Full Text of SB3193 97th General Assembly
SB3193 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012 SB3193 Introduced 2/1/2012, by Sen. Mike Jacobs SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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220 ILCS 5/4-203 | from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 4-203 |
220 ILCS 5/13-304 |
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220 ILCS 20/7 | from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 557 |
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Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that all fines and penalties recovered by the State
in certain actions and all other fines and civil penalties shall be paid into the State treasury to the credit of the Public Utility Fund (instead of the General Revenue Fund). Amends the Illinois Gas Pipeline Safety Act. Removes from the Act that the amount of any final civil penalty may be deducted from any sums owed by the State to the person charged or that may be recovered in a civil action. Provides that all penalties
recovered by the State in any action shall be paid into the Public Utility Fund (instead of the General Revenue Fund). Effective immediately.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning regulation.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Sections 4-203 and 13-304 as follows:
| 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/4-203) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 4-203)
| 7 | | Sec. 4-203. Action to recover penalties.
| 8 | | (a) All civil penalties established under this Act shall be | 9 | | assessed and
collected
by the Commission. Except for the | 10 | | penalties provided under Section 2-202, civil
penalties may be | 11 | | assessed only after notice and opportunity to be heard. In
| 12 | | determining the amount of the
penalty, the Commission shall | 13 | | consider
the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the | 14 | | business of the public
utility, corporation other than a public | 15 | | utility, or person acting as a public
utility charged, the | 16 | | gravity of the violation, such other mitigating
or aggravating | 17 | | factors as the Commission may find to exist, and
the good faith | 18 | | of the public
utility, corporation other than a public utility, | 19 | | or person acting as a public
utility charged in attempting to | 20 | | achieve compliance after notification of a
violation. Nothing | 21 | | in this Section, however, increases or
decreases any minimum or | 22 | | maximum penalty prescribed elsewhere in this Act.
| 23 | | (b) If timely judicial review of a Commission order that |
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| 1 | | imposes a civil
penalty is
taken by the public utility, | 2 | | corporation other than a public utility, or person
acting as a | 3 | | public utility on which the civil penalty has been imposed, the
| 4 | | reviewing court shall enter a judgment on all amounts upon | 5 | | affirmance of the
Commission order. If timely judicial review | 6 | | is not taken and the civil penalty
remains unpaid for 60 days | 7 | | after service of the
order, the Commission in its discretion | 8 | | may either begin revocation proceedings
or bring suit to | 9 | | recover the penalties. Unless stayed by a reviewing court,
| 10 | | interest at the post-judgment rate set forth in Section 2-1303 | 11 | | of the Code of
Civil Procedure
shall accrue from 60 days after | 12 | | the date of service of the Commission
order.
| 13 | | (c) Actions to recover delinquent civil penalties under | 14 | | this Act shall be
brought in the name of the People of the | 15 | | State of Illinois in the circuit court
in and for the county in | 16 | | which the cause, or some part thereof, arose, or in
which the | 17 | | corporation
complained
of, if any, has its principal place of | 18 | | business, or in which the person, if
any, complained of, | 19 | | resides. The action shall be commenced and prosecuted to
final | 20 | | judgment by the Commission. In any such action, all interest | 21 | | incurred up
to the time of final court judgment may be sued for | 22 | | and recovered in that
action. In all such actions, the | 23 | | procedure and rules of evidence shall be the
same as in | 24 | | ordinary civil actions, except
as otherwise herein provided. | 25 | | All fines and penalties recovered by the State
in any such | 26 | | action shall be paid into the State treasury to the credit of |
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| 1 | | the
Public Utility Fund General Revenue Fund . Any such action | 2 | | may be compromised or discontinued on
application of the | 3 | | Commission
upon such terms as the court shall approve and | 4 | | order.
| 5 | | (d) Civil penalties related to the late filing of reports, | 6 | | taxes, or other
filings shall
be paid into the State treasury | 7 | | to the credit of the Public Utility Fund.
Except as otherwise | 8 | | provided in this Act, all other fines and civil penalties
shall | 9 | | be paid into the State treasury to the credit of the Public | 10 | | Utility Fund General Revenue
Fund .
| 11 | | (Source: P.A. 93-457, eff. 8-8-03.)
| 12 | | (220 ILCS 5/13-304)
| 13 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2013)
| 14 | | Sec. 13-304. Action to recover civil penalties.
| 15 | | (a) The Commission shall assess and collect all civil | 16 | | penalties established
under this Act against
| 17 | | telecommunications carriers, corporations other than | 18 | | telecommunications
carriers, and persons acting as | 19 | | telecommunications carriers.
