Bill Text: IL HB0170 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Private Sewage Disposal Licensing Act to prohibit the installation of surface discharging septic systems without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Requires the amendment of the private sewage disposal code to reflect this permit requirement. In the Environmental Protection Act, sets forth a General Assembly finding that compliance with the federal Clean Water Act dictates that the Agency require NPDES permits for surface discharging private sewage disposal systems that discharge into waters of the State. Effective June 30, 2009.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-2)

Status: (Passed) 2009-11-03 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0801 [HB0170 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB0170-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Private Sewage Disposal Licensing Act is
amended by changing Sections 3 and 7 as follows:
(225 ILCS 225/3) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 116.303)
Sec. 3. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(1) "Domestic Sewage" means waste water derived
principally from dwellings, business or office buildings,
institutions, food service establishments, and similar
facilities.
(2) "Director" means Director of the Illinois Department of
Public Health.
(3) "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public
Health.
(4) "Human Wastes" means undigested food and by-products of
metabolism which are passed out of the human body.
(5) "Person" means any individual, group of individuals,
association, trust, partnership, corporation, person doing
business under an assumed name, the State of Illinois or any
Department thereof, or any other entity.
(6) "Population Equivalent" means an average waste loading

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equivalent to that produced by one person which is defined as
100 gallons per day.
(7) "Private Sewage Disposal System" means any sewage
handling or treatment facility receiving domestic sewage from
less than 15 people or population equivalent and having a
ground surface discharge or any sewage handling or treatment
facility receiving domestic sewage and having no ground surface
discharge.
(8) "Private Sewage Disposal System Installation
Contractor" means any person constructing, installing,
repairing, modifying, or maintaining private sewage disposal
systems.
(9) "Property Owner" means the person in whose name legal
title to the real estate is recorded.
(10) "Waste" means either human waste or domestic sewage or
both.
(11) "Private Sewage Disposal System Pumping Contractor"
means any person who cleans or pumps waste from a private
sewage disposal system or hauls or disposes of wastes removed
therefrom.
(12) "Alternative private sewage disposal system" means
any system designed to address a unique circumstance where the
prescriptive requirements of the private sewage disposal code
does not apply, where the final treatment and discharge is free
flowing through native soil, and where (i) the projected
wastewater is likely to be atypical of residential or domestic

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wastewater in that flow may exceed 1500 gallons per day; (ii)
the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand of the wastewater may
exceed 300 milligrams per liter; (iii) any portion of the
system is to be shared by 2 or more owners; or (iv) any portion
of the treated wastewater is proposed for recycling or reuse.
(13) "NPDES" means the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System.
(14) "Surface Discharging Private Sewage Disposal System"
means a sewage disposal system that discharges into the waters
of the United States, as that term is used in the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act.
(Source: P.A. 95-656, eff. 10-11-07.)
(225 ILCS 225/7) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 116.307)
Sec. 7. (a) The Department shall promulgate and publish and
may from time to time amend a private sewage disposal code
which shall include minimum standards for the design,
construction, materials, operation and maintenance of private
sewage disposal systems, for the transportation and disposal of
wastes removed therefrom and for private sewage disposal system
servicing equipment. In the preparation of the private sewage
disposal code, the Department may consult with and request
technical assistance from other state agencies, and shall
consult with other technically qualified persons and with
owners and operators of such services. Such technically
qualified persons shall include representatives of the real

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estate, development, and building industries.
(b) The Department is expressly prohibited from amending
the private sewage disposal code by rule if there are increases
in the land density requirements. Amendments that increase the
land density requirements must be approved by the Illinois
General Assembly.
(c) On and after January 1, 2013, a surface discharging
private sewage disposal system with a discharge that enters the
waters of the United States, as that term is used in the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act, shall not be constructed
or installed by any person unless he or she has a coverage
letter under a NPDES permit issued by the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency or he or she constructs or
installs the surface discharging private sewage disposal
system in a jurisdiction in which the local public health
department has a general NPDES permit issued by the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency and the surface discharging
private sewage disposal system is covered under the general
NPDES permit. The private sewage disposal code must be amended
before January 1, 2013 to comply with this subsection.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Section,
before Before the adoption or amendment of the private sewage
disposal code, the Department shall hold a public hearing with
respect thereto. At least 20 days' notice for such public
hearing shall be given by the Department in such manner as the
Department considers adequate to bring such hearing to the

