Public Act 90-0262 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0262
HB1229 Enrolled LRB9002065DPccA
AN ACT creating the Radon Industry Licensing Act,
amending and repealing named Acts.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Radon Industry Licensing Act.
Section 5. Legislative declaration. The General Assembly
declares that it is in the interest of the people of Illinois
to establish a comprehensive program for determining the
extent to which radon and radon progeny are present in
dwellings and other buildings in Illinois at levels that pose
a potential risk to the occupants and for determining
measures that can be taken to reduce and prevent such risk.
The General Assembly also finds that public concerns over the
dangers from radon and radon progeny may give rise to
unscrupulous practices that exploit those concerns but do not
mitigate the dangers from radon and radon progeny. It is
therefore declared to be the public policy of this State that
in order to safeguard the health, property, and public
welfare of its citizens, persons engaged in the business of
detecting the presence of radon or radon progeny in dwellings
and reducing the presence of radon and radon progeny in the
indoor atmosphere shall be regulated by the State through
licensing requirements.
Section 10. Primary responsibility with Department of
Nuclear Safety. The Department shall have primary
responsibility for coordination, oversight, and
implementation of all State functions in matters concerning
the presence, effects, measurement, and mitigation of risks
of radon and radon progeny in dwellings and other buildings.
The Department of Natural Resources, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Department of Public Health, and other
State agencies shall consult and cooperate with the
Department as requested and as necessary to fulfill the
purposes of this Act.
Section 15. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
context requires otherwise:
(a) "Department" means the Illinois Department of
Nuclear Safety.
(b) "Interfere" means to adversely or potentially
adversely impact the successful completion of an indoor radon
measurement by changing the radon or radon progeny
concentrations or altering the performance of measurement
equipment or an indoor radon mitigation system installation
or operation.
(c) "Laboratory analysis" means the act of determining
radon or radon progeny concentrations in air, water, soil, or
passive radon testing devices or the act of exposing radon or
radon progeny devices to known concentrations of radon or
radon progeny as a compensated service.
(d) "Mitigation" means the act of repairing or altering
a building or building design for the purpose in whole or in
part of reducing the concentration of radon in the indoor
atmosphere.
(e) "Person" means an individual, firm, group,
association, partnership, joint venture, trust, or government
agency or subdivision.
(f) "Radon" means a gaseous radioactive decay product of
uranium or thorium.
(g) "Radon contractor" or "contractor" means a person
licensed to perform radon or radon progeny mitigation or to
perform radon measurements to detect radon or radon progeny
in an indoor atmosphere.
(h) "Radon progeny" means any combination of the
radioactive decay products of radon.
Section 20. General powers.
(a) The Department may undertake projects to determine
whether and to what extent radon and radon progeny are
present in dwellings and other buildings, to determine to
what extent their presence constitutes a risk to public
health, and to determine what measures are effective in
reducing and preventing the risk to public health.
(b) In addition to other powers granted under this Act,
the Department is authorized to:
(1) Establish a program for measuring radon or
radon progeny in dwellings and other buildings.
(2) Conduct surveys and studies in cooperation with
the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of
Public Health to determine the distribution and
concentration of radon or radon progeny in dwellings and
other buildings and the associated health risk and to
evaluate measures that may be used to mitigate a present
or potential health risk.
(3) Enter into dwellings and other buildings with
the consent of the owner or occupant to engage in
monitoring activities or to conduct remedial action
studies or programs.
(4) Enter into contracts for projects undertaken
pursuant to subsection (a).
(5) Enter into agreements with other departments,
agencies, and subdivisions of the federal government, the
State, and units of local government to implement this
Act.
(6) Establish training and educational programs.
(7) Apply for, accept, and use grants or other
financial assistance and accept and use gifts of money or
property to implement this Act.
(8) Provide technical assistance to persons and to
other State departments, agencies, political
subdivisions, units of local government, and school
districts.
(9) Prescribe forms for application for licensure.
