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1 | AN ACT concerning utilities.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Gas Pipeline Safety Act is amended | ||||||
5 | by adding Sections 2.08, 2.09, 2.10, 2.11, and 7.5 and by | ||||||
6 | changing Section 7 as follows: | ||||||
7 | (220 ILCS 20/2.08 new) | ||||||
8 | Sec. 2.08. Notice of probable violation. "Notice of | ||||||
9 | probable violation" or "NOPV" means a written notice, | ||||||
10 | satisfying the criteria set forth in Section 7.5 of this Act, | ||||||
11 | given by the pipeline safety manager to a person who engages in | ||||||
12 | the transportation of gas or who owns or operates pipeline | ||||||
13 | facilities that identifies a failure of such person to comply | ||||||
14 | with the provisions of this Act, the federal Natural Gas | ||||||
15 | Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, or any Commission order or rule | ||||||
16 | issued under this Act and may recommend a penalty in connection | ||||||
17 | therewith, subject to the terms of this Act. | ||||||
18 | (220 ILCS 20/2.09 new) | ||||||
19 | Sec. 2.09. Pipeline safety manager. "Pipeline safety | ||||||
20 | manager" means the manager of the Commission's Pipeline Safety | ||||||
21 | Program or other staff of the Commission assigned to gas | ||||||
22 | pipeline safety issues.
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1 | (220 ILCS 20/7) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 557)
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2 | Sec. 7. Penalties; action for penalties ; Commission | ||||||
3 | approval of penalties .
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4 | (a) Any person violating paragraph (a) of Section 6 of this | ||||||
5 | Act or
any
rule or order issued under this Act is subject to a | ||||||
6 | civil penalty not to
exceed the maximum penalties established | ||||||
7 | by Section 60122(a)(1) of Title 49 of
the United States Code | ||||||
8 | for each day the violation
persists. Such civil penalties do | ||||||
9 | not apply to a violation with respect
to a pipeline facility in | ||||||
10 | existence on the effective date of this Act
unless such | ||||||
11 | violation persists one year from the effective date.
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12 | (b) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the Commission | ||||||
13 | or, subject to this Act, by the pipeline safety manager . In
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14 | determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed | ||||||
15 | upon in
compromise, the Commission or, subject to this Act, the | ||||||
16 | pipeline safety manager, as the case may be, shall consider the | ||||||
17 | appropriateness of the
penalty to the size of the business of | ||||||
18 | the person charged, the gravity of
the violation, and the good | ||||||
19 | faith of the person charged in attempting to
achieve | ||||||
20 | compliance, after notification of a violation. The amount of | ||||||
21 | the
penalty when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon | ||||||
22 | in compromise,
shall be paid or may be deducted from any sums | ||||||
23 | owing by the State of Illinois to the person
charged pursuant | ||||||
24 | to the terms and conditions of the NOPV or the agreed | ||||||
25 | compromise or Commission order, as the case may be, or may be |
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1 | recovered in a civil action in accordance with paragraph
(c) of | ||||||
2 | this Section 7. Unless specifically stated otherwise in the | ||||||
3 | terms and conditions of any compromise agreement, any | ||||||
4 | compromise of a penalty recommended in an NOPV by the person | ||||||
5 | charged shall not be deemed to be an admission of liability.
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6 | (c) Actions to recover penalties under this Act shall be | ||||||
7 | brought in the
name of the People of the State of Illinois in | ||||||
8 | the circuit court in and for
the county in which the cause or | ||||||
9 | some part thereof, arose or in which the
corporation complained | ||||||
10 | of, if any, has its principal place of business or
in which the | ||||||
11 | person, if any, complained of, resides. All penalties
recovered | ||||||
12 | by the State in any action shall be paid into the general
fund | ||||||
13 | of the State Treasury. The action shall be commenced and | ||||||
14 | prosecuted
to final judgment by the Attorney General on behalf | ||||||
15 | of the Commission. In
all such actions, the procedure and rules | ||||||
16 | of evidence shall conform with
the Civil Practice Law and other | ||||||
17 | rules of court governing civil
trials.
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18 | (d) In addition the Commission may proceed under Section | ||||||
19 | 4-202 of the
Public Utilities Act, either by mandamus or | ||||||
20 | injunction, to secure
compliance with its rules, regulations | ||||||
21 | and orders issued under this Act.
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22 | (e) Any person penalized under this Section is not subject, | ||||||
23 | for the same
cause, to any other penalty provided in the Public | ||||||
24 | Utilities Act.
