Bill Text: IL HB0123 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Repeals the Fluorspar and Underground Limestone Mines Act. Amends the Surface-Mined Land Conservation and Reclamation Act. Changes certain provisions concerning the amount of any bond that is required to be filed with the Department of Natural Resources by an operator. Provides that the penalty of such bonds shall be an amount between $600 and $10,000 (was between $600 and $5,000) per acre as determined by the Director of Natural Resources for lands to be affected by surface mining, including slurry and gob disposal areas. Provides that, under circumstances where a written agreement between the operator and a third party require overburden to be removed, replaced, graded, and seeded in a manner that the necessary bond penalty exceeds $10,000 per acre, the Department shall require a bond amount sufficient to ensure the completion of the reclamation plan specified in the approved permit in the event of forfeiture. Provides that in no case shall the bond for the entire area under one permit be less than $600 per acre or $3,000, whichever is greater.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-08-03 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 99-0224 [HB0123 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB0123-Engrossed.html

---

HB0123 Engrossed LRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b
AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Fluorspar and Underground Limestone Mines
Act is amended by changing Section 1 as follows:
(225 ILCS 710/1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4201)
Sec. 1. Application of Act; short title; definitions.
(a) This Act shall apply to all mines in the State of
Illinois producing minerals within the meaning of that term, as
hereinafter defined.
(b) This Act may be cited as the Fluorspar and Underground
Limestone Mines Act.
(c) For the purpose of this Act the singular numbers when
in reference to persons, acts, objects and things of whatsoever
kind and description shall, whenever the context will permit,
be taken and held to import and include the plural number and
the plural number shall similarly be taken and held to import
and include the singular, and terms that impart the masculine
gender shall be taken to impart and include the feminine gender
as well.
(d) The term "mine," when used in the Act, shall include
prospects, openings and open-cuts and workings, and shall
embrace any and all parts of the property of such "mine" and

HB0123 Engrossed - 2 - LRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b
mining plant on the surface or underground, that contribute
directly or indirectly to the mining and handling of minerals.
Provided, that when a group of workings in proximity to one
another and under one management are administered as distinct
units each working shall be considered a separate mine.
(e) The term "mineral" when used in this Act shall mean
whatever is recognized by the standard authorities as mineral,
whether metalliferous or non-metalliferous, but shall not be
held to embrace or include silica, granite, marble, salt, sand,
gravel, clay, rock, coal, lignite, gas, oil or any substance
extracted in solution or in the molten state through bore
holes.
(f) The term "operator" when used in this Act shall mean
the person, firm, or body corporate, in immediate possession of
any mine and its accessories as owner or lessee thereof, and as
such responsible for the condition and management thereof.
(g) The term "superintendent" when used in this Act shall
mean the person having the immediate supervision of the mine.
(h) The term "mine foreman" when used in this Act shall
mean the person who at any one time is charged with the general
direction of the underground work.
(i) The term "inspector" when used in this Act shall
signify the official State Inspector.
(j) The words "excavation" and "workings" when used in this
Act shall signify any and all parts of a mine excavated or
being excavated, including shafts, raises, tunnels, adits,

HB0123 Engrossed - 3 - LRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b
open-cuts, and all working places, whether abandoned or in use.
(k) Whenever the expression "number of men" or "average
number of men" employed in a mine are used in this Act as
defining or constituting classes of mines to which this Act or
any specific section, clauses, provision or rule thereof, does
or does not apply, such expressions shall be construed to mean
the average number of individuals employed during the previous
year as shown by the returns to the mine inspector or by the
books or pay roll of the mine, or by all of such means and such
average number shall be determined by dividing the total number
of man shifts by the number of days the mine worked during such
period.
(l) The term "explosive" or "explosives" as used in this
Act shall be held to mean and to include any chemical or any
mechanical mixture that contains any oxidizing and combustible
units or other ingredients in such proportions, quantities, or
packing that an ignition by fire, by friction, by concussion,
by percussion or by detonation of any part of the compound or
mixture may cause such a sudden generation of highly heated
gases that the resultant gaseous pressures are capable of
producing destructive effect on contiguous objects or of
destroying life or limb.
(m) The term "person" when used in this Act shall be held
to mean and include a firm or body corporate as well as natural
persons.
(n) The term "underground" as used in this Act shall be

