SB1291sam002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Michael W. Frerichs

Filed: 3/12/2009

09600SB1291sam002 LRB096 09503 JDS 23759 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1291

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1291 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by adding Section 22.55 as follows:

(415 ILCS 5/22.55 new)

Sec. 22.55. Coal Waste Study.

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) poorly managed coal waste poses a threat to the Illinois environment and the health of the people of Illinois;

(2) the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science, responding to a request by Congress and given responsibility by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, found, after substantial research, that coal wastes can adversely impact water supplies and ecosystems if those wastes are not managed adequately;

(3) reports published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development indicate that coal waste leaches hazardous constituents, such as arsenic cadmium, antimony, selenium, and other pollutants in much greater quantities than had been recognized previously; and

(4) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports published in 2005 and 2006 document that the majority of states still lack regulations mandating basic safeguards at coal waste disposal sites.

(b) To take an initial step toward rectifying this situation in Illinois, the Agency, in consultation with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Department of Transportation, shall submit all of the following to the General Assembly and the Governor by December 31, 2009:

(1) A report that reviews the latest available scientific research and institutional regarding the current status of coal waste disposal in Illinois, including:

(A) the current annual amount of coal waste disposed or used in Illinois, by waste type;

(B) the location and characterization of all coal waste disposal sites in the State, including, but not limited to, surface impoundments, landfills, and active and abandoned mine sites;

(C) the location and characterization of all active and inactive coal slurry waste impoundments in the State;

(D) the location and characterization of all applications of coal combustion by-products in the State;

(E) the proximity of each of the sites identified under subdivisions (b)(1)(A) through (b)(1)(C) of this Section to vulnerable resources, including floodplains; wetlands, as defined by the presence of hydric soils and hydrophilic vegetation; sandy or gravel soils; shallow groundwater tables; public water supplies; groundwater; surface waters; active seismic fault lines; karst-containing areas; and sensitive wildlife habitat, including biologically significant streams, Illinois Natural Area Inventory sites, Illinois Resource Rich Areas, Important Bird Areas, and essential habitat for threatened and endangered species;

(F) an overall assessment of the structural stability of all impoundments and landfills with and without liners containing coal waste in the State;

(G) the current coal waste-related regulatory requirements of sites identified in subdivisions (b)(1)(A) through (b)(1)(C) of this Section;

(H) the holding capacity of all impoundments in the State containing coal waste in response to a 10-year, 24-hour precipitation event.

(2) A summary and assessment of the effectiveness of current regulations governing coal waste disposal and reuse in Illinois, including:

(A) the potential risks posed to communities, farmland, and drinking water supplies by current coal waste sites;

(B) the adequacy of current closure requirements for surface wet coal waste storage and disposal sites and of current requirements for conversion of those sites to dry storage and disposal sites;

(C) the adequacy of current protections against groundwater contamination due to coal waste storage, coal waste disposal, or both;

(D) a description of the siting requirements for the dry disposal of coal waste;

(E) the groundwater and surface water monitoring requirements necessary to fully characterize water quality before or during the storage and disposal of coal waste;

(F) the financial assurance requirements for site owners and operators; and

(G) current standards for reuse of coal waste, including the disposal of coal waste in active, inactive, or abandoned mines.

(3) Recommendations, if any, for administrative and legislative actions to improve the regulation of coal wastes, including:

(A) proposed changes in regulatory requirements, if any, pertaining to coal waste in Illinois;

(B) proposed changes, if any, in the delineation of agency responsibilities for the regulation of coal waste in Illinois;

(C) proposed changes, if any, in the funding and staffing levels of agencies with a role in the regulation of coal wastes;

(D) the steps needed to close and empty active surface wet coal waste storage and disposal sites and convert those sites to dry storage and disposal.

(c) For the purposes of this Section and notwithstanding any other definitions in this Act:

"Coal combustion by-products" means coal combustion waste used beneficially.

"Coal combustion waste" means the noncombustible portion of the coal itself and residues from various air pollution control technologies, including fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, flue gas desulfurization sludge, or any combination of those substances.

"Coal waste" means coal combustion waste, mine refuse, coal combustion by-products, or any combination of those substances.

"Mine refuse" means gob, coal, rock, slate, shale, mill tailings, boney, clay, pyrites, and other unmerchantable solid or slurry materials intended to be discarded and connected with the cleaning and preparation of mined materials at a preparation plant or washery; sludge or other precipitated matter produced by the treatment of acid mine drainage; and acid-producing spoil.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".