(10) Establish the minimum qualifications for
licensure, including requirements for examinations or
performance testing, and issue licenses to persons found
to be qualified.
(11) Conduct hearings or proceedings to revoke,
suspend, or refuse to issue or renew a license.
(12) Adopt rules for the administration and
enforcement of this Act.
(13) Establish by rule the application and
inspection fees for the licensing program.
Section 25. License requirement. Beginning January 1,
1998, no person shall sell a device or perform a service for
compensation to detect the presence of radon or radon
progeny, perform laboratory analysis, or perform a service to
reduce the presence of radon or radon progeny in the indoor
atmosphere unless the person has been licensed by the
Department. The application procedures for licensure shall be
established by rule of the Department. This Section does not
apply to persons selling or distributing, but not placing,
radon sampling devices supplied by a laboratory if the
results of the laboratory analysis are reported directly to
the owner or occupant of the building sampled.
Section 30. Reporting of information. Within 45 days
after testing for radon or radon progeny, a person performing
the testing shall report to the owner or occupant of the
building the results of the testing. To the extent that the
testing results contain information pertaining to the medical
condition of an identified individual or the level of radon
or radon progeny in an identified dwelling, information
obtained by the Department pursuant to this Act is exempt
from the disclosure requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act, except that the Department shall make the
information available to the identified individual or the
owner or occupant on request.
Section 35. Penalties. A person who violates a provision
of this Act shall be guilty of a business offense and shall
be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for the
first offense and shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor
for a subsequent offense. Each day that a violation continues
constitutes a separate offense. A licensed radon contractor
found guilty of a violation of a provision of this Act shall
automatically have his or her license terminated by the
Department.
Section 40. Interference. No person shall interfere with
or cause another person to interfere with the successful
completion of a radon measurement or the installation or
operation of a radon mitigation system. This Section applies
to persons required to be licensed under this Act and to
persons not required to be licensed under this Act.
Section 45. Grounds for disciplinary action. The
Department may refuse to issue or to renew, or may revoke,
suspend, place on probation, reprimand or take other
disciplinary action as the Department may deem proper,
including fines not to exceed $1,000 for each violation, with
regard to any license for any one or combination of the
following causes:
(a) Violation of this Act or its rules.
(b) Conviction of a crime under the laws of any United
States jurisdiction that is a felony or a misdemeanor, an
essential element of which is dishonesty, or of any crime
that directly relates to the practice of detecting or
reducing the presence of radon or radon progeny.
(c) Making a misrepresentation for the purpose of
obtaining a license.
(d) Professional incompetence or gross negligence in the
practice of detecting or reducing the presence of radon or
radon progeny.
(e) Gross malpractice, prima facie evidence of which may
be a conviction or judgment of malpractice in a court of
competent jurisdiction.
(f) Aiding or assisting another person in violating a
provision of this Act or its rules.
(g) Failing, within 60 days, to provide information in
response to a written request made by the Department that has
been sent by certified or registered mail to the licensee's
last known address.
(h) Engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or
unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive,
defraud, or harm the public.
(i) Habitual or excessive use or addiction to alcohol,
narcotics, stimulants, or any other chemical agent or drug
that results in the inability to practice with reasonable
judgment, skill, or safety.
(j) Discipline by another United States jurisdiction or
foreign nation, if at least one of the grounds for the
discipline is the same or substantially equivalent to those
set forth in this Section.
(k) Directly or indirectly giving to or receiving from a
person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association any
fee, commission, rebate, or other form of compensation for a
professional service not actually or personally rendered.
(l) A finding by the Department that the licensee, after
having his or her license placed on probationary status, has
violated the terms of probation.
(m) Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction,
either within or outside of this State, of a violation of a
law governing the practice of detecting or reducing the
presence of radon or radon progeny if the Department
determines after investigation that the person has not been
sufficiently rehabilitated to warrant the public trust.
(n) A finding by the Department that licensure has been
applied for or obtained by fraudulent means.
(o) Practicing or attempting to practice under a name
other than the full name as shown on the license or any other
authorized name.
