Public Act 93-0170
HB3506 Enrolled LRB093 02586 EFG 02596 b
AN ACT in relation to environmental protection.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended
by changing Sections 13 and 19.3 and adding Section 13.5 as
follows:
(415 ILCS 5/13) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1013)
Sec. 13. Regulations.
(a) The Board, pursuant to procedures prescribed in
Title VII of this Act, may adopt regulations to promote the
purposes and provisions of this Title. Without limiting the
generality of this authority, such regulations may among
other things prescribe:
(1) Water quality standards specifying among other
things, the maximum short-term and long-term
concentrations of various contaminants in the waters, the
minimum permissible concentrations of dissolved oxygen
and other desirable matter in the waters, and the
temperature of such waters;
(2) Effluent standards specifying the maximum
amounts or concentrations, and the physical, chemical,
thermal, biological and radioactive nature of
contaminants that may be discharged into the waters of
the State, as defined herein, including, but not limited
to, waters to any sewage works, or into any well, or from
any source within the State;
(3) Standards for the issuance of permits for
construction, installation, or operation of any
equipment, facility, vessel, or aircraft capable of
causing or contributing to water pollution or designed to
prevent water pollution or for the construction or
installation of any sewer or sewage treatment facility or
any new outlet for contaminants into the waters of this
State;
(4) The circumstances under which the operators of
sewage works are required to obtain and maintain
certification by the Agency under Section 13.5 and the
types of sewage works to which those requirements apply,
which may, without limitation, include wastewater
treatment works, pretreatment works, and sewers and
collection systems; Standards for the definition and
certification of the technical competency of operation
personnel for sewage works, and for ascertaining that
such works shall be under the supervision of trained
individuals whose qualifications shall have been approved
by the Agency;
(5) Standards for the filling or sealing of
abandoned water wells and holes, and holes for disposal
of drainage in order to protect ground water against
contamination;
(6) Standards and conditions regarding the sale,
offer, or use of any pesticide, detergent, or any other
article determined by the Board to constitute a water
pollution hazard, provided that any such regulations
relating to pesticides shall be adopted only in
accordance with the "Illinois Pesticide Act", approved
August 14, 1979 as amended;
(7) Alert and abatement standards relative to
water-pollution episodes or emergencies which constitute
an acute danger to health or to the environment;
(8) Requirements and procedures for the inspection
of any equipment, facility, or vessel that may cause or
contribute to water pollution;
(9) Requirements and standards for equipment and
procedures for monitoring contaminant discharges at their
sources, the collection of samples and the collection,
reporting and retention of data resulting from such
monitoring.
(b) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Act and for
purposes of implementing an NPDES program, the Board shall
adopt:
(1) Requirements, standards, and procedures which,
together with other regulations adopted pursuant to this
Section 13, are necessary or appropriate to enable the
State of Illinois to implement and participate in the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
pursuant to and under the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act, as now or hereafter amended. All regulations
adopted by the Board governing the NPDES program shall be
consistent with the applicable provisions of such federal
Act and regulations pursuant thereto, and otherwise shall
be consistent with all other provisions of this Act, and
shall exclude from the requirement to obtain any
operating permit otherwise required under this Title a
facility for which an NPDES permit has been issued under
Section 39(b); provided, however, that for purposes of
this paragraph, a UIC permit, as required under Section
12(g) and 39(d) of this Act, is not an operating permit.
(2) Regulations for the exemption of any category
or categories of persons or contaminant sources from the
requirement to obtain any NPDES permit prescribed or from
any standards or conditions governing such permit when
the environment will be adequately protected without the
requirement of such permit, and such exemption is either
consistent with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,
as now or hereafter amended, or regulations pursuant
thereto, or is necessary to avoid an arbitrary or
unreasonable hardship to such category or categories of
persons or sources.
(c) In accordance with Section 7.2, and notwithstanding
any other provisions of this Act, for purposes of
implementing a State UIC program, the Board shall adopt
regulations which are identical in substance to federal
regulations or amendments thereto promulgated by the
Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency in accordance with Section 1421 of the Safe Drinking
Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as amended. The Board may
consolidate into a single rulemaking under this Section all
such federal regulations adopted within a period of time not
to exceed 6 months. The provisions and requirements of Title
VII of this Act shall not apply to regulations adopted under
this subsection. Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative
Procedure Act relating to procedures for rulemaking shall not
apply to regulations adopted under this subsection.
(d) The Board may adopt regulations relating to a State
UIC program that are not inconsistent with and are at least
as stringent as the Safe Drinking Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as
amended, or regulations adopted thereunder. Regulations
adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be adopted in
accordance with the provisions and requirements of Title VII
of this Act and the procedures for rulemaking in Section 5-35
of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
(Source: P.A. 88-45.)
(415 ILCS 5/13.5 new)
Sec. 13.5. Sewage works; operator certification.
(a) For the purposes of this Section, the term "sewage
works" includes, without limitation, wastewater treatment
works, pretreatment works, and sewers and collection systems.
(b) The Agency may establish and enforce standards for
the definition and certification of the technical competency
of personnel who operate sewage works, and for ascertaining
that sewage works are under the supervision of trained
individuals whose qualifications have been approved by the
Agency.
