Public Act 93-0202

SB1003 Enrolled                      LRB093 03180 AMC 03197 b

    AN ACT concerning environmental protection.

    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 adding Section 9.11 as follows:

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