SB2122 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 10925 JDS 21176 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
SB2122

Introduced 2/20/2009, by Sen. Susan Garrett

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 5/13

from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1013

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that the Pollution Control Board must conduct a regulatory proceeding to determine the appropriate water quality and effluent standard for boron, if any. Prohibits the State from enforcing the State Boron standard, unless and until the Pollution Control Board determines, in the regulatory proceeding described above, whether Boron standards are appropriate in Illinois.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

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

Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by changing Section 13 as follows:

(415 ILCS 5/13) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1013)

Sec. 13. Regulations.

(a) The Board, pursuant to procedures prescribed in Title VII of this Act, may adopt regulations to promote the purposes and provisions of this Title. Without limiting the generality of this authority, such regulations may among other things prescribe:

(1) Water quality standards specifying among other things, the maximum short-term and long-term concentrations of various contaminants in the waters, the minimum permissible concentrations of dissolved oxygen and other desirable matter in the waters, and the temperature of such waters;

(2) Effluent standards specifying the maximum amounts or concentrations, and the physical, chemical, thermal, biological and radioactive nature of contaminants that may be discharged into the waters of the State, as defined herein, including, but not limited to, waters to any sewage works, or into any well, or from any source within the State;

(3) Standards for the issuance of permits for construction, installation, or operation of any equipment, facility, vessel, or aircraft capable of causing or contributing to water pollution or designed to prevent water pollution or for the construction or installation of any sewer or sewage treatment facility or any new outlet for contaminants into the waters of this State;

(4) The circumstances under which the operators of sewage works are required to obtain and maintain certification by the Agency under Section 13.5 and the types of sewage works to which those requirements apply, which may, without limitation, include wastewater treatment works, pretreatment works, and sewers and collection systems;

(5) Standards for the filling or sealing of abandoned water wells and holes, and holes for disposal of drainage in order to protect ground water against contamination;

(6) Standards and conditions regarding the sale, offer, or use of any pesticide, detergent, or any other article determined by the Board to constitute a water pollution hazard, provided that any such regulations relating to pesticides shall be adopted only in accordance with the "Illinois Pesticide Act", approved August 14, 1979 as amended;

(7) Alert and abatement standards relative to water-pollution episodes or emergencies which constitute an acute danger to health or to the environment;

(8) Requirements and procedures for the inspection of any equipment, facility, or vessel that may cause or contribute to water pollution;

(9) Requirements and standards for equipment and procedures for monitoring contaminant discharges at their sources, the collection of samples and the collection, reporting and retention of data resulting from such monitoring.

(b) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Act and for purposes of implementing an NPDES program, the Board shall adopt:

(1) Requirements, standards, and procedures which, together with other regulations adopted pursuant to this Section 13, are necessary or appropriate to enable the State of Illinois to implement and participate in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) pursuant to and under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as now or hereafter amended. All regulations adopted by the Board governing the NPDES program shall be consistent with the applicable provisions of such federal Act and regulations pursuant thereto, and otherwise shall be consistent with all other provisions of this Act, and shall exclude from the requirement to obtain any operating permit otherwise required under this Title a facility for which an NPDES permit has been issued under Section 39(b); provided, however, that for purposes of this paragraph, a UIC permit, as required under Section 12(g) and 39(d) of this Act, is not an operating permit.

(2) Regulations for the exemption of any category or categories of persons or contaminant sources from the requirement to obtain any NPDES permit prescribed or from any standards or conditions governing such permit when the environment will be adequately protected without the requirement of such permit, and such exemption is either consistent with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as now or hereafter amended, or regulations pursuant thereto, or is necessary to avoid an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship to such category or categories of persons or sources.

(c) In accordance with Section 7.2, and notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, for purposes of implementing a State UIC program, the Board shall adopt regulations which are identical in substance to federal regulations or amendments thereto promulgated by the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with Section 1421 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as amended. The Board may consolidate into a single rulemaking under this Section all such federal regulations adopted within a period of time not to exceed 6 months. The provisions and requirements of Title VII of this Act shall not apply to regulations adopted under this subsection. Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act relating to procedures for rulemaking shall not apply to regulations adopted under this subsection.

(d) The Board may adopt regulations relating to a State UIC program that are not inconsistent with and are at least as stringent as the Safe Drinking Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as amended, or regulations adopted thereunder. Regulations adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions and requirements of Title VII of this Act and the procedures for rulemaking in Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

(e) The Board, pursuant to the procedures prescribed in Title VII of this Act, shall conduct a regulatory proceeding to determine the appropriate water quality and effluent standard for Boron, if any. As the current water quality standard of one milligram/liter (mg/1) was promulgated by the Board before the passage of the federal Clean Water Act, and has not been the subject of federal adoption or federal recommended adoption since that time, the State shall not enforce the State boron standard unless and until the Board determines, in the regulatory proceeding prescribed herein, what, if any, boron water standards may be appropriate for Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 93-170, eff. 7-10-03.)