (or
28    from the county board if located in an unincorporated  area),
29    in  accordance  with  Section  39.2  of  this  Act.   For the
30    purposes  of  this  Section,  "thermal  treatment"  includes,
31    without  limitation,  drying,  incinerating,  and  any  other
32    processing  that  subjects  the   sludge   to   an   elevated
33    temperature.
 
SB1003 Enrolled             -3-      LRB093 03180 AMC 03197 b
 1        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
 2    becoming law.