(p) Gross and willful overcharging for professional
services, including filing false statements for collection of
fees or moneys for which services are not rendered.
(q) Failure to file a return or to pay the tax, penalty,
or interest shown in a filed return, or to pay any final
assessment of tax, penalty, or interest, as required by a tax
Act administered by the Department of Revenue, until such
time as the requirements of any such tax Act are satisfied.
(r) The Department shall deny an original or renewal
license under this Act to a person who has defaulted on an
educational loan guaranteed by the Illinois State Scholarship
Commission. However, the Department may issue an original or
renewal license if the person in default has established a
satisfactory repayment record as determined by the Illinois
State Scholarship Commission.
Section 50. Summary suspension. The Director may
summarily suspend the license of a radon contractor without a
hearing, simultaneously with the institution of proceedings
for a hearing, if the Director finds that evidence in his or
her possession indicates that continuation of the contractor
in practice would constitute an imminent danger to the
public. If the Director summarily suspends a license without
a hearing, a hearing by the Department shall be held within
30 days after the suspension has occurred and shall be
concluded without appreciable delay.
Section 55. Liability. The Department and other persons
under contract or agreement with the Department under this
Act, and their officers, agents, and employees, shall not be
liable for conduct in the course of administering or
enforcing this Act unless the conduct was malicious.
Section 60. Deposit of moneys. All moneys received by
the Department under this Act shall be deposited into the
Radiation Protection Fund and are not refundable. Moneys
deposited into the Fund may be used by the Department,
pursuant to appropriation, for the administration and
enforcement of this Act.
Section 65. Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The
provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act are
hereby expressly adopted and shall apply to all
administrative rules and procedures of the Department under
this Act, except that Section 5 of the Illinois
Administrative Procedure Act relating to procedures for
rulemaking does not apply to the adoption of any rule
required by federal law in connection with which the
Department is precluded from exercising any discretion.
Section 70. Administrative Review Law. All final
administrative decisions of the Department under this Act
shall be subject to judicial review under the provisions of
the Administrative Review Law and its rules. The term
"administrative decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of
the Code of Civil Procedure.
Section 75. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
changing Section 7 as follows:
(5 ILCS 140/7) (from Ch. 116, par. 207)
Sec. 7. Exemptions.
(1) The following shall be exempt from inspection and
copying:
(a) Information specifically prohibited from
disclosure by federal or State law or rules and
regulations adopted under federal or State law.
(b) Information that, if disclosed, would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy, unless the disclosure is consented to in writing
by the individual subjects of the information. The
disclosure of information that bears on the public duties
of public employees and officials shall not be considered
an invasion of personal privacy. Information exempted
under this subsection (b) shall include but is not
limited to:
(i) files and personal information maintained
with respect to clients, patients, residents,
students or other individuals receiving social,
medical, educational, vocational, financial,
supervisory or custodial care or services directly
or indirectly from federal agencies or public
bodies;
(ii) personnel files and personal information
maintained with respect to employees, appointees or
elected officials of any public body or applicants
for those positions;
(iii) files and personal information
maintained with respect to any applicant, registrant
or licensee by any public body cooperating with or
engaged in professional or occupational
registration, licensure or discipline;
(iv) information required of any taxpayer in
connection with the assessment or collection of any
tax unless disclosure is otherwise required by State
statute; and
(v) information revealing the identity of
persons who file complaints with or provide
information to administrative, investigative, law
enforcement or penal agencies; provided, however,
that identification of witnesses to traffic
accidents, traffic accident reports, and rescue
reports may be provided by agencies of local
government, except in a case for which a criminal
investigation is ongoing, without constituting a
clearly unwarranted per se invasion of personal
privacy under this subsection.
