(420 ILCS 40/31) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 210-31)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)

Sec. 31. Rulemaking; exemptions.

(a) The provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act are hereby expressly adopted and shall apply to all administrative rules and procedures of the Agency under this Act, except that in case of conflict between the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and this Act the provisions of this Act shall control, and except that Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act relating to procedures for rule-making does not apply to the adoption of any rule required by federal law in connection with which the Agency is precluded by law from exercising any discretion.

(b) The Agency is exempt from rulemaking procedures in the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act when regulations that are identical in substance are necessary to implement, secure, or maintain federal authorization for a program. After consideration of comments from the appropriate federal agency, the Agency may adopt the verbatim text of the laws, regulations, or orders as necessary and appropriate for authorization or maintenance of the program. For purposes of this Section only, the term "order" is defined as a legal directive by a federal agency regarding an issue, situation, or a specific action. In adopting identical in substance regulations, the only changes that may be made by the Agency to the federal laws, regulations, or orders are those changes that are necessary for compliance with the Illinois Administrative Code and technical changes that in no way change the scope or meaning of any portion of the regulations, except as follows:

(1) The Agency shall not adopt the equivalent of federal laws, regulations, or orders that:

(a) are not applicable to persons or facilities in Illinois;

(b) are appropriate only in federal agency-administered programs; or

(c) govern actions to be taken by other federal agencies or states.

(2) The Agency shall not adopt regulations prescribing things that are outside the Agency's normal functions.

(3) If a federal agency regulation prescribes the contents of a state regulation without setting forth the regulation itself, which would be an integral part of any regulation required to be adopted as an identical in substance regulation as prescribed, the Agency shall adopt a regulation as prescribed by the federal agency to the extent possible and consistent with other relevant federal agency regulations and existing State law.

(4) The Agency may incorporate federal agency laws, regulations, or orders by reference if it is possible to do so.

(5) The Agency may correct typographical and grammatical errors.

(6) For regulations required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Agency may substitute the word "radioactive" for the word "by-product" when referring to radioactive material.

(c) For exempt identical in substance rulemakings, the Agency shall: (i) publish first notice of the rulemaking in the Illinois Register in accordance with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to provide public notice and opportunity for public comment; (ii) specifically refer to the appropriate federal laws, regulations, or orders; and (iii) follow the format reasonably prescribed by the Secretary of State by rule. The rulemakings adopted under this Section become effective following the first notice period immediately upon filing for adoption with the Secretary of State or at a date required or authorized by the relevant federal laws, regulations, or orders as stated in the notice of the rulemaking, and shall be published in the Illinois Register.

(Source: P.A. 94-104, eff. 7-1-05; 95-511, eff. 8-28-07.)