Section 380.400  General Examination Requirements

a)         Any person able to read and write English shall be eligible to take a wastewater examination of competency.  However, a certified operator may not take the exam for which he or she holds the certification.

b)         The purpose of the wastewater operator examination is to test a person's skills, knowledge, ability, and judgment of the chemical, biological and physical sciences essential to the treatment of wastewater.

c)         The Agency or its designee shall administer the following wastewater operator examinations which correspond to facility group and certification classification at times and locations throughout the State as determined by the Agency:

1)         Class 1 examination;

2)         Class 2 examination;

3)         Class 3 examination;

4)         Class 4 examination;

5)         Class K examination;

6)         Class R examination; and

7)         Collection System examination.

d)         The maximum time allowed for any person taking a wastewater operator examination of competency shall be 3 hours, unless a request for a reasonable accommodation has been received and approved by the Agency in writing prior to the beginning of the examination.

e)         Any person may submit a request for a reasonable accommodation for an eligible disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act.

f)         The passing score for each examination shall be 70 percent of the points available.

g)         The Agency shall send each person who takes the wastewater operator examination notification of whether the person obtained a passing score.

h)         Passing test scores shall be valid for 5 years from the date of Agency notification of examination results. The Agency shall not issue a Certificate of Technical Competency to any person whose most recent qualifying examination scores are older than five years.

i)          Examinations, and any part thereof, are the property of the Agency. Examinations are not to be taken from the examination site and are not to be copied. Violation of this rule will result in the applicant being ineligible for certification, and will be grounds for sanction of current certification.

j)          Examination questions, scoring keys, other examination data, including individual test scores, and all examination materials are exempt from inspection under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act [5 ILCS 140/7(1)(Q)].

(Source:  Amended at 43 Ill. Reg. 5203, effective July 1, 2019)