Bill Text: IL HB1441 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that a municipality may impose a penalty against any person or organization owning or leasing property that releases a hazardous substance or any other contaminant that the unit of local government finds injures the public health and the safety of the community. Provides that the penalty may not exceed $50,000 for the violation and an additional $10,000 for each day during which the violation continues. Amends the Illinois Municipal Code to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB1441 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB1441-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB1441 Introduced , by Rep. Frank J. Mautino SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
65 ILCS 5/1-2-1 from Ch. 24, par. 1-2-1
415 ILCS 5/42 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1042
Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that a municipality may impose a penalty against any person or organization owning or leasing property that releases a hazardous substance or any other contaminant that the unit of local government finds injures the public health and the safety of the community. Provides that the penalty may not exceed $50,000 for the violation and an additional $10,000 for each day during which the violation continues. Amends the Illinois Municipal Code to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning safety.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
changing Section 1-2-1 as follows:
(65 ILCS 5/1-2-1) (from Ch. 24, par. 1-2-1)
Sec. 1-2-1. The corporate authorities of each municipality
may pass all ordinances and make all rules and regulations
proper or necessary, to carry into effect the powers granted to
municipalities, with such fines or penalties as may be deemed
proper. No fine or penalty, however, except civil penalties
provided for failure to make returns or to pay any taxes levied
by the municipality and penalties imposed under subsection (k)
of Section 42 of the Environmental Protection Act, shall exceed
$750 and no imprisonment authorized in Section 1-2-9 for
failure to pay any fine, penalty or cost shall exceed 6 months
for one offense.
A penalty imposed for violation of an ordinance may
include, or consist of, a requirement that the defendant do one
or both of the following:
(1) Complete an education program, except that a holder
of a valid commercial driver's license who commits a
vehicle weight or size restriction violation shall not be

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required to complete an education program under this
Section.
(2) Perform some reasonable public service work such as
but not limited to the picking up of litter in public parks
or along public highways or the maintenance of public
facilities.
A default in the payment of a fine or penalty or any
installment of a fine or penalty may be collected by any means
authorized for the collection of monetary judgments. The
municipal attorney of the municipality in which the fine or
penalty was imposed may retain attorneys and private collection
agents for the purpose of collecting any default in payment of
any fine or penalty or installment of that fine or penalty. Any
fees or costs incurred by the municipality with respect to
attorneys or private collection agents retained by the
municipal attorney under this Section shall be charged to the
offender.
A low-income individual required to complete an education
program under this Section who provides proof of eligibility
for the federal earned income tax credit under Section 32 of
the Internal Revenue Code or the Illinois earned income tax
credit under Section 212 of the Illinois Income Tax Act shall
not be required to pay any fee for participating in a required
education program.
(Source: P.A. 95-389, eff. 1-1-08; 96-288, eff. 8-11-09.)

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Section 10. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by
changing Section 42 as follows:
(415 ILCS 5/42) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1042)
Sec. 42. Civil penalties.
(a) Except as provided in this Section, any person that
violates any provision of this Act or any regulation adopted by
the Board, or any permit or term or condition thereof, or that
violates any order of the Board pursuant to this Act, shall be
liable for a civil penalty of not to exceed $50,000 for the
violation and an additional civil penalty of not to exceed
$10,000 for each day during which the violation continues; such
penalties may, upon order of the Board or a court of competent
jurisdiction, be made payable to the Environmental Protection
Trust Fund, to be used in accordance with the provisions of the
Environmental Protection Trust Fund Act.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of
this Section:
(1) Any person that violates Section 12(f) of this Act
or any NPDES permit or term or condition thereof, or any
filing requirement, regulation or order relating to the
NPDES permit program, shall be liable to a civil penalty of
not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation.
(2) Any person that violates Section 12(g) of this Act
or any UIC permit or term or condition thereof, or any
filing requirement, regulation or order relating to the

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State UIC program for all wells, except Class II wells as
defined by the Board under this Act, shall be liable to a
civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 per day of violation;
provided, however, that any person who commits such
violations relating to the State UIC program for Class II
wells, as defined by the Board under this Act, shall be
liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for the
violation and an additional civil penalty of not to exceed
$1,000 for each day during which the violation continues.
(3) Any person that violates Sections 21(f), 21(g),
21(h) or 21(i) of this Act, or any RCRA permit or term or
condition thereof, or any filing requirement, regulation
or order relating to the State RCRA program, shall be
liable to a civil penalty of not to exceed $25,000 per day
of violation.
(4) In an administrative citation action under Section
31.1 of this Act, any person found to have violated any
provision of subsection (o) of Section 21 of this Act shall
pay a civil penalty of $500 for each violation of each such
provision, plus any hearing costs incurred by the Board and
the Agency. Such penalties shall be made payable to the
Environmental Protection Trust Fund, to be used in
accordance with the provisions of the Environmental
Protection Trust Fund Act; except that if a unit of local
government issued the administrative citation, 50% of the
civil penalty shall be payable to the unit of local

