Full Text of HJR0039 96th General Assembly
HJ0039eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 39
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| WHEREAS, In 1993, Public Act 88-496 established the Leaking | 3 |
| Underground Storage Tank (LUST) program; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, The purpose of the LUST program is, in accordance | 5 |
| with the requirements of the Federal Hazardous and Solid Waste | 6 |
| Amendments of 1984 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery | 7 |
| Act of 1976 and in accordance with the State's interest to | 8 |
| protect the environment, to establish procedures for the | 9 |
| remediation of environmental contamination caused by leaking | 10 |
| underground storage tanks; to oversee and review any required | 11 |
| remediation of sites containing those tanks; to establish an | 12 |
| Underground Storage Tank Fund to satisfy the financial | 13 |
| responsibility requirements imposed by federal and State laws | 14 |
| and regulations; and to establish procedures for persons | 15 |
| eligible to seek payment from the Fund for costs associated | 16 |
| with remediation; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois motor fuel taxes and environmental | 18 |
| impact fees have financed the Fund; and
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| WHEREAS, Over the course of its operation, the Fund has | 20 |
| paid over $1 billion for eligible environmental clean-ups; and
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| WHEREAS, During this period, the Fund has twice experienced |
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| funding shortages, the current shortage requiring applicants | 2 |
| for reimbursement to wait up to 18 months for payment; and
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| WHEREAS, There is currently a backlog of unpaid claims | 4 |
| totaling $62 million; and
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| WHEREAS, If the Fund is not solvent, Illinois tank owners | 6 |
| and operators will be forced to find more costly methods to | 7 |
| satisfy their financial responsibility obligations under | 8 |
| federal and State laws and regulations; and
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency | 10 |
| estimates under the current system a future liability of $864 | 11 |
| million to clean up projected 6500 leaking underground storage | 12 |
| tank sites in Illinois over the next 20 years; and
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| WHEREAS, Under the current system, the existing funding | 14 |
| sources will not be sufficient to keep up with the costs; and
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| WHEREAS, The cost of an average leaking underground storage | 16 |
| tank site where costs are reimbursed from the Fund is | 17 |
| significantly higher than in other states; and
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| WHEREAS, Current law does not contain adequate methods for | 19 |
| monitoring and controlling costs at leaking underground | 20 |
| storage tank sites where costs are reimbursed from the Fund; |
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| and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, The General Assembly finds that it is necessary to | 3 |
| form a Task Force to study the significant problems that the | 4 |
| Fund currently faces; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 6 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 7 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created an Underground | 8 |
| Storage Tank Task Force to study the significant problems that | 9 |
| the Underground Storage Tank Fund faces and to suggest a new | 10 |
| approach to determine how moneys in the Fund will be used to | 11 |
| pay for corrective action costs in addressing petroleum | 12 |
| releases at sites and to study ways to monitor and control the | 13 |
| costs of clean-up of leaking underground storage tank sites; | 14 |
| and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall consist of 11 members | 16 |
| appointed as follows: | 17 |
| (1) One person appointed by the Speaker of the House, | 18 |
| who shall serve as cochairman of the Task Force; | 19 |
| (2) One person appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 20 |
| House;
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| (3) One person appointed by the President of the | 22 |
| Senate, who shall serve as cochairman of the Task Force; | 23 |
| (4) One person appointed by the Minority Leader of the |
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| Senate; | 2 |
| (5) The Director of the Illinois Environmental | 3 |
| Protection Agency, or his or her representative; | 4 |
| (6) One person representing the Office of the State | 5 |
| Fire Marshall; | 6 |
| (7) One person, designated by the President of a | 7 |
| petroleum marketers' association in Illinois; | 8 |
| (8) One person, designated by the Director of the | 9 |
| Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, of a petroleum | 10 |
| council in Illinois; | 11 |
| (9) One person, designated by the Director of the | 12 |
| Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, of an | 13 |
| association of petroleum and environmental engineers in | 14 |
| Illinois; | 15 |
| (10) One person, designated by the Director of the | 16 |
| Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, of an | 17 |
| association of convenience stores in Illinois;
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| (11) One person, designated by the Director of the | 19 |
| Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, of a council of | 20 |
| engineering companies in Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the approaches studied by the Task Force | 22 |
| shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
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| (1) In order to prevent the recurrence of a backlog of | 24 |
| unpaid claims, requiring that the total costs approved for | 25 |
| reimbursement from the Fund not exceed the monies in the |
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| Fund available to pay the costs;
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| (2) Requiring that costs reimbursed from the Fund be | 3 |
| minimized to the greatest extent practicable, including, | 4 |
| but not limited to, utilization of the Illinois Pollution | 5 |
| Control Board's risk-based corrective action rules to the | 6 |
| greatest extent practicable;
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| (3) Requiring that costs that will be reimbursed from | 8 |
| the Fund be pre-approved by the State before they are | 9 |
| incurred;
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| (4) Prioritizing approvals of costs that will be | 11 |
| reimbursed from the Fund so that (1) sites posing a greater | 12 |
| threat to human health and the environment receive higher | 13 |
| priority than sites posing a lesser threat to human health | 14 |
| and the environment, and (2) sites with operating | 15 |
| underground storage tanks at the time of the release | 16 |
| receive higher priority than sites without operating | 17 |
| underground storage tanks at the time of the release;
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| (5) Competitive bidding of costs that will be | 19 |
| reimbursed from the Fund, with such bidding including, but | 20 |
| not being limited to, public notice of bid proposals; and | 21 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Illinois Environmental Protection | 23 |
| Agency shall provide staff and support for the Task Force; and | 24 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the members of the Task Force shall receive | 2 |
| no compensation for serving as members of the Task Force; and | 3 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall make its | 5 |
| recommendations on proposed solutions to the significant | 6 |
| problems facing the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Program | 7 |
| and Fund and shall submit a report of its findings to the | 8 |
| Governor and the General Assembly by December 31, 2009.
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