Sen. Terry Link

Filed: 4/11/2011

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 863

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 863 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Waukegan Harbor Remedy Facilitation Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds:
7    (a) The Waukegan Port District is a political subdivision,
8body politic, and municipal corporation created pursuant to the
9Waukegan Port District Act.
10    (b) The United States Environmental Protection Agency has
11made a decision to further remediate the Waukegan Harbor under
12the provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response
13Compensation and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C.A. §§9601-9675
14(CERCLA). The remediation plan is to hydraulically dredge
15sediment from the harbor. The dredged material is to be placed
16into a cell for permanent containment. The sediments to be

 

 

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1dredged would include low-level poly-chlorinated biphenyl
2contamination.
3    (c) The cost of on land transport and permanent on land
4disposal is significantly higher than originally anticipated
5by the United States, even though the materials are not
6regarded as toxic or RCRA hazardous wastes.
7    (d) The Waukegan Port District, in cooperation with the
8United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United
9States Secretary of Defense, acting through the U.S. Army Corps
10of Engineers, the State of Illinois Department of Natural
11Resources, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the
12City of Waukegan, and other agencies and persons has developed
13a plan that would benefit the public and the environment by
14allowing the further remediation of the Waukegan Harbor, while
15providing an additional recreational facility for boating,
16fishing, and other recreation.
17    (e) The construction of a permanent confined disposal
18facility (CDF) on approximately 14 acres more or less adjacent
19to the current South Harbor mooring areas of the Waukegan
20Harbor is a potential alternative for PCB sediment disposal
21that would be cost-effective in allowing the dredgings from
22Waukegan Harbor to be permanently enclosed and sealed from
23exposure to people, marine life, and the environment.
24    (f) The further enhancement of Waukegan Harbor by the
25construction of a permanent CDF in the identified area is in
26the public interest. Enabling the further remediation of

 

 

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1Waukegan Harbor to include the provision and use of a confined
2disposal facility as authorized under this Act would be of
3great and direct public benefit.
4    (g) There would be a net benefit to the public by keeping
5the contaminated soils and sediments that are already in Lake
6Michigan from further contamination of open waters and also
7from threatening any on shore release or exposure. Recreational
8use to be made of the top of the confined and filled area would
9be of significant public benefit, as well.
10    (h) No substantial benefit is conferred upon a private
11interest or firm by reason of the approval of the CDF
12construction, because the Waukegan Port District is a public
13body whose activity is for the public benefit and because the
14contamination in soils and sediments to be disposed of was
15caused by Outboard Marine Corporation, a bankrupt and defunct
16concern. Most of the cost of construction of the remedy,
17including the CDF, will be borne by the United States.
18    (i) The use of CDFs has already successfully occurred
19elsewhere on the Great Lakes, including at Calumet Harbor in
20Illinois, Milwaukee Harbor in Wisconsin, and in Canadian
21waters. There is a successful confinement in former slip number
223 at Waukegan Harbor, and others are planned.
23    (j) The CDF will further benefit the public by providing
24new habitat for natural marine, bird, and other life along its
25edges, and its top would become a functional space supporting
26additional mooring, fishing, and other recreation.

 

 

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1    (k) The use of the designated area as a CDF will provide
2financial savings to the State of Illinois of an estimated
3several million dollars through credit for the in-kind
4provision of the CDF land for the Harbor's further remedy. CDF
5disposal will also significantly reduce the cost for the United
6States.
7    (l) Irrespective of whether the CDF is used to contain the
8low level PCB dredging, a CDF and associated breakwater
9construction will allow the Waukegan Port District to
10economically provide additional recreational boating and
11fishing opportunity to the general public by dredging and
12filling the CDF with uncontaminated sediments for an expanded
13marina area.
14    (m) Final decisions on the components of the Waukegan
15Harbor further remediation are the responsibility of the United
16States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) pursuant to
17CERCLA.
18    (n) Provision of the lakebed land for construction of the
19CDF authorized by this Act is in the public interests and
20consistent with the public trust.
 
21    Section 10. Authorization and use of a confined disposal
22facility.
23    (a) The CDF may be constructed by the United States if the
24United States determines that use of the CDF for permanent
25disposal of low-level PCB sediments is to be part of the

 

 

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1further remediation of Waukegan Harbor.
2    (b) If the USEPA decides to employ a CDF at Waukegan Harbor
3for its further remediation pursuant to CERCLA, the Department
4of Natural Resources is directed to review and to determine, in
5cooperation with USEPA and the Waukegan Port District, the
6location of the approximately 14-acre area upon which a CDF
7shall be best placed.
8    (c) The Department of Natural Resources shall also receive
9and act appropriately to grant permission to the Waukegan Port
10District or the United States to construct a breakwater wall
11that will be designed to protect moored vessels and the CDF
12from heavy wave action or seiche action on Lake Michigan.
13    (d) Under Section 18 of the Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act,
14the building of a harbor or mooring facility shall not commence
15without a permit from the Department of Natural Resources, and
16the facilities shall be confined to those areas recommended by
17the Department of Natural Resources, authorized by the General
18Assembly, and approved by the Governor and shall be in aid of
19and not an interference with the public interest or navigation.
20    (e) The Department of Natural Resources is also authorized
21to allow the establishment of moorings, boat slips, dockage,
22and other improvements by the Waukegan Port District in the
23area generally to be within the partly sheltered waters formed
24by the new breakwater and the CDF, east of the existing South
25Harbor and south of the entrance channel, provided acceptable
26permit applications are submitted by the Waukegan Port

 

 

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1District.
2    (f) The jurisdiction and control of the Department of
3Natural Resources over the bed of Lake Michigan under the
4Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act shall not be diminished or
5limited by the authorization and approval granted under this
6Act, title to the bed of Lake Michigan in both the harbor and
7mooring area shall remain in the State of Illinois, and no
8improvements, other than those authorized and approved
9pursuant to this Act, shall be made without the further
10authorization and approval of the Department.
 
11    Section 15. Power and Duties.
12    (a) Subject to the Waukegan Port District obtaining all
13required permissions, the Waukegan Port District is authorized
14to expand its existing South Harbor boating and recreational
15facilities to the east, south of the existing channel
16breakwater, to include new boat slips, a new breakwater,
17suitable public recreational space, ancillary boating service,
18and other suitable improvements atop of the enclosed surface
19area of a CDF.
20    (b) The Waukegan Port District shall continue to cooperate
21with the United States as it deems reasonable and appropriate
22respecting the Waukegan Harbor further remediation. The
23Waukegan Port District may contract with the United States for
24operation and maintenance obligations respecting the CDF,
25provided that the United States assumes any and all liability

 

 

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1for the construction, maintenance, and operation of the CDF or,
2alternatively, provided the United States extends to the State
3of Illinois and Waukegan Port District contribution protection
4under CERCLA and other protection acceptable to the Waukegan
5Port District and the State from all claims arising from the
6construction, maintenance, and operation of the CDF.
7    (c) The expanded South Harbor facilities shall otherwise be
8managed and maintained in accordance with the Waukegan Port
9District Act.
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11becoming law.".