Public Act 90-0039 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0039
HB2214 Enrolled LRB9004200DPcc
AN ACT to amend the Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailing
Control Act by changing Section 15 and adding Section 32.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailing Control
Act is amended by changing Section 15 and adding Section 32
as follows:
(420 ILCS 42/15)
Sec. 15. Storage fees.
(a) Beginning January 1, 1994, an annual fee shall be
imposed on the owner or operator of any property that has
been used in whole or in part for the milling of source
material and is being used for the storage or disposal of
by-product material, equal to $2 per cubic foot of by-product
material being stored or disposed of by the facility. After a
facility is cleaned up in accordance with the Department's
radiological soil clean-up criteria, no fee shall be due,
imposed upon, or collected from an owner. No fee shall be
imposed, however, upon any by-product material moved to a
facility in contemplation of the subsequent removal of the
by-product material pursuant to law or upon any by-product
material moved to a facility in contemplation of processing
the material through a physical separation facility if the
material has not been present at the facility for more than
180 days. No fees shall be collected from any State, county,
municipal, or local governmental agency. In connection with
settling litigation regarding the amount of the fee to be
imposed, the Director may enter into an agreement with the
owner or operator of any facility specifying that the fee to
be imposed shall not exceed $26,000,000 in any calendar year.
The storage fees assessed under this Section are separate and
distinct from any license fees imposed under Section 11 of
the Radiation Protection Act of 1990.
The fee shall be due on June 1 of each year or at such
other times in such installments as the Director may provide
by rule. To facilitate the expeditious removal of by-product
material, rules establishing payment dates or schedules may
be adopted as emergency rules under Section 5-45 of the
Administrative Procedure Act. The fee shall be collected and
administered by the Department, and shall be deposited into
the By-product Material Safety Fund, which is created as an
interest bearing special fund in the State Treasury. Amounts
in the By-product Material Safety Fund not currently required
to meet the obligations of the Fund shall be invested as
provided by law and all interest earned from investments
shall be retained in the Fund.
(b) Moneys in the By-product Material Safety Fund may be
expended by the Department for only the following purposes
and only as the moneys relate to by-product material
attributable to the owner or operator who pays the moneys
into the Fund:
(1) the costs of monitoring, inspecting, and
otherwise regulating the storage and disposal of
by-product material, wherever located;
(2) the costs of undertaking any necessary
maintenance, decommissioning activities, cleanup,
responses to radiation emergencies, or remedial action
that would otherwise be required of the owner or operator
by law or under a license amendment or condition may be
necessary in connection with by-product materials;
(3) the costs that would otherwise be required of
the owner or operator, by law or under a license
amendment or condition, incurred by the State arising
from the transportation of the by-product material from a
storage or unlicensed disposal location to a licensed
permanent disposal facility; and
(4) reimbursement to the owner or operator of any
facility used for the storage or disposal of by-product
material for costs incurred by the owner or operator in
connection with the decontamination or decommissioning of
the storage or disposal facility or other properties
contaminated with by-product material. However, the
amount of the reimbursements paid to the owner or
operator of a by-product material storage or disposal
facility shall not be reduced for any amounts recovered
by the owner or operator pursuant to Title X of the
federal Energy Policy Act of 1992 and shall not exceed
the amount of money paid into the Fund by that owner or
operator plus the interest accrued in the Fund
attributable to amounts paid by that owner or operator.
An owner or operator who incurs costs in connection with
the decontamination or decommissioning of the storage or
disposal facility or other properties contaminated with
by-product material is entitled to have those costs promptly
reimbursed from the Fund as provided in this Section. In the
event the owner or operator has incurred reimbursable costs
for which there are not adequate moneys in the Fund with
which to provide reimbursement, the Director shall reduce the
amount of any fee payable in the future imposed under this
Act by the amount of the reimbursable expenses incurred by
the owner or operator. An owner or operator of a facility
shall submit requests for reimbursement to the Director in a
form reasonably required by the Director. Upon receipt of a
request, the Director shall give written notice approving or
disapproving each of the owner's or operator's request for
reimbursement within 60 days. The Director shall approve
requests for reimbursement unless the Director finds that the
amount is excessive, erroneous, or otherwise inconsistent
with paragraph (4) of this subsection or with any license or
license amendments issued in connection with that owner's or
operator's decontamination or decommissioning plan. If the
Director disapproves a reimbursement request, the Director
shall set forth in writing to the owner or operator the
reasons for disapproval. The owner or operator may resubmit
to the Department a disapproved reimbursement request with
additional information as may be required. Disapproval of a
reimbursement request shall constitute final action for
purposes of the Administrative Review Law unless the owner or
operator resubmits the denied request within 35 days. To the
extent there are funds available in the Fund, Upon approval
of a reimbursement request the Director shall prepare and
certify to the Comptroller the disbursement of the approved
sums from the By-Product Material Safety Fund to the owners
or operators or, if there are insufficient funds available,
the Director shall off-set future fees otherwise payable by
the owner or operator by the amount of the approved
reimbursable expenses.
(c) To the extent that costs identified in parts (1),
(2), and (3) of subsections (b) are recovered by the
Department under the Radiation Protection Act of 1990 or its
rules, the Department shall not use money in the By-product
Material Safety Fund to cover these costs.
(d) The provisions directing the expenditures from the
By-product Material Safety Fund provided for in this Section
shall constitute an irrevocable and continuing appropriation
to the Department of Nuclear Safety solely for the purposes
as provided in this Section. The State Treasurer and State
Comptroller are hereby authorized and directed to pay
expenditures or record in their records any offset approved
by the Director as provided in this Section.
(Source: P.A. 87-1024; 88-638, eff. 9-9-94.)
(420 ILCS 42/32 new)
Sec. 32. Limitations on groundwater and property use.
(a) In connection with the decommissioning of a source
material milling facility or the termination of the
facility's license, the Department shall have the authority
to adopt by rule, or impose by order or license amendment or
condition, restrictions on the use of groundwater on any
property that has been licensed for the milling of source
material and any property downgradient from the property that
has been licensed for the milling of source material where
the groundwater impacted by a licensed facility has
constituents above naturally-occurring levels and is in
excess of the groundwater standards enforceable by the
Department.
(b) In connection with the decommissioning of a source
material milling facility or the termination of the
facility's license, the Department shall have the authority
to adopt by rule, or impose by order or license amendment or
condition, restrictions on property that has been licensed
for the milling of source material where the soil has
constituents above naturally-occurring levels to limit or
prohibit:
(1) the construction of basements or other similar
below-ground structures, other than footings or pilings,
on any portion of the property where elevated levels of
the constituents are present in the soil; and
(2) the excavation of soil from a portion of the
property where elevated levels of the constituents are
present in the excavated soil, unless the excavated soil
is (i) disposed of in a facility licensed or permitted to
dispose of that soil or (ii) returned to the approximate
depth from which it was excavated and covered with an
equivalent cover.
(c) The authority granted to the Department under this
Section is intended to secure the greatest protection of the
public health and safety practicable in the decommissioning
of a source material milling facility or the termination of
the facility's license and shall be in addition to the
authority granted under the Radiation Protection Act of 1990.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.