2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 420 - NUCLEAR SAFETY › 420 ILCS 42/ - Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings Control Act.

(420 ILCS 42/1)
Sec. 1. 
		Short title. 
		This Act may be cited as the Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings Control Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-1024.)
(420 ILCS 42/5)
Sec. 5. Legislative findings.
(a) The General Assembly finds:
(1) that a very large volume of by-product material,     commonly referred to as uranium and thorium mill tailings, is located within this State, much of it in urban areas;
(2) that such radioactive materials pose a     significant risk to the public health, safety, and welfare of the people of Illinois; and
(3) that the Illinois Emergency Management Agency,     pursuant to the provisions of the Radiation Protection Act of 1990, regulates the generation, possession, use, and disposal of such materials to protect the public health and safety from the radiation risks associated with these materials and to ensure that they do not pose an undue risk to the public health, safety, or the environment; and
(4) that in addition to this regulation, it is     beneficial for the State to have a policy promoting the safe and timely decommissioning of source material milling facilities that have come to the end of their productive lives and the safe and effective decontamination of areas within the State that are contaminated with uranium or thorium mill tailings.
(a-5) The General Assembly also finds:
(1) that the Director, as represented by the Attorney     General, and Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation entered into an agreement dated May 19, 1994 and other related agreements to facilitate the removal of by-product material from the City of West Chicago in reliance upon the enactment of this amendatory Act of 1994;
(2) that the May 19, 1994 agreement is consistent     with the public purpose as expressed in this Act; and
(3) that the May 19, 1994 agreement is not an     agreement intended to relieve Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation from the applicability of this Act under Section 35.
(b) It is the purpose of this Act to establish a comprehensive program
for the timely decommissioning of uranium and thorium mill tailings
facilities in Illinois and for the decontamination of properties that are
contaminated with uranium or thorium mill tailings.  It is the intent of
the General Assembly that such a program provide for the safe management of
these mill tailings and that the program encourage public participation in
all phases of the development of this management program.  It is further
the intent of the General Assembly that this program be in addition to the
regulatory program established in the Radiation Protection Act of 1990.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(420 ILCS 42/10)
(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 103-569)
Sec. 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Agency" means the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
"By-product material" means
the tailings or wastes produced by the extraction
or concentration of uranium or thorium from any ore processed primarily for
its source material content, including discrete surface wastes resulting
from underground solution extraction processes but not including
underground ore bodies depleted by such solution extraction processes.
"Director" means the Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
"Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm,
association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency,
political subdivision of this State, any other State or political
subdivision or agency thereof, and any legal successor, representative,
agent, or agency of the foregoing, other than the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, and other than federal
government agencies licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, or any successor thereto.
"Radiation emergency" means the uncontrolled release of radioactive
material from a radiation installation that poses a potential threat to
the public health, welfare, and safety.
"Source material" means (i) uranium, thorium, or any other material
that the Agency declares by order to be source material after the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its successor has
determined the material to be source material; or (ii) ores containing one
or more of those
materials in such concentration as the Agency declares
by order to be source material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission or its successor has determined the material in such
concentration to be source material.
"Specific license" means a license, issued after application, to
use, manufacture, produce, transfer, receive, acquire, own, or possess
quantities of radioactive materials or devices or equipment utilizing
radioactive materials.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 103-569)
Sec. 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Agency" or "IEMA-OHS" means the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security, or its successor agency.
"By-product material" means the tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from any ore processed primarily for its source material content, including discrete surface wastes resulting from underground solution extraction processes but not including underground ore bodies depleted by such solution extraction processes.
"Director" means the Director of the Agency.
"Nuclear facilities" means nuclear power plants, facilities housing nuclear test and research reactors, facilities for the chemical conversion of uranium, and facilities for the storage of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste.
"Nuclear power plant" or "nuclear steam-generating facility" means a thermal power plant in which the energy (heat) released by the fissioning of nuclear fuel is used to boil water to produce steam.
"Nuclear power reactor" means an apparatus, other than an atomic weapon, designed or used to sustain nuclear fission in a self-supporting chain reaction.
"Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency, political subdivision of this State, any other State or political subdivision or agency thereof, and any legal successor, representative, agent, or agency of the foregoing, other than the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto, and other than federal government agencies licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or any successor thereto.
"Radiation emergency" means the uncontrolled release of radioactive material from a radiation installation that poses a potential threat to the public health, welfare, and safety.
"Small modular reactor" or "SMR" means an advanced nuclear reactor: (1) with a rated nameplate capacity of 300 electrical megawatts or less; and (2) that may be constructed and operated in combination with similar reactors at a single site.
"Source material" means (i) uranium, thorium, or any other material that the Agency declares by order to be source material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its successor has determined the material to be source material; or (ii) ores containing one or more of those materials in such concentration as the Agency declares by order to be source material after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its successor has determined the material in such concentration to be source material.
"Specific license" means a license, issued after application, to use, manufacture, produce, transfer, receive, acquire, own, or possess quantities of radioactive materials or devices or equipment utilizing radioactive materials.
(Source: P.A. 103-569, eff. 6-1-24.)
(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 Agency's
 radiological soil clean-up criteria, no fee shall be due, imposed
upon, or collected from an owner.
No fee shall be imposed 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.  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 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 Agency, and shall be deposited into the
General Revenue Fund.
(b) Moneys
may be expended by the Agency, subject to appropriation, for
the following purposes but only as the moneys relate to
by-product material attributable to the owner or operator who pays the fees under subsection (a):
(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 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 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 by that owner or operator under subsection (a) plus the interest 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 as provided in this Section.