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government.
(4-5) In an administrative citation action under
Section 31.1 of this Act, any person found to have violated
any provision of subsection (p) of Section 21, Section
22.51, Section 22.51a, or subsection (k) of Section 55 of
this Act shall pay a civil penalty of $1,500 for each
violation of each such provision, plus any hearing costs
incurred by the Board and the Agency, except that the civil
penalty amount shall be $3,000 for each violation of any
provision of subsection (p) of Section 21, Section 22.51,
Section 22.51a, or subsection (k) of Section 55 that is the
person's second or subsequent adjudication violation of
that provision. The penalties shall be deposited into the
Environmental Protection Trust Fund, to be used in
accordance with the provisions of the Environmental
Protection Trust Fund Act; except that if a unit of local
government issued the administrative citation, 50% of the
civil penalty shall be payable to the unit of local
government.
(5) Any person who violates subsection 6 of Section
39.5 of this Act or any CAAPP permit, or term or condition
thereof, or any fee or filing requirement, or any duty to
allow or carry out inspection, entry or monitoring
activities, or any regulation or order relating to the
CAAPP shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed
$10,000 per day of violation.

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(6) Any owner or operator of a community water system
that violates subsection (b) of Section 18.1 or subsection
(a) of Section 25d-3 of this Act shall, for each day of
violation, be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $5
for each of the premises connected to the affected
community water system.
(b.5) In lieu of the penalties set forth in subsections (a)
and (b) of this Section, any person who fails to file, in a
timely manner, toxic chemical release forms with the Agency
pursuant to Section 25b-2 of this Act shall be liable for a
civil penalty of $100 per day for each day the forms are late,
not to exceed a maximum total penalty of $6,000. This daily
penalty shall begin accruing on the thirty-first day after the
date that the person receives the warning notice issued by the
Agency pursuant to Section 25b-6 of this Act; and the penalty
shall be paid to the Agency. The daily accrual of penalties
shall cease as of January 1 of the following year. All
penalties collected by the Agency pursuant to this subsection
shall be deposited into the Environmental Protection Permit and
Inspection Fund.
(c) Any person that violates this Act, any rule or
regulation adopted under this Act, any permit or term or
condition of a permit, or any Board order and causes the death
of fish or aquatic life shall, in addition to the other
penalties provided by this Act, be liable to pay to the State
an additional sum for the reasonable value of the fish or

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aquatic life destroyed. Any money so recovered shall be placed
in the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State Treasury.
(d) The penalties provided for in this Section may be
recovered in a civil action.
(e) The State's Attorney of the county in which the
violation occurred, or the Attorney General, may, at the
request of the Agency or on his own motion, institute a civil
action for an injunction, prohibitory or mandatory, to restrain
violations of this Act, any rule or regulation adopted under
this Act, any permit or term or condition of a permit, or any
Board order, or to require such other actions as may be
necessary to address violations of this Act, any rule or
regulation adopted under this Act, any permit or term or
condition of a permit, or any Board order.
(f) The State's Attorney of the county in which the
violation occurred, or the Attorney General, shall bring such
actions in the name of the people of the State of Illinois.
Without limiting any other authority which may exist for the
awarding of attorney's fees and costs, the Board or a court of
competent jurisdiction may award costs and reasonable
attorney's fees, including the reasonable costs of expert
witnesses and consultants, to the State's Attorney or the
Attorney General in a case where he has prevailed against a
person who has committed a wilful, knowing or repeated
violation of this Act, any rule or regulation adopted under
this Act, any permit or term or condition of a permit, or any

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Board order.
Any funds collected under this subsection (f) in which the
Attorney General has prevailed shall be deposited in the
Hazardous Waste Fund created in Section 22.2 of this Act. Any
funds collected under this subsection (f) in which a State's
Attorney has prevailed shall be retained by the county in which
he serves.
(g) All final orders imposing civil penalties pursuant to
this Section shall prescribe the time for payment of such
penalties. If any such penalty is not paid within the time
prescribed, interest on such penalty at the rate set forth in
subsection (a) of Section 1003 of the Illinois Income Tax Act,
shall be paid for the period from the date payment is due until
the date payment is received. However, if the time for payment
is stayed during the pendency of an appeal, interest shall not
accrue during such stay.
(h) In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be
imposed under subdivisions (a), (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), or
(b)(5) of this Section, the Board is authorized to consider any
matters of record in mitigation or aggravation of penalty,
including but not limited to the following factors:
(1) the duration and gravity of the violation;
(2) the presence or absence of due diligence on the
part of the respondent in attempting to comply with
requirements of this Act and regulations thereunder or to
secure relief therefrom as provided by this Act;