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25 | (f) In the event any penalty recommended by the pipeline | ||||||
26 | safety manager is paid by the person charged in the applicable |
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1 | NOPV in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section or in | ||||||
2 | accordance with the terms and conditions of a compromise, | ||||||
3 | agreed upon by such person and the pipeline safety manager, | ||||||
4 | then the pipeline safety manager shall report, and request | ||||||
5 | approval of, each such payment of a recommended penalty or | ||||||
6 | agreed compromise, as the case may be, to the Commission at a | ||||||
7 | public meeting of the Commission and shall also post such | ||||||
8 | report on the Commission's website as a public document subject | ||||||
9 | to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the Public Utilities | ||||||
10 | Act. Whenever such report and request for approval shall be | ||||||
11 | made to the Commission, the Commission shall have the power, | ||||||
12 | and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon | ||||||
13 | its own motion, upon reasonable notice given within 45 days | ||||||
14 | after such report and request for approval was made at a public | ||||||
15 | meeting of the Commission, to enter upon a hearing concerning | ||||||
16 | the propriety of the applicable NOPV, payment, or compromise. | ||||||
17 | In the event the Commission does not exercise this power within | ||||||
18 | the 45-day period, the payment or agreed compromise referenced | ||||||
19 | in the report shall be deemed approved by the Commission by | ||||||
20 | operation of law at the expiration of the 45-day period and the | ||||||
21 | NOPV and related investigation shall be deemed closed. | ||||||
22 | (Source: P.A. 91-814, eff. 6-13-00.)
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23 | (220 ILCS 20/7.5 new) | ||||||
24 | Sec. 7.5. NOPV; Commission hearing. | ||||||
25 | (a) For the purposes of this Section, "violation" means a |
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1 | failure to comply with any provision of this Act or any | ||||||
2 | Commission order or rule issued under this Act. | ||||||
3 | (b) After investigation and determination of a probable | ||||||
4 | violation, the pipeline safety manager may issue and deposit in | ||||||
5 | the United States mail an NOPV. Any NOPV so issued and mailed | ||||||
6 | may also be posted on the Commission's website as a public | ||||||
7 | document, subject to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the | ||||||
8 | Public Utilities Act. | ||||||
9 | (c) An NOPV shall set forth, at a minimum, the following: | ||||||
10 | (1) the date the NOPV was issued and deposited in the United | ||||||
11 | States mail; (2) a description of the violation or violations | ||||||
12 | alleged; (3) the date and location of the safety incident, if | ||||||
13 | applicable, related to each alleged violation; (4) a detailed | ||||||
14 | description of the circumstances that support the | ||||||
15 | determination of each proposed violation; (5) a detailed | ||||||
16 | description of the corrective action required with respect to | ||||||
17 | each proposed violation; (6) the amount of the penalty, if any, | ||||||
18 | recommended with respect to each proposed violation; (7) the | ||||||
19 | applicable recommended deadline for payment of each proposed | ||||||
20 | penalty and for completion of each proposed corrective action | ||||||
21 | (in no event shall any recommended deadline be less than 30 | ||||||
22 | days after the date of the NOPV); (8) notification that any | ||||||
23 | such recommended deadline may be extended by mutual agreement | ||||||
24 | of the parties for the purpose of facilitating settlement or | ||||||
25 | compromise; and (9) a brief description of the procedures by | ||||||
26 | which any recommended penalty or proposed corrective action may |
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1 | be challenged at the Commission or approved pursuant to | ||||||
2 | subsection (f) of Section 7. | ||||||
3 | (d) Payment in full of each of the recommended penalties | ||||||
4 | and full completion of each of the proposed corrective actions, | ||||||
5 | as identified in the NOPV and in accordance with the terms and | ||||||
6 | conditions set forth in the NOPV, including without limitation | ||||||
7 | the respective recommended deadlines set forth in the NOPV for | ||||||
8 | such payment or completion, shall constitute a final resolution | ||||||
9 | of the NOPV, subject to the approval by the Commission of the | ||||||
10 | recommended penalty and payment in accordance with subsection | ||||||
11 | (f) of Section 7. | ||||||
12 | (e) If one or more of the alleged violations set forth in | ||||||
13 | an NOPV is contested, then the Commission shall have the power | ||||||
14 | and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon | ||||||
15 | its own motion, upon reasonable notice, to enter upon a hearing | ||||||
16 | under this Act concerning the incident referenced in the NOPV, | ||||||
17 | in accordance with Article X of the Public Utilities Act. If a | ||||||
18 | recommended penalty is not paid prior to the deadline | ||||||
19 | recommended in the NOPV or other mutually agreed upon date, or | ||||||
20 | if one or more of the proposed corrective actions set forth in | ||||||
21 | an NOPV is not fully and timely completed in accordance with | ||||||
22 | the terms and conditions set forth in the NOPV, the NOPV shall | ||||||
23 | be deemed contested. | ||||||
24 | (f) The Commission shall have the power to adopt rules to | ||||||
25 | implement this Section to the extent the Commission deems such | ||||||
26 | rules necessary or desirable.
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1 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
2 | becoming law.
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