(430 ILCS 55/5) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 1005)

Sec. 5. Reimbursement to agencies.

(a) It shall be the duty of the responsible party to reimburse, within 60 days after the receipt of a bill for the hazardous material emergency incident, the emergency response agencies responding to a hazardous material emergency incident, and any private contractor responding to the incident at the request of an emergency response agency, for the costs incurred in the course of providing emergency action.

(b) In the event that the emergency response agencies are not reimbursed by a responsible party as required under subsection (a), monies in the Fund, subject to appropriation, shall be used to reimburse the emergency response agencies providing emergency action at or near the scene of a hazardous materials emergency incident subject to the following limitations:

(1) Cost recovery from the Fund is limited to replacement of expended materials including, but not limited to, specialized firefighting foam, damaged hose or other reasonable and necessary supplies.

(2) The applicable cost of supplies must exceed 2% of the emergency response agency's annual budget.

(3) A minimum of $500 must have been expended.

(4) A maximum of $10,000 may be requested per incident.

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

(c) Application for reimbursement from the Fund shall be made to the State Fire Marshal or his designee. The State Fire Marshal shall, through rulemaking, promulgate a standard form for such application. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt rules for the administration of this Act.

(d) Claims against the Fund shall be reviewed by the Illinois Fire Advisory Commission at its normally scheduled meetings, as the claims are received. The Commission shall be responsible for:

(1) reviewing claims made against the Fund and determining reasonable and necessary expenses to be reimbursed for an emergency response agency:

(2) affirming that the emergency response agency has made a reasonable effort to recover expended costs from involved parties; and

(3) advising the State Fire Marshal as to those claims against the Fund which merit reimbursement.

(e) The State Fire Marshal shall either accept or reject the Commission's recommendations as to a claim's eligibility. The eligibility decision of the State Fire Marshal shall be a final administrative decision, and may be reviewed as provided under the Administrative Review Law.

(Source: P.A. 98-692, eff. 7-1-14.)