Full Text of SB1377 99th General Assembly
SB1377enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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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 Illinois Oil and Gas Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 8a and by adding Section 8d as follows:
| 6 | | (225 ILCS 725/8a) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5413)
| 7 | | Sec. 8a.
When an inspector or other authorized employee or | 8 | | agent of the
Department determines that any permittee, or any | 9 | | person engaged in conduct
or activities required to be | 10 | | permitted under this Act, is in violation of
any requirement of | 11 | | this Act or the rules adopted hereunder or any permit
| 12 | | condition,
or has falsified or otherwise misstated any | 13 | | information on or relative to any application, permit, required | 14 | | record, or other document required to be submitted to the | 15 | | Department by this Act or any rules or procedures adopted under | 16 | | this Act the
permit application ,
a notice of violation shall be | 17 | | completed and delivered to the
Director or his designee.
| 18 | | The notice shall contain:
| 19 | | 1. the nature of the violation;
| 20 | | 2. the action needed to abate the violation, including | 21 | | any appropriate
remedial measures to prevent future | 22 | | violation such as replacement, repair,
testing and | 23 | | reworking a well and any appurtenances and equipment;
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| 1 | | 3. the time within which the violation is to be abated; | 2 | | and
| 3 | | 4. any factors known to the person completing the | 4 | | notice of violation
in aggravation or mitigation and the | 5 | | existence of any factors indicating
that the permit should | 6 | | be conditioned or modified.
| 7 | | Upon receipt of a notice of violation, the Director shall | 8 | | conduct his
investigation and may affirm, vacate or modify the | 9 | | notice of violation. In
determining whether to take actions in | 10 | | addition to remedial action
necessary to abate a violation, the | 11 | | Director shall consider the person's or
permittee's history of | 12 | | previous violations including violations at other
locations | 13 | | and under other permits, the seriousness of the violation
| 14 | | including any irreparable harm to the environment or damage to | 15 | | property,
the degree of culpability of the person or permittee | 16 | | and the existence of
any additional conditions or factors in | 17 | | aggravation or mitigation including
information provided by | 18 | | the person or permittee.
| 19 | | The Director shall serve the person or permittee with his | 20 | | decision
at the conclusion of the investigation.
Modification | 21 | | of the notice
of violation may include:
| 22 | | 1. any different or additional remedial action | 23 | | required to abate the
violation and the time within which | 24 | | the violation must be abated;
| 25 | | 2. the assessment of civil penalties not to exceed | 26 | | $5,000 for each and every falsification or misstatement of |
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| 1 | | information and $1,000 a day for
each and every act of | 2 | | violation not including a falsification or misstatement of | 3 | | information ;
| 4 | | 3. probationary or permanent modification or | 5 | | conditions on the permit
which may include special | 6 | | monitoring or reporting requirements; and
| 7 | | 4. revocation of the permit.
| 8 | | The Director's decision shall provide that the person or | 9 | | permittee has
the right to request a hearing.
| 10 | | The Director's decision affirming, vacating or modifying | 11 | | the notice of
violation shall be considered served when mailed | 12 | | by first class mail to the person or permittee at his
last | 13 | | known address.
| 14 | | A person or permittee shall have 30 days from the date of | 15 | | service of the
Director's decision to request a hearing. If the | 16 | | Director's decision
includes the assessment of a civil penalty, | 17 | | the person or permittee charged
with the penalty shall pay the | 18 | | penalty in full or, if the person or
permittee wishes to | 19 | | contest either the amount of the penalty or the fact of
the | 20 | | violation, submit the assessed amount, with the request for a | 21 | | hearing,
to be held in escrow. The filing of a request for a | 22 | | hearing shall not
operate as a stay of the Director's decision. | 23 | | All civil penalties finally
assessed and paid to the Department | 24 | | shall be deposited in the Underground
Resources Conservation | 25 | | Enforcement Fund.
| 26 | | Any person who willfully or knowingly authorized, ordered, |
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| 1 | | or carried out
any violation cited in the Director's decision | 2 | | shall be subject to the same
actions, including civil | 3 | | penalties, which may be imposed on the person or
permittee | 4 | | under this Section.
| 5 | | Upon receipt of a request, the Department shall provide an
| 6 | | opportunity for a formal hearing upon not less than 5 days | 7 | | notice. The
hearing shall be conducted by the Director or | 8 | | anyone designated by him for
such purpose, and shall be located | 9 | | and conducted in accordance with the rules
of the
Department. | 10 | | Failure of the person or permittee to timely request a hearing
| 11 | | or, if a civil penalty has been assessed, to timely tender the | 12 | | assessed civil
penalty,
shall constitute a waiver of all legal | 13 | | rights to contest the Director's
decision, including the amount | 14 | | of any civil penalty. Within 30 days of
the close of the | 15 | | hearing record or expiration of the time to request a
hearing, | 16 | | the Department shall issue a final administrative order.
| 17 | | If, at the expiration of the period of time originally | 18 | | fixed in the
Director's decision or in any subsequent extension | 19 | | of time granted by the
Department, the Department finds that | 20 | | the violation has not been abated, it
may immediately order the | 21 | | cessation of operations
or the portions thereof relevant to the | 22 | | violation. Such cessation order
shall be served in the manner | 23 | | and within the time prescribed in Section
19.1 of this Act.
| 24 | | Pending the holding of any hearing or entry of a final | 25 | | administrative
order under this Section, the person or | 26 | | permittee to whom the cessation
order was issued may file a |
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| 1 | | written request for temporary relief subject to
the same terms | 2 | | and conditions as are provided for in Section 19.1 of this Act.
| 3 | | If the Department finds that a person or permittee has | 4 | | failed to comply
with a final administrative order, the | 5 | | Department may immediately order the
cessation of operations or | 6 | | the portions thereof relevant to the final
administrative | 7 | | order. Such cessation order shall be served in the manner
and | 8 | | within the time prescribed in Section 19.1 of this Act. The
| 9 | | Department shall commence a hearing within 5 days after | 10 | | issuance of a
cessation order and shall conclude such hearing | 11 | | without appreciable delay.
At the hearing the Department shall | 12 | | have the burden of proving that the
person or permittee has not | 13 | | complied with the final administrative order.
A cessation order | 14 | | issued under this paragraph shall continue in effect
until | 15 | | modified, vacated, or terminated by the Department.
| 16 | | The Department shall refuse to issue a permit or permits,
| 17 | | and shall revoke any permit or permits previously issued
if:
| 18 | | (1) the applicant has falsified or otherwise misstated | 19 | | any information
on or relative to the permit application;
| 20 | | (2) the applicant has failed to abate a violation of | 21 | | the Act specified
in a final administrative decision of the | 22 | | Department;
| 23 | | (3) an officer, director, partner, or person with an | 24 | | interest in the
applicant exceeding 5% failed to abate a | 25 | | violation of the Act specified in a
final administrative | 26 | | decision of the Department; or
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| 1 | | (4) the applicant is an officer, director, partner, or | 2 | | person with an
interest exceeding 5% in another entity that | 3 | | has failed to abate a violation of
the Act specified in a | 4 | | final administrative decision of the Department.
| 5 | | (Source: P.A. 89-243, eff. 8-4-95.)
| 6 | | (225 ILCS 725/8d new) | 7 | | Sec. 8d. Falsification or misstatement of information. No | 8 | | person shall falsify or otherwise misstate any information on | 9 | | or relative to any application, permit, required record, or | 10 | | other document required to be submitted to the Department by | 11 | | this Act or any rules or procedures adopted under this Act.
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