SB2027 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB101 10220 CPF 55324 b

101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB2027

Introduced 2/15/2019, by Sen. Scott M. Bennett

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 5/21.7 new
415 ILCS 55/10 new

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Codifies the findings and recommendations of the Mahomet Aquifer Task Force established under P.A. 100-0403. Provides that the Environmental Protection Agency shall identify unlined, thinly covered legacy landfills for inspection and study the landfills after prioritizing them based on potential hazards to surface water and groundwater resources. Prescribes required qualifications for Agency inspectors designated to identify and inspect legacy landfills. Provides that the Agency shall collect and archive information about landfills for present and long-term use, including manifests and engineering records. Provides that the Agency shall assemble location information about industries and companies that generate waste and that the resulting records should be available for use as confidential information by regulatory agencies but shall not be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Amends the Illinois Groundwater Protection Act. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the Agency, in consultation and cooperation with the Illinois State Geological Survey and the Illinois State Water Survey, shall design and implement a Pilot Project at the Pekin Metro Landfill in Tazewell County, to be completed by December 31, 2020. Provides that the Pilot Program shall perform specified tasks.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

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 adding Section 21.7 as follows:

(415 ILCS 5/21.7 new)

Sec. 21.7. Legacy Landfills

(a) The purpose of this Section is to enact legislative recommendations provided by the Mahomet Aquifer Task Force, established under P.A. 100-0403. The Task Force identified capped but unregulated or underregulated landfills throughout the State as potentially hazardous to valuable groundwater resources.

(b) The Agency shall identify unlined, thinly covered legacy landfills for inspection using existing information within Agency records, municipalities, counties, solid waste management associations, companies, corporations, and individuals.

(c) The Agency shall study the legacy landfills identified in subsection (b) after prioritizing the study of those legacy landfills based on the potential hazards to surface water and groundwater resources the landfill poses. The following factors shall be considered in developing the prioritization:

(1) Illinois State Geological Survey data regarding landfills over unsuitable geology or over shallow aquifers;

(2) Illinois State Geological Survey and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency data regarding abandoned landfills; and

(3) Illinois State Water Survey, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Illinois Emergency Management Agency data regarding landfills within or in proximity to 100-year floodplains;

(4) National Resources Conservation Service, Illinois State Geological Survey, and Illinois State Water Survey data regarding landfills near dwellings and private wells.

(d) Agency inspectors designated to identify and inspect legacy landfills are required to have undergone additional training that incorporates remote sensing, geographic information systems, and database management to guide field inspections of all legacy landfills. This training shall include, but is not limited to:

(1) Training on the use of geographic information systems and remote sensing technology to track defects, structures, appliances, and wells for routine inspection and sustainable management for closed landfills.

(2) Preparation of georeferenced image maps showing defects such as depressions, erosion, landslides, barren areas, leachate seeps, trees, and vegetation anomalies using light detection and ranging, aerial photography, and image processing and enhancement for use in field inspections.

(e) The Agency shall collect and archive information about landfills for present and long-term use, including manifests and engineering records. The Agency shall use its own data along with the data collected from municipalities, counties, solid waste management associations, companies, corporations, and individuals. The records shall be available for use as confidential information by regulatory agencies, but shall not be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

(f) The Agency shall further assemble location information about industries and companies that generate waste, including from historical processes. The resulting records should be available for use as confidential information by regulatory agencies but shall not be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

(g) For purposes of this Section:

(1) "Legacy landfills" means landfills that were unregulated or underregulated prior to the enactment of this Act, including landfills without source controls, groundwater monitoring programs, or effective engineering controls, also known as dumps.

Section 10. The Illinois Groundwater Protection Act is amended by adding Section 10 as follows:

(415 ILCS 55/10 new)

Sec. 10. Pekin Metro Landfill Pilot Project.

(a) The Mahomet Aquifer Protection Task Force established under P.A. 100-0403 found that the Pekin Metro Landfill in Tazewell County is located in a high groundwater recharge area located along the Mahomet Aquifer and that it may pose a threat of contaminating the water quality of the aquifer. This finding was based on evidence that there has been no groundwater monitoring since 2001 and the groundwater monitoring wells were likely buried during a 2014 expansion to the landfill's cap.

(b) Subject to appropriation, the Agency, in consultation and cooperation with the Illinois State Geological Survey and the Illinois State Water Survey, shall design and implement a Pilot Project at the Pekin Metro Landfill in Tazewell County to be completed by December 31, 2020. The Pilot Project shall:

(1) inspect and identify potential and current contamination threats to the water quality of the Mahomet Aquifer from the Pekin Metro Landfill;

(2) use geographic information systems and remote sensing technology to track defects, structures, appliances, and wells for routine inspection and sustainable management;

(3) remedy groundwater monitoring mechanisms necessary to initiate a post-closure care period; and

(4) utilize the information and data collected from the project to create best management practices for addressing other legacy landfills throughout the State.

(c) As used in this Section, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(1) "Best management practices" means those physical, structural, and managerial practices and prohibitions of practices that, when used singly or in combination, can prevent pollution to groundwater and surface water.

(2) "High groundwater recharge areas" means areas that are determined to have a high recharging effect on groundwater used as a source for potable water and are vulnerable to contamination from recharge.

(3) "Legacy landfills" means landfills that were unregulated or underregulated prior to the enactment of the Environmental Protection Act, including landfills without source controls, groundwater monitoring programs, or effective engineering controls, also known as dumps.