Section 270.10  Definitions

 

"Act" means the Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Reimbursement Act [430 ILCS 55].

 

"Annual Budget"  means the cost to operate an Emergency Response Agency, excluding personnel costs (which include salary, benefits and training expenses) and costs to acquire capital equipment (including, but not limited to, buildings, vehicles and other such major capital cost items).

 

"Chairman"  means the Chair of the Illinois Fire Advisory Commission created by Section 3 of the State Fire Marshal Act [20 ILCS 2905/3].

 

"Emergency Action" means any action taken at or near the scene of a hazardous materials emergency incident to prevent or minimize harm to human health, to property, or to the environment from the unintentional release of a hazardous material.

 

"Emergency Response Agency" means a unit of local government, volunteer fire protection organization, or the American Red Cross that provides  firefighting services, emergency rescue services, emergency medical services, hazardous materials response teams, technical rescue teams, mass care or assistance to displaced persons or civil defense.

 

"Expended Materials"  includes those replacement items, materials, or supplies that have been utilized, damaged or destroyed (such as foam, absorbents, protective clothing, hoses or other goods) in the mitigation of a hazardous materials incident.

 

"Fund" means the Fire Prevention Fund created by Section 13.1 of the Fire Investigation Act [425 ILCS 25].

 

"Hazardous Material" means a substance or material in a quantity and form determined by the United States Department of Transportation to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health and safety or property when transported in commerce. These materials are listed in 49 CFR 172 (2015); no later additions or amendments are included.

 

"Person" means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an unincorporated association, or any unit of federal, State, or local government.

 

"Responsible Party" means a person who:

 

owns or has custody of hazardous materials involved in an incident requiring emergency action by an emergency response agency; or

 

owns or has custody of bulk or non-bulk packaging or a transport vehicle that contains hazardous materials involved in an  incident requiring emergency action by an emergency response agency; and

 

who causes or substantially contributes to the cause of the incident requiring emergency action. (Section 3 of the Act) This term includes the plural.

 

"Office" or "OSFM" means the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

 

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.20  Application for Reimbursement

 

An emergency response agency requesting reimbursement shall meet the following criteria:

 

a)         The emergency response agency must attempt to contact the responsible party in writing for reimbursement prior to applying for reimbursement from the Fund.

 

b)         If, 14 days after the date the notification was mailed to the responsible party, the emergency response agency has not been reimbursed by the responsible party, or the responsible party is not expeditiously cooperating or providing a reasonable effort to reimburse an emergency response agency, or if no responsible party can be identified, the emergency response agency with jurisdiction over the location of the incident requiring emergency action may apply for reimbursement by submitting the following information to OSFM:

 

1)         The Application for Reimbursement form prescribed by OSFM in Appendix A.

 

A)        Only one Application for Reimbursement may be filed per incident by the emergency response agency with jurisdiction over the location of the incident requiring emergency action and  reimbursement is limited to the amount specified in Section 270.30(e).  The application may be amended by the applicant, if necessary, to add additional eligible costs incurred or discovered after submission of the application to OSFM.

 

B)        Reimbursement costs for separate incidents may not be filed on the same form.

 

C)        An emergency response agency with jurisdiction over the location of the incident requiring emergency action may apply for reimbursement of eligible costs incurred by other emergency response agencies in responding to the same incident if the emergency response agencies have entered into a written mutual aid agreement.

 

2)         No later than 90 days after the date of the incident, the Application for Reimbursement form and documentation required by Appendix A and these regulations shall be submitted to OSFM at 1035 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-4259.

 

c)         Applications for reimbursement will not be processed if received more than 90 days after the incident.

 

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.30  Eligible Costs for Reimbursement

 

Eligible costs for reimbursement are subject to the following limitations:

 

a)         Replacement of expended materials, including, but not limited to:

 

1)         Specialized firefighting foam or absorbents.

 

2)         Damaged hoses, protective clothing or other damaged equipment.

 

3)         Other reasonable and necessary equipment and/or supplies that have been used, expended, contracted for, damaged or chemically contaminated, and includes disposal or costs for equipment, supplies or materials.

 

b)         Repair or decontamination of equipment.

 

c)         The cost of the incident to the emergency response agency must exceed 2 percent of the emergency response agency's annual budget.

 

d)         A minimum of $500 must have been expended.

 

e)         A maximum of $10,000 may be reimbursed per incident.

 

f)         The response was made to an incident involving hazardous materials facilities such as rolling stock that are not in a terminal and that are not included on the property tax rolls for the jurisdiction where the incident occurred. (Section 5 of the Act)

 

g)         A copy of the approved budget or appropriation ordinance must be submitted with the application and the head the emergency response agency must attest to the accuracy of the information provided.

 

h)         If the application for reimbursement includes costs incurred by an emergency response agency other than the applicant, a copy of the mutual aid agreement between the two emergency response agencies must be submitted.

 

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.40  Local Budgets (Repealed)

 

(Source:  Repealed at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.50  Review Process

 

The procedure to reimburse emergency action costs:

 

a)         The emergency response agency with jurisdiction over the location of the incident requiring emergency action must submit a completed Application for Reimbursement form promulgated by OSFM in Appendix A.

 

b)         Upon receipt of an Application for Reimbursement, OSFM will begin a preliminary review of the application and documentation within five working days. If deficiencies are found, OSFM will contact the applicant to resolve the problem.

