[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
91_SB0928
LRB9100048ACsb
1 AN ACT regarding toxic air pollution at O'Hare
2 International Airport.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 O'Hare Toxic Air Pollution and Community Right To Know Act.
7 Section 5. Legislative declarations. The General
8 Assembly finds that:
9 (1) Residents of communities adjacent to and near O'Hare
10 International Airport have complained about noxious air fumes
11 smelling like burned and unburned jet aircraft fuel being
12 deposited in the communities in which they reside.
13 (2) These residents have complained that noxious air
14 fumes are in the air they breathe, as well as coating their
15 homes, windows, outdoor furniture, cars, and outdoor living
16 environments, such as gardens and patios.
17 (3) Studies by the federal government show that engine
18 exhausts from jet aircraft operations contain a wide variety
19 of burned and unburned toxic organic compounds and chemicals,
20 including benzene and formaldehyde.
21 (4) Medical studies by the federal government show that
22 many of the toxic organic compounds found in jet fuel exhaust
23 (either alone or in combination with other toxic organic
24 compounds) may cause a variety of adverse health impacts
25 including cancer, birth defects, and respiratory
26 difficulties.
27 (5) While residents in communities around O'Hare know
28 they are being subjected to exposure to these toxic compounds
29 from jet aircraft exhaust because they can smell the burned
30 and unburned jet emissions from O'Hare operations, there is
31 little quantitative information about the levels of these
-2- LRB9100048ACsb
1 toxic emissions in these residential communities or whether
2 the levels of toxic pollutants that these residents are
3 exposed to represent public health hazards above levels
4 generally considered acceptable for residential communities.
5 (6) Similarly little quantitative information is
6 available about the quantity, identity, and concentration of
7 the toxic pollutants that are generated by O'Hare operations,
8 the buildup of these concentrations under adverse climatic
9 conditions, and the transport of these toxic pollutants under
10 adverse conditions into the residential communities around
11 O'Hare airport.
12 (7) The residents of these communities have a right to
13 know the identity, quantity, and concentrations of these
14 toxic pollutants being transported into their residential
15 communities and whether these communities and the families,
16 children, elderly, and health-impaired residents in these
17 communities are being exposed to unsafe and harmful levels of
18 these toxic pollutants.
19 (8) The General Assembly needs this information to
20 determine what steps, if any, are needed to reduce the toxic
21 pollutant emissions from O'Hare operations so that the levels
22 of these toxic pollutants are at safe and acceptable levels
23 in these residential communities.
24 Section 10. Toxic air emissions study.
25 (a) The Environmental Protection Agency, in conjunction
26 with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the School
27 of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago,
28 shall develop and conduct a study of the toxic air emissions
29 generated by operations at O'Hare International Airport and
30 shall submit a report of its findings to the General Assembly
31 within 18 months after the effective date of this Act.
32 (b) The elements of the study shall include but need not
33 be limited to:
-3- LRB9100048ACsb
1 (1) The identity and chemical composition of the
2 pollutants generated by O'Hare operations.
3 (2) A determination of the concentration of these
4 pollutants in the air, both at the source and in receptor
5 residential communities, under a variety of
6 meteorological conditions, including worst case
7 conditions which would result in maximum concentrations.
8 (3) A determination of the total pounds of these
9 pollutants generated by O'Hare operations on a peak hour,
10 daily, and annual basis.
11 (4) A determination as to whether these O'Hare
12 sourced pollutants operate in isolation or in combination
13 with pollutants from other sources in the air within the
14 residential receptor communities.
15 (5) A description of the toxic effects (including
16 toxic endpoints such as cancer, birth defects,
17 respiratory illness, etc.) of these pollutants, both
18 alone and in combination with other pollutants.
19 (6) A measurement and description of all the source
20 pathways for human exposure to these O'Hare based
21 pollutants, including inhalation, ingestion, and dermal
22 contact. This measurement shall also include the
23 contributions from deposition and buildup of these
24 pollutants on soil, plants, and physical objects in these
25 residential communities.
26 (7) An analysis and recommendation of the
27 acceptable levels or concentrations of these pollutants
28 in these residential communities. Such analysis and
29 recommendation shall provide recommended concentrations
30 at least as strict as applied by the state or federal
31 government for other residential exposures to toxic
32 chemicals. To the extent there is medical uncertainty
33 about the additive or synergistic toxic effects of
34 individual toxic pollutants when mixed with other toxic
-4- LRB9100048ACsb
1 pollutants, or to the extent there is any other medical
2 uncertainty about the quantifiability of toxic effects,
3 the recommendations shall embody factors of safety in
4 accordance with accepted medical and toxicological
5 practice.
6 (c) During the course of the study, the State agencies
7 charged with the conduct of this study shall establish a
8 permanent network of toxic air quality monitoring stations
9 both at and adjacent to O'Hare airport and in the residential
10 communities impacted by toxic air pollutant emissions from
11 O'Hare operations. This monitoring network shall be
12 maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency on an
13 ongoing basis after the study has been completed and the
14 results shall be reported on a quarterly basis to the public
15 and the General Assembly in a manner determined by the
16 Agency.
17 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
18 becoming law.