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| 1 | AN ACT concerning safety.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | changing Section 57.10 as follows:
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| 6 | (415 ILCS 5/57.10)
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| 7 | Sec. 57.10. Professional Engineer or Professional | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Geologist
certification; presumptions against liability.
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| 9 | (a) Within 120 days of the Agency's receipt of a
corrective | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | action completion report, the Agency
shall issue to the owner | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | or operator a "no further remediation letter" unless
the Agency | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | has requested a modification, issued a rejection under
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| 13 | subsection (d) of this Section, or the report has been rejected | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | by operation
of law.
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| 15 | (a-5) The Agency shall issue to the owner or operator a no | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | further remediation letter if (i) the owner or operator submits | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | to the Agency a certification from a licensed professional | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | engineer that the work described in the approved corrective | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | action plan has been completed successfully to a boring level | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | acceptable to the Agency, (ii) the groundwater at the site will | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | not be used for human consumption, (iii) the site is zoned for | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | non-residential use, and (iv) the site is located in a | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | municipality with a population of not more than 50,000. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 | (b) By certifying such a statement, a Licensed Professional | ||||||
| 2 | Engineer or
Licensed Professional Geologist shall in no way be | ||||||
| 3 | liable thereon, unless
the engineer or geologist gave such | ||||||
| 4 | certification despite his or her actual
knowledge that the | ||||||
| 5 | performed measures were not in compliance with applicable
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| 6 | statutory or regulatory requirements or any plan submitted to | ||||||
| 7 | the Agency.
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| 8 | (c) The Agency's issuance of a no further remediation | ||||||
| 9 | letter shall signify,
based on the certification of the | ||||||
| 10 | Licensed Professional Engineer, that:
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| 11 | (1) all statutory and regulatory corrective action | ||||||
| 12 | requirements
applicable to the occurrence have been | ||||||
| 13 | complied with;
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| 14 | (2) all corrective action concerning the remediation | ||||||
| 15 | of the
occurrence
has been completed; and
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| 16 | (3) no further corrective action concerning the | ||||||
| 17 | occurrence
is
necessary for the protection of human health, | ||||||
| 18 | safety and the environment. | ||||||
| 19 | This subsection (c) does not apply to off-site contamination | ||||||
| 20 | related to the occurrence that has not been remediated due to | ||||||
| 21 | denial of access to the off-site property.
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| 22 | (d) The no further remediation letter issued under this
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| 23 | Section
shall apply in favor of the following
parties:
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| 24 | (1) The owner or operator to whom the letter was | ||||||
| 25 | issued.
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| 26 | (2) Any parent corporation or subsidiary of such owner | ||||||
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| 1 | or
operator.
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| 2 | (3) Any co-owner or co-operator, either by joint | ||||||
| 3 | tenancy,
right-of-survivorship, or any other party sharing | ||||||
| 4 | a legal relationship with
the owner or operator to whom the | ||||||
| 5 | letter is issued.
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| 6 | (4) Any holder of a beneficial interest of a land trust | ||||||
| 7 | or
inter
vivos trust whether revocable or irrevocable.
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| 8 | (5) Any mortgagee or trustee of a deed of trust of such
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| 9 | owner or
operator.
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| 10 | (6) Any successor-in-interest of such owner or | ||||||
| 11 | operator.
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| 12 | (7) Any transferee of such owner or operator whether | ||||||
| 13 | the
transfer
was by sale, bankruptcy proceeding, | ||||||
| 14 | partition, dissolution of marriage,
settlement or
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| 15 | adjudication of any civil action, charitable gift, or | ||||||
| 16 | bequest.
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| 17 | (8) Any heir or devisee or such owner or operator. | ||||||
| 18 | (9) An owner of a parcel of real property to the extent | ||||||
| 19 | that the no further remediation letter under subsection (c) | ||||||
| 20 | of this Section applies to the occurrence on that parcel.
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| 21 | (e) If the Agency notifies the owner or operator that the | ||||||
| 22 | "no
further
remediation" letter has been rejected, the grounds | ||||||
| 23 | for such rejection shall be
described in the notice. Such a | ||||||
| 24 | decision shall be a final determination which
may be appealed | ||||||
| 25 | by the owner or operator.
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| 26 | (f) The Board shall adopt rules setting forth the criteria | ||||||
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| 1 | under which the
Agency may require an owner or operator to | ||||||
| 2 | conduct further investigation or
remediation related to a | ||||||
| 3 | release for which a no further remediation letter
has been | ||||||
| 4 | issued.
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| 5 | (g) Holders of security interests in sites subject to the | ||||||
| 6 | requirements of
this Title XVI shall be entitled to the same | ||||||
| 7 | protections and subject to the
same responsibilities provided | ||||||
| 8 | under general regulations promulgated under
Subtitle I of the | ||||||
| 9 | Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (P.L. 98-616)
of | ||||||
| 10 | the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (P.L. | ||||||
| 11 | 94-580).
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| 12 | (Source: P.A. 94-276, eff. 1-1-06.)
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