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92_HB5545eng HB5545 Engrossed LRB9212256LBpr 1 AN ACT in relation to 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 changing Section 42 as follows: 6 (415 ILCS 5/42) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1042) 7 Sec. 42. Civil penalties. 8 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, any 9 person that violates any provision of this Act or any 10 regulation adopted by the Board, or any permit or term or 11 condition thereof, or that violates any determination or 12 order of the Board pursuant to this Act, shall be liable to a 13 civil penalty of not to exceed $50,000 for the violation and 14 an additional civil penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for each 15 day during which the violation continues; such penalties may, 16 upon order of the Board or a court of competent jurisdiction, 17 be made payable to the Environmental Protection Trust Fund, 18 to be used in accordance with the provisions of the 19 Environmental Protection Trust Fund Act. 20 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of 21 this Section: 22 (1) Any person that violates Section 12(f) of this 23 Act or any NPDES permit or term or condition thereof, or 24 any filing requirement, regulation or order relating to 25 the NPDES permit program, shall be liable to a civil 26 penalty of not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation. 27 (2) Any person that violates Section 12(g) of this 28 Act or any UIC permit or term or condition thereof, or 29 any filing requirement, regulation or order relating to 30 the State UIC program for all wells, except Class II 31 wells as defined by the Board under this Act, shall be HB5545 Engrossed -2- LRB9212256LBpr 1 liable to a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per day of 2 violation; provided, however, that any person who commits 3 such violations relating to the State UIC program for 4 Class II wells, as defined by the Board under this Act, 5 shall be liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed 6 $10,000 for the violation and an additional civil penalty 7 of not to exceed $1,000 for each day during which the 8 violation continues. 9 (3) Any person that violates Sections 21(f), 21(g), 10 21(h) or 21(i) of this Act, or any RCRA permit or term or 11 condition thereof, or any filing requirement, regulation 12 or order relating to the State RCRA program, shall be 13 liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed $25,000 per 14 day of violation. 15 (4) In an administrative citation action under 16 Section 31.1 of this Act, any person found to have 17 violated any provision of subsection (o) of Section 21 of 18 this Act shall pay a civil penalty of $500 for each 19 violation of each such provision, plus any hearing costs 20 incurred by the Board and the Agency. Such penalties 21 shall be made payable to the Environmental Protection 22 Trust Fund, to be used in accordance with the provisions 23 of the Environmental Protection Trust Fund Act; except 24 that if a unit of local government issued the 25 administrative citation, 50% of the civil penalty shall 26 be payable to the unit of local government. 27 (4-5) In an administrative citation action under 28 Section 31.1 of this Act, any person found to have 29 violated any provision of subsection (p) of Section 21 of 30 this Act shall pay a civil penalty of $1,500 for a first 31 offense and $3,000 for a second or subsequent offense, 32 plus any hearing costs incurred by the Board and the 33 Agency. The penalties shall be deposited into the 34 Environmental Protection Trust Fund, to be used in HB5545 Engrossed -3- LRB9212256LBpr 1 accordance with the provisions of the Environmental 2 Protection Trust Fund Act; except that if a unit of local 3 government issued the administrative citation, 50% of the 4 civil penalty shall be payable to the unit of local 5 government. 6 (5) Any person who violates subsection 6 of Section 7 39.5 of this Act or any CAAPP permit, or term or 8 condition thereof, or any fee or filing requirement, or 9 any duty to allow or carry out inspection, entry or 10 monitoring activities, or any regulation or order 11 relating to the CAAPP shall be liable for a civil penalty 12 not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation. 13 (b.5) In lieu of the penalties set forth in subsections 14 (a) and (b) of this Section, any person who fails to file, in 15 a timely manner, toxic chemical release forms with the Agency 16 pursuant to Section 25b-2 of this Act shall be liable for a 17 civil penalty of $100 per day for each day the forms are 18 late, not to exceed a maximum total penalty of $6,000. This 19 daily penalty shall begin accruing on the thirty-first day 20 after the date that the person receives the warning notice 21 issued by the Agency pursuant to Section 25b-6 of this Act; 22 and the penalty shall be paid to the Agency. The daily 23 accrual of penalties shall cease as of January 1 of the 24 following year. All penalties collected by the Agency 25 pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the 26 Environmental Protection Permit and Inspection Fund. 27 (c) Any person that violates this Act, or an order or 28 other determination of the Board under this Act and causes 29 the death of fish or aquatic life shall, in addition to the 30 other penalties provided by this Act, be liable to pay to the 31 State an additional sum for the reasonable value of the fish 32 or aquatic life destroyed. Any money so recovered shall be 33 placed in the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State Treasury. 34 (d) The penalties provided for in this Section may be HB5545 Engrossed -4- LRB9212256LBpr 1 recovered in a civil action. 2 (e) The State's Attorney of the county in which the 3 violation occurred, or the Attorney General, may, at the 4 request of the Agency or on his own motion, institute a civil 5 action for an injunction to restrain violations of this Act. 6 (f) The State's Attorney of the county in which the 7 violation occurred, or the Attorney General, shall bring such 8 actions in the name of the people of the State of Illinois. 9 Without limiting any other authority which may exist for the 10 awarding of attorney's fees and costs, the Board or a court 11 of competent jurisdiction may award costs and reasonable 12 attorney's fees, including the reasonable costs of expert 13 witnesses and consultants, to the State's Attorney or the 14 Attorney General in a case where he has prevailed against a 15 person who has committed a wilful, knowing or repeated 16 violation of the Act. 17 Any funds collected under this subsection (f) in which 18 the Attorney General has prevailed shall be deposited in the 19 Hazardous Waste Fund created in Section 22.2 of this Act. Any 20 funds collected under this subsection (f) in which a State's 21 Attorney has prevailed shall be retained by the county in 22 which he serves. 23 (g) All final orders imposing civil penalties pursuant 24 to this Section shall prescribe the time for payment of such 25 penalties. If any such penalty is not paid within the time 26 prescribed, interest on such penalty at the rate set forth in 27 subsection (a) of Section 1003 of the Illinois Income Tax 28 Act, shall be paid for the period from the date payment is 29 due until the date payment is received. However, if the time 30 for payment is stayed during the pendency of an appeal, 31 interest shall not accrue during such stay. 32 (h) In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be 33 imposed under subdivisions (a), (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), or 34 (b)(5) of this Section, the Board is authorized to consider HB5545 Engrossed -5- LRB9212256LBpr 1 any matters of record in mitigation or aggravation of 2 penalty, including but not limited to the following factors: 3 (1) the duration and gravity of the violation; 4 (2) the presence or absence of due diligence on the 5 part of the violator in attempting to comply with 6 requirements of this Act and regulations thereunder or to 7 secure relief therefrom as provided by this Act; 8 (3) any economic benefits accrued by the violator 9 because of delay in compliance with requirements; 10 (4) the amount of monetary penalty which will serve 11 to deter further violations by the violator and to 12 otherwise aid in enhancing voluntary compliance with this 13 Act by the violator and other persons similarly subject 14 to the Act; and 15 (5) the number, proximity in time, and gravity of 16 previously adjudicated violations of this Act by the 17 violator. 18 (Source: P.A. 90-773, eff. 8-14-98; 91-82, eff. 1-1-00.)