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1 | | AN ACT concerning State government.
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2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | | Section 5. The Environmental Protection Act is amended by |
5 | | changing Sections 35, 36, and 38 and by adding Sections 3.547 |
6 | | and 38.5 as follows:
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7 | | (415 ILCS 5/3.547 new) |
8 | | Sec. 3.547. Water quality standards variance. "Water |
9 | | quality standards variance" has the meaning ascribed to that |
10 | | term in 40 CFR 131.3(o).
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11 | | (415 ILCS 5/35) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1035)
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12 | | Sec. 35. Variances; general provisions. To the extent |
13 | | consistent with applicable provisions of the
Federal Water |
14 | | Pollution Control Act, as now or hereafter amended, the Federal
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15 | | Safe Drinking Water Act (P.L. 93-523), as now or hereafter |
16 | | amended, the Clean
Air Act as amended in 1977 (P.L. 95-95), and |
17 | | regulations pursuant thereto, and
to the extent consistent with |
18 | | applicable provisions of the Federal Resource
Conservation and |
19 | | Recovery Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-580), and regulations pursuant
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20 | | thereto:
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21 | | (a) The Board may grant individual
variances beyond the |
22 | | limitations prescribed in this Act, whenever it
is found, upon |
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1 | | presentation of adequate proof, that compliance with any
rule |
2 | | or regulation, requirement or order of the Board would impose |
3 | | an
arbitrary or unreasonable hardship. However, the Board is |
4 | | not required to
find that an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship |
5 | | exists exclusively because
the regulatory standard is under |
6 | | review and the costs of compliance are
substantial and certain. |
7 | | In granting or denying a variance the Board shall
file and |
8 | | publish a written opinion stating the facts and reasons leading |
9 | | to
its decision.
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10 | | (b) The Agency shall grant provisional variances whenever
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11 | | it is found, upon presentation of adequate proof, that |
12 | | compliance on a short
term basis with any rule or
regulation, |
13 | | requirement or order of the Board, or with any permit
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14 | | requirement, would impose an arbitrary or unreasonable |
15 | | hardship.
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16 | | (c) Except as provided in subsection (b) of Section 38, |
17 | | water quality standards variances shall be governed solely by |
18 | | Section 38.5 of this Act. |
19 | | (Source: P.A. 93-152, eff. 7-10-03.)
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20 | | (415 ILCS 5/36) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1036)
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21 | | Sec. 36. Variances and provisional variances.
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22 | | (a) In granting a variance pursuant to Section 35 of this |
23 | | Act the Board may impose such
conditions as the policies of |
24 | | this Act may require. If the hardship
complained of consists |
25 | | solely of the need for a reasonable delay in
which to correct a |
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1 | | violation of this Act or of the Board regulations,
the Board |
2 | | shall condition the grant of such variance upon the posting of
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3 | | sufficient performance bond or other security to assure the |
4 | | completion
of the work covered by the variance. The Board shall |
5 | | have no authority
to delegate to the Agency its powers to |
6 | | require such performance bond.
The original amount of such |
7 | | performance bond shall not exceed the
reasonable cost of the |
8 | | work to be completed pursuant to the variance.
The obligation |
9 | | under such bond shall at no time exceed the reasonable
cost of |
10 | | work remaining pursuant to the variance.
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11 | | (b) Except as provided by Section 38 of this Act, any |
12 | | variance
granted by the Board pursuant to subsection (a) of |
13 | | Section 35 the provisions of this Section shall be granted for
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14 | | such period of time, not exceeding five years, as shall be |
15 | | specified by
the Board at the time of the grant of such |
16 | | variance, and upon the
condition that the person who receives |
17 | | such variance shall make such
periodic progress reports as the |
18 | | Board shall specify. Such variance may
be extended from year to |
19 | | year by affirmative action of the Board, but
only if |
20 | | satisfactory progress has been shown.
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21 | | (c) Any provisional variance granted by the Agency pursuant
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22 | | to subsection (b) of Section 35 shall be for a period of time |
23 | | not to exceed
45 days. A provisional variance may be extended |
24 | | up to an additional 45 days by written decision of the Agency.
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25 | | The provisional variances granted to any one person shall not |
26 | | exceed a total
of 90 days during any calendar year.
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1 | | (Source: P.A. 93-152, eff. 7-10-03.)