(c) The Agency may issue certificates of competency to
persons meeting the standards of technical competency
established by the Agency under this Section, and may
promulgate and enforce regulations pertaining to the issuance
and use of those certificates.
(d) The Agency shall administer the certification
program established under this Section. The Agency may enter
into formal working agreements with other departments or
agencies of State or local government under which all or
portions of its authority under this Section may be delegated
to the cooperating department or agency.
(e) This Section and the changes made to subdivision
(a)(4) of Section 13 by this amendatory Act of the 93rd
General Assembly do not invalidate the operator certification
rules previously adopted by the Agency and codified as Part
380 of Title 35, Subtitle C, Chapter II of the Illinois
Administrative Code. Those rules, as amended from time to
time, shall continue in effect until they are superseded or
repealed.
(415 ILCS 5/19.3) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1019.3)
Sec. 19.3. Water Revolving Fund.
(a) There is hereby created within the State Treasury a
Water Revolving Fund, consisting of 3 interest-bearing
special programs to be known as the Water Pollution Control
Loan Program, the Public Water Supply Loan Program, and the
Loan Support Program, which shall be used and administered by
the Agency.
(b) The Water Pollution Control Loan Program shall be
used and administered by the Agency to provide assistance for
the following purposes:
(1) to accept and retain funds from grant awards,
appropriations, transfers, and payments of interest and
principal;
(2) to make direct loans at or below market
interest rates to any eligible local government unit to
finance the construction of wastewater treatments works;
(3) to make direct loans at or below market
interest rates to any eligible local government unit to
buy or refinance debt obligations for treatment works
incurred after March 7, 1985;
(3.5) to make direct loans at or below market
interest rates for the implementation of a management
program established under Section 319 of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act, as amended;
(4) to guarantee or purchase insurance for local
obligations where such action would improve credit market
access or reduce interest rates;
(5) as a source of revenue or security for the
payment of principal and interest on revenue or general
obligation bonds issued by the State or any political
subdivision or instrumentality thereof, if the proceeds
of such bonds will be deposited in the Fund;
(6) to finance the reasonable costs incurred by the
Agency in the administration of the Fund; and
(7) to transfer funds to the Public Water Supply
Loan Program (blank).
(c) The Loan Support Program shall be used and
administered by the Agency for the following purposes:
(1) to accept and retain funds from grant awards
and appropriations;
(2) to finance the reasonable costs incurred by the
Agency in the administration of the Fund, including
activities under Title III of this Act, including the
administration of the State construction grant program;
(3) to transfer funds to the Water Pollution
Control Loan Program and the Public Water Supply Loan
Program;
(4) to accept and retain a portion of the loan
repayments;
(5) to finance the development of the low interest
loan program for public water supply projects;
(6) to finance the reasonable costs incurred by the
Agency to provide technical assistance for public water
supplies; and
(7) to finance the reasonable costs incurred by the
Agency for public water system supervision programs, to
administer or provide for technical assistance through
source water protection programs, to develop and
implement a capacity development strategy, to delineate
and assess source water protection areas, and for an
operator certification program in accordance with Section
1452 of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
(d) The Public Water Supply Loan Program shall be used
and administered by the Agency to provide assistance to local
government units and privately owned community water supplies
for public water supplies for the following public purposes:
(1) to accept and retain funds from grant awards,
appropriations, transfers, and payments of interest and
principal;
(2) to make direct loans at or below market
interest rates to any eligible local government unit or
to any eligible privately owned community water supply to
finance the construction of water supplies;
(3) to buy or refinance the debt obligation of a
local government unit for costs incurred on or after July
17, 1997;
(4) to guarantee local obligations where such
action would improve credit market access or reduce
interest rates;
(5) as a source of revenue or security for the
payment of principal and interest on revenue or general
obligation bonds issued by the State or any political
subdivision or instrumentality thereof, if the proceeds
of such bonds will be deposited into the Fund; and
(6) to transfer funds to the Water Pollution
Control Loan Program (blank).
(e) The Agency is designated as the administering agency
of the Fund. The Agency shall submit to the Regional
Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency an intended use plan which outlines the proposed use
of funds available to the State. The Agency shall take all
actions necessary to secure to the State the benefits of the
federal Water Pollution Control Act and the federal Safe
Drinking Water Act, as now or hereafter amended.
(f) The Agency shall have the power to enter into
intergovernmental agreements with the federal government or
the State, or any instrumentality thereof, for purposes of
capitalizing the Water Revolving Fund. Moneys on deposit in
the Water Revolving Fund may be used for the creation of
reserve funds or pledged funds that secure the obligations of
repayment of loans made pursuant to this Section. For the
purpose of obtaining capital for deposit into the Water
Revolving Fund, the Agency may also enter into agreements
with financial institutions and other persons for the purpose
of selling loans and developing a secondary market for such
loans. The Agency shall have the power to create and
establish such reserve funds and accounts as may be necessary
or desirable to accomplish its purposes under this subsection
and to allocate its available moneys into such funds and
accounts. Investment earnings on moneys held in the Water
Revolving Fund, including any reserve fund or pledged fund,
shall be deposited into the Water Revolving Fund.
(Source: P.A. 91-36, eff. 6-15-99; 91-52, eff. 6-30-99;
91-501, eff. 8-13-99; 92-16, 6-28-01.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.