Bill Text: IL HB4665 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Residential Building Code Act. Provides that a contract to build a home must contain, in addition to the adoption of a referenced building code, a provision requiring that a radon mitigation system be included in the construction. Effective immediately.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16)

Status: (Passed) 2012-08-13 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 97-0953 [HB4665 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB4665-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning residential construction.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Radon
Resistant Construction Act.
Section 5. Findings. Radon is a radioactive element that is
part of the radioactive decay chain of naturally occurring
uranium in soil. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer
among non-smokers and the number one risk in homes according to
the Harvard School of Public Health, Center for Risk Analysis.
The 2008-2009 Annual Report from the President's Cancer Panel
stated: "Comparative risk assessments by the Environmental
Protection Agency and its Science Advisory Board have
consistently ranked radon among the top 4 environmental risks
to the public.". The World Health Organization's Handbook on
Radon Key Messages include: "There is no known threshold
concentration below which radon exposure presents no risk. The
majority of radon-induced lung cancers are caused by low and
moderate radon concentrations rather than by high radon
concentrations, because in general less people are exposed to
high indoor radon concentrations.". The Surgeon General of the
United States urged Americans to test their homes to find out
how much radon they might be breathing. The United States

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Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than
20,000 Americans die of radon-related lung cancer each year.
Section 10. Primary responsibility with Illinois Emergency
Management Agency.
(a) The Illinois Emergency Management Agency shall have
primary responsibility for coordination, oversight, and
implementation of all State functions in matters concerning the
presence, effects, measurement, and mitigation of risks of
radon and radon progeny in dwellings and other buildings. The
Department of Natural Resources, the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Department of Public Health, and other State
agencies shall consult and cooperate with the Agency as
requested and as necessary to fulfill the purposes of this Act.
(b) The Agency shall promulgate rules necessary for the
administration and implementation of this Act.
Section 15. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
context requires otherwise:
"Active mitigation system", also known as "active soil
depressurization" or "ASD", means a family of radon mitigation
systems involving mechanically driven soil depressurization,
including sub-slab depressurization (SSD), drain tile
depressurization (DTD), block wall depressurization (BWD), and
sub-membrane depressurization (SMD).
"Agency" means the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

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"New residential construction" means any original
construction of a single-family home or a dwelling containing 2
or fewer apartments, condominiums, or town houses.
"Passive new construction pipe" means a pipe installed in
new construction that relies solely on the convective flow of
air upward for soil gas depressurization and may consist of
multiple pipes routed through conditioned space from below the
foundation to above the roof.
"Radon" means a gaseous radioactive decay product of
uranium or thorium.
"Radon contractor" means a person licensed in accordance
with the Radon Industry Licensing Act to perform radon or radon
progeny mitigation or to perform measurements of radon or radon
progeny in an indoor atmosphere.
"Radon resistant construction" means the installation of
passive new construction pipe during new residential
construction.
"Residential building code" means an ordinance,
resolution, or law that establishes standards applicable to new
residential construction.
"Residential building contractor" means any individual,
corporation, or partnership that constructs new residential
construction.
"Task Force on Radon-Resistant Building Codes" means the
Task Force on Radon-Resistant Building Codes as authorized by
the Radon Industry Licensing Act.

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Section 20. Adoption of passive radon resistant
construction. All new residential construction in this State
shall include passive radon resistant construction.
Section 25. Installation of active mitigation systems. The
installation of an active mitigation system shall only be
performed by a radon contractor. The installation of radon
resistant construction may be performed by a residential
building contractor or his or her subcontractors or a radon
contractor during new residential construction. Only a radon
contractor may install a radon vent fan or upgrade a passive
new construction pipe to an active mitigation system.
Section 30. Local administration and enforcement. A local
governmental unit that has adopted any ordinance, resolution,
or law regulating radon resistant construction may provide for
its administration and enforcement.
Section 35. Local standards. Governmental units may adopt,
pursuant to local ordinance, regulations at least as stringent
as the rules promulgated by the Agency or may, by ordinance or
resolution, adopt the rules promulgated by the Agency for radon
resistant construction and the fixtures, materials, and design
and installation methods of radon resistant construction
systems. The rules promulgated by the Agency may be

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incorporated in the ordinance or resolution by reference.
Section 97. The Radon Industry Licensing Act is amended by
changing Section 28 as follows:
(420 ILCS 44/28)
Sec. 28. Task Force on Radon-Resistant Building Codes.
(a) The Radon-Resistant Building Codes Task Force is
created. The Task Force consists of the following members:
(1) the Director, ex officio, or his or her
representative, who is the chair of the Task Force;
(2) a representative, designated by the Director, of a
home builders' association in Illinois;
(3) a representative, designated by the Director, of a
home inspectors' association in Illinois;
(4) a representative, designated by the Director, of an
international building code organization;
(5) a representative, designated by the Director, of an
Illinois realtors' organization;
(6) two representatives, designated by the Director,
of respiratory disease organizations, each from a
different organization;
(7) a representative, designated by the Director, of a
cancer research and prevention organization;
(8) a representative, designated by the Director, of a
municipal organization in Illinois;

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(9) one person appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives;
(10) one person appointed by the Minority Leader of the
House of Representatives;
(11) one person appointed by the President of the
Senate; and
(12) one person appointed by the Minority Leader of the
Senate.
(b) The Task Force shall meet at the call of the chair.
Members shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed
for their reasonable expenses from moneys appropriated for that
purpose. The Agency shall provide staff and support for the
operation of the Task Force.
(c) The Task Force shall make recommendations to the
Governor and , the Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency,
and the Pollution Control Board concerning the adoption of
rules for building codes and, by January 1, 2013, for radon
resistant construction in new residential construction.
(Source: P.A. 96-195, eff. 8-10-09.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect June 1,
2013, except that this Section and Section 97 take effect upon
becoming law.