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2 | | (415 ILCS 5/38) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 1038)
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3 | | Sec. 38.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections |
4 | | subsection (c) and (d) , if the
Board fails to take final action |
5 | | upon a variance request within 120 days
after the filing of the |
6 | | petition or the receipt of a request for hearing
pursuant to |
7 | | subsection (a) of Section 37, whichever is later, the
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8 | | petitioner may deem the request granted under this Act, for a |
9 | | period not to
exceed one year. However, the period of 120 days |
10 | | shall not run for any such
period of time, not to exceed 30 |
11 | | days, during which the Board is without
sufficient membership |
12 | | to constitute the quorum required by subsection (a) of
Section |
13 | | 5 of this Act, provided that such 120 day period shall not be |
14 | | stayed
for lack of quorum beyond 30 days regardless of whether |
15 | | the lack of quorum
exists at the beginning of such 120 day |
16 | | period or occurs during the running of
such 120 day period.
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17 | | (b) If any person files a petition for a variance from a |
18 | | rule or
regulation pursuant to Section 37 or Section 38.5 |
19 | | within 20 days after the effective date of such rule or
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20 | | regulation, the operation of such rule or regulation shall be |
21 | | stayed as to such
person pending the disposition of the |
22 | | petition; provided, however, that
the operation of any rule or |
23 | | regulation adopted by the Board which implements,
in whole or |
24 | | in part, a State RCRA, UIC, or NPDES program shall not be |
25 | | stayed.
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1 | | The Board may hold a hearing upon said petition 5 days from |
2 | | the date of
notice of such hearing or thereafter. All the |
3 | | provisions of this Title
shall apply to petitions for extension |
4 | | of existing variances and to
proposed Contaminant Reduction |
5 | | programs designed to secure delayed
compliance with the Act or |
6 | | with Board regulations.
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7 | | (c) Subsection (a) of this Section shall not apply to a |
8 | | request for a variance from
any provision of this Act or any |
9 | | rule or regulation adopted by the Board
which implements, in |
10 | | whole or in part, a State RCRA, UIC, or NPDES program.
If the |
11 | | Board fails to take final action on any request for a variance |
12 | | from
any such rule or regulation within 120 days of the filing |
13 | | of the petition,
the Petitioner shall be entitled to an |
14 | | Appellate Court order pursuant to
Section 41(d) of this Act.
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15 | | (d) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Section, |
16 | | water quality standards variances shall be governed solely by |
17 | | Section 38.5 of this Act. |
18 | | (Source: P.A. 87-914.)
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19 | | (415 ILCS 5/38.5 new) |
20 | | Sec. 38.5. Water quality standards variances. |
21 | | (a) The Board may adopt water quality standards variances |
22 | | not only beyond any limitation otherwise prescribed in this Act |
23 | | or rules adopted under this Act, but also to the full extent |
24 | | allowed under federal law, including the Federal Water |
25 | | Pollution Control Act, as amended, and rules adopted by the |
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1 | | United States Environmental Protection Agency under that Act. A |
2 | | water quality standards variance may be adopted under this |
3 | | Section for a watershed or for one or more bodies of water, |
4 | | body of water segments, or dischargers. This Section shall |
5 | | apply to all petitions for water quality standards variances, |
6 | | even if filed prior to the effective date of this amendatory |
7 | | Act of the 99th General Assembly. Any stay granted under |
8 | | Section 38 of this Act shall continue pending disposition of |
9 | | that petition under this Section. |
10 | | (b) Not later than 6 months after the effective date of |
11 | | this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, the Agency |
12 | | shall propose, and not later than 6 months thereafter the Board |
13 | | shall adopt, rules that prescribe the specific procedures and |
14 | | standards to be used by the Board when adopting water quality |
15 | | standards variances. Nothing shall prohibit the Board from |
16 | | adopting water quality standards variances to the full extent |
17 | | allowed under federal law in the absence of these rules. |
18 | | (c) Each Board-approved water quality standards variance |
19 | | other than an individual water quality standards variance shall |
20 | | set forth criteria that shall be used by the Agency to approve |
21 | | or deny petitions for coverage under that water quality |
22 | | standards variance. Any discharger may petition the Agency to |
23 | | obtain coverage under any Board-approved water quality |
24 | | standards variance other than an individual water quality |
25 | | standards variance; the Agency shall use the Board-established |
26 | | criteria to approve or deny coverage under that variance. |
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1 | | (d) For petitions for water quality standards variances |
2 | | filed on or after the effective date of the rules adopted |
3 | | pursuant subsection (b) of this Section, the rules adopted |
4 | | pursuant to subsection (b) shall provide the exclusive |
5 | | procedural and substantive requirements for obtaining a water |
6 | | quality standards variance under this Act. |
7 | | (e) Any person filing a petition for a water quality |
8 | | standards variance under this Section shall pay a filing fee to |
9 | | the Board in the amount required for a petition for variance |
10 | | under Section 7.5 of this Act.
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11 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
12 | | becoming law.
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