In the event the owner or operator has incurred reimbursable costs for which
there are not adequate moneys 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 Agency 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, the Director shall prepare and certify to the
Comptroller
the disbursement of the approved sums
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 Agency under the Radiation Protection Act of 1990
or its rules, the Agency shall not use money under this Section to cover these costs.
(d) (Blank).
(Source: P.A. 94-91, eff. 7-1-05; 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(420 ILCS 42/20)
Sec. 20. 
		Local approval. 
		Notwithstanding the licensing provisions of the
Radiation Protection Act:
(1) A person shall not operate a facility for the disposal of by-product
material that is located in a municipality or within
1.5 miles of the boundary of any municipality, unless approval is given by
the governing body of that municipality.
(2) A person shall not operate a facility for the disposal of by-product
material in an unincorporated area of
a county that is situated more than 1.5 miles from the boundary of
the nearest municipality, unless approval is given by the governing body of
that county.
(3) A person shall not place any by-product material at a disposal facility
located in a municipality or within 1.5 miles of the boundary of any
municipality, unless approval is given by the governing body of that
municipality.
(4) A person shall not place any by-product material
at a permanent disposal facility located in an unincorporated area of
a county that is situated more than 1.5 miles from the boundary of
the nearest municipality, unless approval is given by the governing body of
that county.
Nothing in this Act shall relieve an applicant from securing any
necessary zoning approval from the unit of government having zoning
jurisdiction over the proposed facility and complying with other applicable
local laws.
(Source: P.A. 87-1024.)
(420 ILCS 42/25)
Sec. 25. Response plans.
(a) Within one year of the effective date of this Act, the owner or
operator of any licensed site where by-product material is located on the
effective date of this Act shall file with the Agency a detailed plan
describing all of the activities necessary for implementation of a
permanent remedial action, including, but not limited to, disposal of
by-product material at a permanent disposal site, restoration of the
licensed site to unrestricted use, and decontamination of all properties
that have been identified as being contaminated with by-product material
produced at the licensed site.  If the licensed site is located in a
municipality or within
1.5 miles of the boundary of any municipality, the plan shall also be
filed with the governing body of that municipality.  If the licensed site
is in an unincorporated area of a county and situated more than 1.5 miles from
the boundary of the nearest municipality, the plan shall be filed with the governing
body of that county.
(b) Within one year of discontinuing active source material milling
operations, the owner or operator of any facility where ores are processed
primarily for their source material content shall file with the Agency 
a detailed plan describing all of the activities necessary for
implementation of a permanent remedial action, including, but not limited
to, disposal of by-product material at a permanent disposal site,
restoration of the facility site to unrestricted use, and decontamination
of all properties that have been identified as being contaminated with
by-product material produced at the licensed facility.  If the facility is
located in a municipality or within 1.5 miles of the boundary of any
municipality, the plan
shall also be filed with the governing body of that municipality.  If the site
is in an unincorporated area of a county and situated more than 1.5 miles
from the boundary
of the nearest municipality, the plan shall be filed with the governing
body of that county.
(c) The plans filed under subsection (a) or (b) shall include a schedule
for disposal of by-product material
at a facility that has a specific license authorizing disposal of
by-product material.  The schedule shall be such that disposal could be
completed
within 48 months or less of commencement of disposal activities.  The plans
shall also describe permits, approvals, and other authorizations that will
need to be obtained and the plans for obtaining those permits, approvals and
authorizations.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(420 ILCS 42/30)
Sec. 30. Rules and regulations. The Agency may adopt such rules
and procedures as it may deem necessary or useful in the execution of its
duties under this Act.  The rules may require submission of pertinent
information by taxpayers.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(420 ILCS 42/32)
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 Agency 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 Agency.
(b) In connection with the decommissioning of a source material milling
facility or the termination of the facility's license, the Agency 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 Agency 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.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(420 ILCS 42/35)
Sec. 35. Agreements. If the Director certifies to
the General Assembly that the State and the owner or operator of a licensed
by-product material storage or disposal facility have entered into an agreement
enforceable in court that accomplishes the purposes of subsection (b) of
Section 5 of this Act, and that also provides financial assurances to protect
the State against costs described in parts (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (b)
of Section 15, then Sections 15, 25 and 40(b) of this Act, and any rules that
the Agency may adopt to implement those Sections, shall not apply to that
owner or operator.
(Source: P.A. 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(420 ILCS 42/40)
Sec. 40. Violations and penalties.
(a) Any person who violates Section 20 shall be subject to a civil penalty
not to exceed $10,000 per day of violation.
(b) Any person failing to pay the fees provided for in Section 15 shall be
subject to a civil penalty not to exceed 4 times the amount of the fees not paid.
(c) Violations of this Act shall be prosecuted by the Attorney General at the
request of the Agency. Civil penalties under this Act are recoverable in an
action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the State in the
circuit court of the county in which the facility is located. All amounts
collected from fines under this Section shall be deposited in the
General Revenue Fund.  It shall also be the duty of the Attorney
General upon the request of the Agency to bring an action for an
injunction against any person violating any of the provisions of this Act.
The Court may assess all or a portion of the cost of actions brought under
this subsection, including but not limited to attorney, expert witness, and
consultant fees, to the owner or operator of the source material milling
facility or to any other person responsible for the violation or contamination.
(Source: P.A. 94-91, eff. 7-1-05; 95-777, eff. 8-4-08.)
(420 ILCS 42/45)
Sec. 45. 
		Severability. 
		The provisions of this Act are severable under
Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
(Source: P.A. 87-1024.)
(420 ILCS 42/49)
Sec. 49. 
		This Act shall take effect upon becoming law.
(Source: P.A. 87-1024.)