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attention of persons interested in such code. Notice of such
public hearing shall be given by the Department to those who
file a request for a notice of any such hearings.
(Source: P.A. 88-690, eff. 1-24-95.)
Section 10. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
adding Section 3.487 and by changing Section 12 as follows:
(415 ILCS 5/3.487 new)
Sec. 3.487. Surface discharging private sewage disposal
system. "Surface discharging private sewage disposal system"
means a sewage disposal system that discharges into the waters
of the United States, as that term is used in the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act.
(415 ILCS 5/12) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1012)
Sec. 12. Actions prohibited. No person shall:
(a) Cause or threaten or allow the discharge of any
contaminants into the environment in any State so as to cause
or tend to cause water pollution in Illinois, either alone or
in combination with matter from other sources, or so as to
violate regulations or standards adopted by the Pollution
Control Board under this Act.
(b) Construct, install, or operate any equipment,
facility, vessel, or aircraft capable of causing or
contributing to water pollution, or designed to prevent water

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pollution, of any type designated by Board regulations, without
a permit granted by the Agency, or in violation of any
conditions imposed by such permit.
(c) Increase the quantity or strength of any discharge of
contaminants into the waters, or construct or install any sewer
or sewage treatment facility or any new outlet for contaminants
into the waters of this State, without a permit granted by the
Agency.
(d) Deposit any contaminants upon the land in such place
and manner so as to create a water pollution hazard.
(e) Sell, offer, or use any article in any area in which
the Board has by regulation forbidden its sale, offer, or use
for reasons of water pollution control.
(f) Cause, threaten or allow the discharge of any
contaminant 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 point source within the State,
without an NPDES permit for point source discharges issued by
the Agency under Section 39(b) of this Act, or in violation of
any term or condition imposed by such permit, or in violation
of any NPDES permit filing requirement established under
Section 39(b), or in violation of any regulations adopted by
the Board or of any order adopted by the Board with respect to
the NPDES program.
No permit shall be required under this subsection and under
Section 39(b) of this Act for any discharge for which a permit

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is not required under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,
as now or hereafter amended, and regulations pursuant thereto.
For all purposes of this Act, a permit issued by the
Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency under Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act, as now or hereafter amended, shall be deemed to be a
permit issued by the Agency pursuant to Section 39(b) of this
Act. However, this shall not apply to the exclusion from the
requirement of an operating permit provided under Section
13(b)(i).
Compliance with the terms and conditions of any permit
issued under Section 39(b) of this Act shall be deemed
compliance with this subsection except that it shall not be
deemed compliance with any standard or effluent limitation
imposed for a toxic pollutant injurious to human health.
In any case where a permit has been timely applied for
pursuant to Section 39(b) of this Act but final administrative
disposition of such application has not been made, it shall not
be a violation of this subsection to discharge without such
permit unless the complainant proves that final administrative
disposition has not been made because of the failure of the
applicant to furnish information reasonably required or
requested in order to process the application.
(g) Cause, threaten or allow the underground injection of
contaminants without a UIC permit issued by the Agency under
Section 39(d) of this Act, or in violation of any term or

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condition imposed by such permit, or in violation of any
regulations or standards adopted by the Board or of any order
adopted by the Board with respect to the UIC program.
No permit shall be required under this subsection and under
Section 39(d) of this Act for any underground injection of
contaminants for which a permit is not required under Part C of
the Safe Drinking Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as amended, unless a
permit is authorized or required under regulations adopted by
the Board pursuant to Section 13 of this Act.
(h) Introduce contaminants into a sewage works from any
nondomestic source except in compliance with the regulations
and standards adopted by the Board under this Act.
(i) On and after January 1, 2013, construct or install a
surface discharging private sewage disposal system that
discharges into the waters of the United States, as that term
is used in the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, unless he
or she has a coverage letter under a NPDES permit issued by the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency or he or she is
constructing or installing the surface discharging private
sewage disposal system in a jurisdiction in which the local
public health department has a general NPDES permit issued by
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the surface
discharging private sewage disposal system is covered under the
general NPDES permit.
(Source: P.A. 92-574, eff. 6-26-02.)