(c) Records compiled by any public body for
administrative enforcement proceedings and any law
enforcement or correctional agency for law enforcement
purposes or for internal matters of a public body, but
only to the extent that disclosure would:
(i) interfere with pending or actually and
reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings
conducted by any law enforcement or correctional
agency;
(ii) interfere with pending administrative
enforcement proceedings conducted by any public
body;
(iii) deprive a person of a fair trial or an
impartial hearing;
(iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a
confidential source or confidential information
furnished only by the confidential source;
(v) disclose unique or specialized
investigative techniques other than those generally
used and known or disclose internal documents of
correctional agencies related to detection,
observation or investigation of incidents of crime
or misconduct;
(vi) constitute an invasion of personal
privacy under subsection (b) of this Section;
(vii) endanger the life or physical safety of
law enforcement personnel or any other person; or
(viii) obstruct an ongoing criminal
investigation.
(d) Criminal history record information maintained
by State or local criminal justice agencies, except the
following which shall be open for public inspection and
copying:
(i) chronologically maintained arrest
information, such as traditional arrest logs or
blotters;
(ii) the name of a person in the custody of a
law enforcement agency and the charges for which
that person is being held;
(iii) court records that are public;
(iv) records that are otherwise available
under State or local law; or
(v) records in which the requesting party is
the individual identified, except as provided under
part (vii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of
this Section.
"Criminal history record information" means data
identifiable to an individual and consisting of
descriptions or notations of arrests, detentions,
indictments, informations, pre-trial proceedings, trials,
or other formal events in the criminal justice system or
descriptions or notations of criminal charges (including
criminal violations of local municipal ordinances) and
the nature of any disposition arising therefrom,
including sentencing, court or correctional supervision,
rehabilitation and release. The term does not apply to
statistical records and reports in which individuals are
not identified and from which their identities are not
ascertainable, or to information that is for criminal
investigative or intelligence purposes.
(e) Records that relate to or affect the security
of correctional institutions and detention facilities.
(f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations,
memoranda and other records in which opinions are
expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except
that a specific record or relevant portion of a record
shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and
identified by the head of the public body. The exemption
provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those
records of officers and agencies of the General Assembly
that pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.
(g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial
information obtained from a person or business where the
trade secrets or information are proprietary, privileged
or confidential, or where disclosure of the trade secrets
or information may cause competitive harm, including all
information determined to be confidential under Section
4002 of the Technology Advancement and Development Act.
Nothing contained in this paragraph (g) shall be
construed to prevent a person or business from consenting
to disclosure.
(h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or
agreement, including information which if it were
disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an
advantage to any person proposing to enter into a
contractor agreement with the body, until an award or
final selection is made. Information prepared by or for
the body in preparation of a bid solicitation shall be
exempt until an award or final selection is made.
(i) Valuable formulae, designs, drawings and
research data obtained or produced by any public body
when disclosure could reasonably be expected to produce
private gain or public loss.
(j) Test questions, scoring keys and other
examination data used to administer an academic
examination or determined the qualifications of an
applicant for a license or employment.
(k) Architects' plans and engineers' technical
submissions for projects not constructed or developed in
whole or in part with public funds and for projects
constructed or developed with public funds, to the extent
that disclosure would compromise security.
(l) Library circulation and order records
identifying library users with specific materials.
(m) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to
the public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the
public body makes the minutes available to the public
under Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.
(n) Communications between a public body and an
attorney or auditor representing the public body that
would not be subject to discovery in litigation, and
materials prepared or compiled by or for a public body in
anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative
proceeding upon the request of an attorney advising the
public body, and materials prepared or compiled with
respect to internal audits of public bodies.
(o) Information received by a primary or secondary
school, college or university under its procedures for
the evaluation of faculty members by their academic
peers.
(p) Administrative or technical information
associated with automated data processing operations,
including but not limited to software, operating
protocols, computer program abstracts, file layouts,
source listings, object modules, load modules, user
guides, documentation pertaining to all logical and
physical design of computerized systems, employee
manuals, and any other information that, if disclosed,
would jeopardize the security of the system or its data
or the security of materials exempt under this Section.