 

c)         If no deficiencies exist or the emergency response agency does not submit additional information, OSFM will forward the Application for Reimbursement to the Chairman for review.

 

d)         The Chairman, or his or her designee, shall send a copy of the Application for Reimbursement to the Illinois Fire Advisory Commission (see 20 ILCS 2905/3) members for review.  At the next scheduled meeting, the Fire Advisory Commission shall vote to approve or disapprove the request. A quorum of members must exist. If necessary, the Chairman has discretion to call an emergency meeting of the Fire Advisory Commission to consider the application.  The Fire Advisory Commission will be responsible for:

 

1)         Reviewing claims made against the Fund and determining reasonable and necessary expenses to be reimbursed to an emergency response agency.

 

2)         Affirming that the emergency response agency has made a reasonable effort to recover expended costs from responsible parties.

 

3)         Advising the State Fire Marshal as to those claims against the Fund that merit reimbursement.

 

e)         The State Fire Marshal shall either accept or reject the Fire Advisory Commission's recommendations as to a claim's eligibility.  The eligibility decision of the State Fire Marshal shall be a final administrative decision reviewable under the Administrative Review Law [735 ILCS 5/Art. III].

 

f)         If the reimbursement is approved, OSFM will process the reimbursement to the emergency response agency from the Fund.  If a partial reimbursement is approved, OSFM will process the reimbursement of the amount approved to the emergency response agency from the Fund.

 

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.60  Reimbursement to the Emergency Response Agency by Other Sources

 

In the event the emergency response agency receives payment from any responsible party or the federal government for all or part of any reimbursement, the emergency response agency shall repay the Fund for the amount of that payment or the amount paid by the Fund.

 

a)         The repayment shall be made by check or money order, made payable to the "Office of the State Fire Marshal".

 

b)         Repayment shall be made within 30 days after the date the payment from the other source was received.

 

c)         If the local emergency response agency receives payment from the responsible party while the Application for Reimbursement is being processed by OSFM, the emergency response agency shall immediately notify OSFM.

 

d)         If the emergency response agency is reimbursed by the responsible party for a part of the mitigation costs during the time in which OSFM is processing an application, the emergency response agency shall immediately notify OSFM.

 

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.70  Reimbursement to the Fund by Other Sources

 

a)         In the event reimbursement is to be made to OSFM, that payment shall be made by check or money order payable to the "Office of the State Fire Marshal".

 

b)         A voluntary contribution to the Fund, or directly to an emergency response agency or a private contractor, does not constitute an admission of responsibility relative to the Act or to any other State or federal laws or regulations. (Section 6 of the Act)

 

c)         If no party to the incident provides reimbursement to the emergency response agency or to the Fund, the State Fire Marshal may request the Attorney General to initiate a civil action to recover costs.

 

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.80  Panel (Repealed)

 

(Source:  Repealed at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)

 

Section 270.APPENDIX A   Application for Reimbursement Form

 

Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Reimbursement Application

 

 

SECTION 1 – APPLICANT INFORMATION

 

Organization Name _________________________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________	Phone Number ____________________
Tax Identification Number _________________________	Fax Number ______________________

 

 

SECTION 2 – CONTACT INFORMATION

 

Name ____________________________________________________________________________
Title __________________________________________	Work Phone ______________________
E-Mail ________________________________________	Cell Phone ­______________________

 

 

SECTION 3 – RESPONSIBLE PARTY

If the responsible party is unknown, please check this box

 

Name ____________________________________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________	Phone Number ____________________
________________________________________	Fax Number ______________________
Date Notification for Reimbursement Provided to Responsible Party __________________________

 

 

SECTION 4 – INCIDENT NARRATIVE

 

Incident Date ___________________________

(Application must be submitted within 90 days after the incident date)

 

 

SECTION 5 – INCIDENT EXPENSES

You may claim expenses for a mutual aid responder if you have a mutual aid agreement.  Indicate expenses of mutual aid responders in the column provided below and attach a copy of the mutual aid agreement to this application.

 

Itemized List of Expenses	Mutual Aid Expense (Y or N)	Qty	Amount
TOTAL (Must equal or exceed $500.  If not you are not eligible to apply)

 

 

SECTION 6 – REIMBURSEMENT CALCULATION

 

Line 1: Total Annual Budget*

 

Line 2: Multiply Line 1 by 2% (Line 1 x 2% = Line 2)

 

Line 3: Cost of Incident Response (from Section 5)

 

If Line 3 is less than Line 2, STOP.  You are not eligible to apply.

 

Line 4: Enter the amount from Line 3.  If Line 3 is greater than $10,000,

then enter $10,000. This is your reimbursement claim.

 

*  Exclude personnel costs (i.e., salary, benefits, training expenses and any other personnel costs)   and costs to acquire capital equipment (i.e., buildings, vehicles and other major capital cost items).  A copy of your approved budget or appropriation ordinance must be attached to this application.

 

 

SECTION 7 – ATTESTATION AND SIGNATURES

 

I attest that the information contained in this application is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.  (Signature should be from the head of the organization.)

 

 

_________________________________      _____________________      ______________

Signature                                                         Title                                         Date

 

_________________________________

Print Name

 

You MUST attach the following documentation to your application:

Copy of an approved budget or appropriation ordinance for your agency

Copy of mutual aid agreements (if applicable)

 

(Source:  Added at 40 Ill. Reg. 12790, effective August 18, 2016)