Section 101.1020  Filing Electronic Documents

a)         COOL.  To file an electronic document through COOL, the document must first be uploaded on COOL. 

b)         Digital Signature Certificate.  Uploading a document on COOL requires a valid State of Illinois digital signature certificate.

c)         Uploading Hours.  Electronic documents may be uploaded on COOL 24 hours per day, every day. 

d)         E-Mail Receipt.  Uploading a document on COOL will generate an e-mail receipt for the digital signature certificate holder.  The receipt will verify the date and time when the document was uploaded on COOL.

e)         Time of Filing.  Subject to subsection (f), an electronic document uploaded on COOL will be considered filed as of the date and time specified on the e-mail receipt generated under subsection (d), except that:

1)         A document uploaded on a Saturday or Sunday, on a national or State legal holiday, or after 4:30 p.m. on a weekday is considered filed the next business day.

2)         A document uploaded without one or more portions of the filing (e.g., oversized exhibit; trade secret or non-disclosable information; copyrighted document proposed for incorporation by reference in a rule) or without a required oath, affidavit, notarization, signature, or filing fee is considered filed on the date that the Clerk receives the document's last missing item, except as provided in subsection (e)(2)(A) or (e)(2)(B).  If the Clerk receives the document's last missing item by U.S. Mail or third-party commercial carrier after the document's filing deadline date, the document will be considered filed on:

A)        The date on which the document's last missing item was provided to the U.S. Postal Service (see Section 101.300(b)(3)); or

B)        The date on which the document's last missing item was provided to the third-party commercial carrier for delivery to the Clerk within three business days (see Section 101.300(b)(3)). 

3)         A document consisting of multiple electronic files is considered filed as of the date and time specified on the e-mail receipt generated under subsection (d) for the last file uploaded to complete the document.

f)         Review by the Clerk.  The Clerk will review electronically each document uploaded on COOL, validate the proceeding information provided, and accept or reject the document for filing. 

1)         If the Clerk accepts an uploaded document, the Clerk's Office will e-mail a notice of acceptance to the digital signature certificate holder, indicating that the filed document may be viewed on COOL. 

2)         If the Clerk rejects an uploaded document, the Clerk's Office will e-mail a notice of rejection to the digital signature certificate holder.  The Clerk may reject an uploaded document because the document is prohibited from being filed electronically under Section 101.302(h)(3) or (h)(4), the document fails to comply with file size or naming requirements of Section 101.1030(c), or the document is corrupted or otherwise cannot be readily opened.  If an uploaded document is rejected by the Clerk, the Board may, upon good cause shown, enter an order ruling the document filed as of the date and time specified when the document was uploaded on COOL, subject to subsections (e)(1) through (e)(3).

g)         Technical Failure.  If an electronic document is not uploaded, or is materially delayed in uploading, on COOL due to a technical failure, the Board may, upon good cause shown, enter an order ruling the document uploaded under subsection (d) as of the date and time of the first attempted uploading.  "Technical failure" as used in this subsection is limited to a system outage of COOL or other malfunction of the hardware, software, or telecommunications facilities of the Board or the Board's electronic filing provider.  "Technical failure", therefore, does not include any malfunction of the equipment used by the person authorizing the filing or the digital signature certificate holder. 

h)         Clerk's Electronic Stamp.  An electronic document uploaded on COOL and accepted by the Clerk for filing will be endorsed by the Clerk with a file stamp stating the date of filing.  This file stamp will be merged with the electronic document and visible when the document is viewed on COOL.  Electronically filed documents so endorsed have the same legal effect as paper documents file- stamped by the Clerk conventionally under Section 101.300(b).

i)         Decision Deadlines.  For Board decision deadlines, the decision period does not begin until the date on which the electronic document constituting the initial filing is considered filed under this Section.

j)          Filing Deadlines.  The electronic filing of a document does not alter any applicable filing deadlines.

(Source:  Amended at 43 Ill. Reg. 9674, effective August 22, 2019)