Except for the penalties provided | 20 | | under
Section 2-202, civil penalties may be assessed only after | 21 | | notice and
opportunity to be heard. Any such civil penalty may | 22 | | be compromised by the
Commission. In determining the amount of | 23 | | the civil penalty to be assessed, or
the amount of the civil | 24 | | penalty to be compromised, the Commission is authorized
to | 25 | | consider any matters of record in aggravation or mitigation of |
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| 1 | | the penalty,
including but not limited to the following:
| 2 | | (1) the duration and gravity of the violation of the | 3 | | Act, the rules,
or the order of the Commission;
| 4 | | (2) the presence or absence of due diligence on the | 5 | | part of the violator
in attempting either to comply with | 6 | | requirements of the Act, the rules,
or the order of the | 7 | | Commission, or to secure lawful relief from those
| 8 | | requirements;
| 9 | | (3) any economic benefits accrued by the violator | 10 | | because of the delay in
compliance with requirements of the | 11 | | Act, the rules, or the order of the
Commission; and
| 12 | | (4) the amount of monetary penalty that will serve to | 13 | | deter further
violations by the violator and to otherwise | 14 | | aid in enhancing voluntary
compliance with the Act, the | 15 | | rules, or the order of the Commission by the
violator and | 16 | | other persons similarly subject to the Act.
| 17 | | (b) If timely judicial review of a Commission order that | 18 | | imposes a civil
penalty is taken by a telecommunications | 19 | | carrier, a corporation other than a
telecommunications | 20 | | carrier,
or a person acting as a telecommunications carrier on | 21 | | whom or on which the
civil penalty has been imposed, the | 22 | | reviewing court shall enter a judgment on
all amounts upon | 23 | | affirmance of the Commission order. If timely judicial review
| 24 | | is not taken and the civil penalty remains unpaid for 60 days | 25 | | after service of
the order, the Commission in its discretion | 26 | | may either begin revocation
proceedings or bring suit to |
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| 1 | | recover the penalties. Unless stayed by a
reviewing court, | 2 | | interest shall accrue from the 60th day after the date of
| 3 | | service of the Commission order to the date full payment is | 4 | | received by the
Commission.
| 5 | | (c) Actions to recover delinquent civil penalties under | 6 | | this Section shall
be brought in the name of the People of the | 7 | | State of Illinois in the circuit
court in and for the county in | 8 | | which the cause, or some part thereof, arose, or
in which the | 9 | | entity complained
of resides. The action shall be commenced and | 10 | | prosecuted to final judgement by
the Commission. In any such | 11 | | action, all interest incurred up to the time of
final court | 12 | | judgment may be recovered in that action. In all such actions, | 13 | | the
procedure and rules of evidence shall be the same as in | 14 | | ordinary civil actions,
except as otherwise herein provided. | 15 | | Any such action may be compromised or
discontinued on | 16 | | application of the Commission upon such terms as the court
| 17 | | shall approve and order.
| 18 | | (d) Civil penalties related to the late filing of reports, | 19 | | taxes, or other
filings shall be paid into the State treasury | 20 | | to the credit of the Public
Utility Fund. Except as otherwise | 21 | | provided in this Act, all other fines and
civil penalties shall | 22 | | be paid into the State treasury to the credit of the
Public | 23 | | Utility Fund General Revenue Fund .
| 24 | | (Source: P.A. 92-22, eff. 6-30-01 .)
| 25 | | Section 10. The Illinois Gas Pipeline Safety Act is amended |
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| 1 | | by changing Section 7 as follows:
| 2 | | (220 ILCS 20/7) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 557)
| 3 | | Sec. 7. Penalties; action for penalties.
| 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.
| 12 | | (b) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the Commission. | 13 | | In
determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed | 14 | | upon in
compromise, the Commission shall consider the | 15 | | appropriateness of the
penalty to the size of the business of | 16 | | the person charged, the gravity of
the violation, and the good | 17 | | faith of the person charged in attempting to
achieve | 18 | | compliance, after notification of a violation. The amount of | 19 | | the
penalty when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon | 20 | | in compromise,
may be deducted from any sums owing by the State | 21 | | of Illinois to the person
charged or may be recovered in a | 22 | | civil action in accordance with paragraph
(c) of this Section | 23 | | 7.
| 24 | | (c) Actions to recover penalties under this Act shall be | 25 | | brought in the
name of the People of the State of Illinois in |
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| 1 | | the circuit court in and for
the county in which the cause or | 2 | | some part thereof, arose or in which the
corporation complained | 3 | | of, if any, has its principal place of business or
in which the | 4 | | person, if any, complained of, resides. All penalties
recovered | 5 | | by the State in any action shall be paid into the Public | 6 | | Utility Fund general
fund of the State Treasury. The action | 7 | | shall be commenced and prosecuted
to final judgment by the | 8 | | Attorney General on behalf of the Commission. In
all such | 9 | | actions, the procedure and rules of evidence shall conform with
| 10 | | the Civil Practice Law and other rules of court governing civil
| 11 | | trials.
| 12 | | (d) In addition the Commission may proceed under Section | 13 | | 4-202 of the
Public Utilities Act, either by mandamus or | 14 | | injunction, to secure
compliance with its rules, regulations | 15 | | and orders issued under this Act.
| 16 | | (e) Any person penalized under this Section is not subject, | 17 | | for the same
cause, to any other penalty provided in the Public | 18 | | Utilities Act.
| 19 | | (Source: P.A. 91-814, eff. 6-13-00.)
| 20 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 21 | | becoming law.
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