(q) Documents or materials relating to collective
negotiating matters between public bodies and their
employees or representatives, except that any final
contract or agreement shall be subject to inspection and
copying.
(r) Drafts, notes, recommendations and memoranda
pertaining to the financing and marketing transactions of
the public body. The records of ownership, registration,
transfer, and exchange of municipal debt obligations, and
of persons to whom payment with respect to these
obligations is made.
(s) The records, documents and information relating
to real estate purchase negotiations until those
negotiations have been completed or otherwise terminated.
With regard to a parcel involved in a pending or actually
and reasonably contemplated eminent domain proceeding
under Article VII of the Code of Civil Procedure,
records, documents and information relating to that
parcel shall be exempt except as may be allowed under
discovery rules adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court.
The records, documents and information relating to a real
estate sale shall be exempt until a sale is consummated.
(t) Any and all proprietary information and records
related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk
management association or self-insurance pool or jointly
self-administered health and accident cooperative or
pool.
(u) Information concerning a university's
adjudication of student or employee grievance or
disciplinary cases, to the extent that disclosure would
reveal the identity of the student or employee and
information concerning any public body's adjudication of
student or employee grievances or disciplinary cases,
except for the final outcome of the cases.
(v) Course materials or research materials used by
faculty members.
(w) Information related solely to the internal
personnel rules and practices of a public body.
(x) Information contained in or related to
examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by,
on behalf of, or for the use of a public body responsible
for the regulation or supervision of financial
institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is
otherwise required by State law.
(y) Information the disclosure of which is
restricted under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities
Act.
(z) Manuals or instruction to staff that relate to
establishment or collection of liability for any State
tax or that relate to investigations by a public body to
determine violation of any criminal law.
(aa) Applications, related documents, and medical
records received by the Experimental Organ
Transplantation Procedures Board and any and all
documents or other records prepared by the Experimental
Organ Transplantation Procedures Board or its staff
relating to applications it has received.
(bb) Insurance or self insurance (including any
intergovernmental risk management association or self
insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management
information, records, data, advice or communications.
(cc) Information and records held by the Department
of Public Health and its authorized representatives
relating to known or suspected cases of sexually
transmissible disease or any information the disclosure
of which is restricted under the Illinois Sexually
Transmissible Disease Control Act.
(dd) Information the disclosure of which is
exempted under Section 30 7 of the Radon Industry
Licensing Mitigation Act.
(ee) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55
of the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying
Qualifications Based Selection Act.
(2) This Section does not authorize withholding of
information or limit the availability of records to the
public, except as stated in this Section or otherwise
provided in this Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-241; 87-673; 87-895; 88-444.)
Section 80. The Radiation Protection Act of 1990 is
amended by changing Section 35 as follows:
(420 ILCS 40/35) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 210-35)
Sec. 35. Radiation Protection Fund; Federal Facilities
Compliance Fund.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), all
monies received by the Department under this Act shall be
deposited in the State Treasury and shall be set apart in a
special fund to be known as the "Radiation Protection Fund".
All monies within the Radiation Protection Fund shall be
invested by the State Treasurer in accordance with
established investment practices. Interest earned by such
investment shall be returned to the Radiation Protection
Fund. Monies deposited in this fund shall be expended by the
Director pursuant to appropriation only to support the
activities of the Department under this Act and as provided
in the Radon Industry Licensing Act.
(b) All moneys from the Federal Government or other
sources, public or private, received by the Department for
the purpose of carrying out a State role under the Federal
Facility Compliance Act of 1992 shall be set apart and
deposited into a special fund known as the "Federal
Facilities Compliance Fund" that is hereby created in the
State treasury. Subject to appropriation, the moneys in the
Fund shall be used for the purpose of carrying out a State
role under the Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992.
(Source: P.A. 87-838; 88-616, eff. 9-9-94.)
(420 ILCS 45/Act rep.)
Section 85. The Radon Testing Act is repealed on January
1, 1998.
(420 ILCS 50/Act rep.)
Section 90. The Radon Mitigation Act is repealed.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.