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(3) any economic benefits accrued by the respondent
because of delay in compliance with requirements, in which
case the economic benefits shall be determined by the
lowest cost alternative for achieving compliance;
(4) the amount of monetary penalty which will serve to
deter further violations by the respondent and to otherwise
aid in enhancing voluntary compliance with this Act by the
respondent and other persons similarly subject to the Act;
(5) the number, proximity in time, and gravity of
previously adjudicated violations of this Act by the
respondent;
(6) whether the respondent voluntarily self-disclosed,
in accordance with subsection (i) of this Section, the
non-compliance to the Agency; and
(7) whether the respondent has agreed to undertake a
"supplemental environmental project," which means an
environmentally beneficial project that a respondent
agrees to undertake in settlement of an enforcement action
brought under this Act, but which the respondent is not
otherwise legally required to perform.
In determining the appropriate civil penalty to be imposed
under subsection (a) or paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (5) of
subsection (b) of this Section, the Board shall ensure, in all
cases, that the penalty is at least as great as the economic
benefits, if any, accrued by the respondent as a result of the
violation, unless the Board finds that imposition of such

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penalty would result in an arbitrary or unreasonable financial
hardship. However, such civil penalty may be off-set in whole
or in part pursuant to a supplemental environmental project
agreed to by the complainant and the respondent.
(i) A person who voluntarily self-discloses non-compliance
to the Agency, of which the Agency had been unaware, is
entitled to a 100% reduction in the portion of the penalty that
is not based on the economic benefit of non-compliance if the
person can establish the following:
(1) that the non-compliance was discovered through an
environmental audit or a compliance management system
documented by the regulated entity as reflecting the
regulated entity's due diligence in preventing, detecting,
and correcting violations;
(2) that the non-compliance was disclosed in writing
within 30 days of the date on which the person discovered
it;
(3) that the non-compliance was discovered and
disclosed prior to:
(i) the commencement of an Agency inspection,
investigation, or request for information;
(ii) notice of a citizen suit;
(iii) the filing of a complaint by a citizen, the
Illinois Attorney General, or the State's Attorney of
the county in which the violation occurred;
(iv) the reporting of the non-compliance by an

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employee of the person without that person's
knowledge; or
(v) imminent discovery of the non-compliance by
the Agency;
(4) that the non-compliance is being corrected and any
environmental harm is being remediated in a timely fashion;
(5) that the person agrees to prevent a recurrence of
the non-compliance;
(6) that no related non-compliance events have
occurred in the past 3 years at the same facility or in the
past 5 years as part of a pattern at multiple facilities
owned or operated by the person;
(7) that the non-compliance did not result in serious
actual harm or present an imminent and substantial
endangerment to human health or the environment or violate
the specific terms of any judicial or administrative order
or consent agreement;
(8) that the person cooperates as reasonably requested
by the Agency after the disclosure; and
(9) that the non-compliance was identified voluntarily
and not through a monitoring, sampling, or auditing
procedure that is required by statute, rule, permit,
judicial or administrative order, or consent agreement.
If a person can establish all of the elements under this
subsection except the element set forth in paragraph (1) of
this subsection, the person is entitled to a 75% reduction in

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the portion of the penalty that is not based upon the economic
benefit of non-compliance.
(j) In addition to an other remedy or penalty that may
apply, whether civil or criminal, any person who violates
Section 22.52 of this Act shall be liable for an additional
civil penalty of up to 3 times the gross amount of any
pecuniary gain resulting from the violation.
(k) In addition to remedies afforded the State of Illinois
under this Act, a unit of local government is specifically
authorized to adopt an ordinance imposing a civil penalty
against any person or organization owning or leasing property
that releases any hazardous substance, as defined in Section
3.215 of this Act, or any other contaminant that the unit of
local government finds injures the public health and the safety
of the community. The penalty may not exceed $50,000 for the
violation and an additional $10,000 for each day during which
the violation continues.
(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-603, eff. 8-24-09;
96-737, eff. 8-25-09; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 96-1416, eff.
7-30-10.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.