HB1620enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1620 Enrolled LRB094 02868 RSP 32869 b

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 13.6 as follows:

(415 ILCS 5/13.6 new)

Sec. 13.6. Release of radionuclides at nuclear power plants.

(a) The purpose of this Section is to require the detection and reporting of unpermitted releases of any radionuclides into groundwater, surface water, or soil at nuclear power plants, to the extent that federal law or regulation does not preempt such requirements.

(b) No owner or operator of a nuclear power plant shall violate any rule adopted under this Section.

(c) Within 24 hours after an unpermitted release of a radionuclide from a nuclear power plant, the owner or operator of the nuclear power plant where the release occurred shall report the release to the Agency and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. For purposes of this Section, "unpermitted release of a radionuclide" means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching, or disposing of a radionuclide into groundwater, surface water, or soil that is not permitted under State or federal law or regulation.

(d) The Agency and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency shall inspect each nuclear power plant for compliance with the requirements of this Section and rules adopted pursuant to this Section no less than once each calendar quarter. Nothing in this Section shall limit the Agency's authority to make inspections under Section 4 or any other provision of this Act.

(e) No later than one year after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the Agency, in consultation with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, shall propose rules to the Board prescribing standards for detecting and reporting unpermitted releases of radionuclides. No later than one year after receipt of the Agency's proposal, the Board shall adopt rules prescribing standards for detecting and reporting unpermitted releases of radionuclides. Rules adopted under this subsection may also include standards for self-inspection by the owner or operator of the nuclear power plant in lieu of the inspections required under subsection (d) of this Section.

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