HB0123 Engrossed - 4 - LRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b
held to mean "within the limits of" any mine working or
excavation and shall not exclude such workings or excavations
as may not be covered over by rock or earth.
(o) The term "employees" and "men employed" shall be held
to mean all individuals receiving compensation from the
operator, directly or indirectly, for labor or services
performed in connection with the mine and shall include
contractors, lessors, lessees, tributers, or any one similarly
employed.
(Source: P.A. 88-185.)
Section 10. The Surface-Mined Land Conservation and
Reclamation Act is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
(225 ILCS 715/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4509)
Sec. 8. Bond of operator; amount; sufficiency of surety;
violations; compliance. Any bond herein provided to be filed
with the Department by the operator shall be in such form as
the Director prescribes, payable to the People of the State of
Illinois, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully
perform all requirements of this Act and comply with all rules
of the Department made in accordance with the provisions of
this Act. Such bond shall be signed by the operator as
principal, and by a good and sufficient corporate surety,
licensed to do business in Illinois, as surety. The penalty of
such bond shall be an amount between $600 and $10,000 $5,000

HB0123 Engrossed - 5 - LRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b
per acre as determined by the Director for lands to be affected
by surface mining, including slurry and gob disposal areas.
Under circumstances where a written agreement between the
operator and a third party require overburden to be removed,
replaced, graded, and seeded in a manner that the necessary
bond penalty exceeds $10,000 per acre, the Department shall
require a bond amount sufficient to ensure the completion of
the reclamation plan specified in the approved permit in the
event of forfeiture. In no case shall the bond for the entire
area under one permit be less than $600 per acre or $3,000,
whichever is greater. Areas used for the disposal of slurry and
gob shall continue under bond so long as they are in active
use. In lieu of such bonds, the operator may deposit any
combination of cash, certificates of deposits, government
securities, or irrevocable letters of credit with the
Department in an amount equal to that of the required surety
bond on conditions as prescribed in this Section. The penalty
of the bond or amount of other security shall be increased or
reduced from time to time as provided in this Act. Such bond or
security shall remain in effect until the affected lands have
been reclaimed, approved and released by the Department except
that when the Department determines that grading and covering
with materials capable of supporting vegetation in accordance
with the plan has been satisfactorily completed, the Department
shall release the bond or security except the amount of $100
per acre which shall be retained by the Department until the

HB0123 Engrossed - 6 - LRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b
reclamation according to Section 6 of this Act has been
completed. Where an anticipated water impoundment has been
approved by the Department in the reclamation plan, and the
Department determines the impoundment will be satisfactorily
completed upon completion of the operation, the bond covering
such anticipated water impoundment area shall be released.
A bond filed as above prescribed shall not be cancelled by
the surety except after not less than 90 days' notice to the
Department.
If the license to do business in Illinois of any surety
upon a bond filed with the Department pursuant to this Act
shall be suspended or revoked, the operator, within 30 days
after receiving notice thereof from the Department, shall
substitute for such surety a good and sufficient corporate
surety licensed to do business in Illinois. Upon failure of the
operator to make substitution of surety as herein provided, the
Department shall have the right to suspend the permit of the
operator until such substitution has been made.
The Department shall give written notice to the operator of
any violation of this Act or non-compliance with any of the
rules and regulations promulgated by the Department hereunder
and if corrective measures, approved by the Department, are not
commenced within 45 days, the Department may proceed as
provided in Section 11 of this Act to request forfeiture of the
bond or security. The forfeiture shall be the amount of bond or
security in effect at the time of default for each acre or

HB0123 Engrossed - 7 - LRB099 02763 MGM 22771 b
portion thereof with respect to which the operator has
defaulted. Such forfeiture shall fully satisfy all obligations
of the operator to reclaim the affected land under the
provisions of this Act.
The Department shall have the power to reclaim, in keeping
with the provisions of this Act, any affected land with respect
to which a bond has been forfeited.
Whenever an operator shall have completed all requirements
under the provisions of this Act as to any affected land, he
shall notify the Department thereof. If the Department
determines that the operator has completed reclamation
requirements and refuse disposal requirements and has achieved
results appropriate to the use for which the area was
reclaimed, the Department shall release the operator from
further obligations regarding such affected land and the
penalty of the bond shall be reduced proportionately.
Bonding aggregate mining operations under permit by the
State is an exclusive power and function of the State. A home
rule unit may not require bonding of aggregate mining
operations under permit by the State. This provision is a
denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under
subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
Constitution of 1970.
(Source: P.A. 91-938, eff. 1-11-01.)