Illinois Administrative Code › Title 32 - ENERGY › Part 422 - REGULATIONS FOR RADON SERVICE PROVIDERS › Section 422.20 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
As used in this Part:
"Act" means the Radon Industry Licensing Act [420 ILCS 44
				].
"Active Mitigation System", also known as "Active Soil
				Depressurization" or "ASD", means a family of radon mitigation systems
				involving mechanically driven soil depressurization, including sub-slab
				depressurization (SSD), drain tile depressurization (DTD), block wall
				depressurization (BWD), and sub-membrane depressurization (SMD). [420 ILCS 52
				]
"Agency" means the Illinois Emergency Management Agency
				(IEMA).
"Altering" means to change or modify a building or building
				design, or to revise, rather than repair, a mitigation system or mitigation
				system design.
"As Low As Is Reasonably Achievable" or "ALARA" means making
				every reasonable effort to maintain exposures to radiation as far below the
				dose limits in 32 Ill. Adm. Code: Chapter II, Subchapters b and d as is
				practical consistent with the purpose for which the licensed or registered
				activity is undertaken, taking into account the state of technology, the
				economics of improvements in relation to the state of technology, the economics
				of improvements in relation to benefits to the public health and safety and
				other societal and socioeconomic considerations, and in relation to utilization
				of nuclear energy and licensed or registered sources of radiation in the public
				interest.
"Backdrafting" means a condition where the normal movement of
				combustion products up a flue, resulting from the buoyant forces on the hot
				gases, is reversed, so that the combustion products can enter the house.
				Backdrafting of combustion appliances (such as fireplaces and furnaces) can
				occur when depressurization in the house overwhelms the buoyant force on the
				hot gases. Backdrafting can also be caused by high air pressures or blockage at
				the chimney or flue termination.
"Backer Rod" means a semi-rigid foam material resembling a rope
				of various diameters used to fill around pipes, etc., and to assist in making a
				sealed penetration. For example, where a pipe is inserted through a concrete
				slab, a length of backer rod is jammed into the opening around the pipe.
				Caulking is then applied to the space above the backer rod and between the
				outside of the pipe and the slab opening. The purpose of the backer rod is to
				hold the semi-fluid caulk in place until it sets or hardens. It is most
				important that a sealant only adhere to the 2 sides of the joint and not the
				base of the joint (third side). Adhesion to all 3 sides will prevent the
				sealant from elongating properly and will cause sealant failure.
"Batch" means a group of passive detectors manufactured by the
				same entity at the same time.
"Block Wall Depressurization" means a radon mitigation
				technique that depressurizes the void network within a block wall foundation by
				drawing air from inside the wall and venting it to the outside.
"Client" means any person who contracts for measurement or
				mitigation services.
"Combination Foundations" means buildings constructed with more
				than one foundation type, e.g., basement/crawlspace or
				basement/slab-on-grade.
"Commercial Building" means a type of building that is designed
				for commercial use, but not limited to office buildings, warehouses, retail
				facilities, schools, recreational facilities, assisted living facilities and
				buildings that combine these uses.
"Communication Test" means a diagnostic test designed to
				qualitatively measure the ability of a suction field and air flow to extend
				through the material beneath a concrete slab floor and thus evaluate the
				potential effectiveness of a sub-slab depressurization system. This qualitative
				test is commonly conducted by applying suction on a centrally located hole
				drilled through the concrete slab and simultaneously observing the movement of
				smoke downward into small holes drilled in the slab at locations separated from
				the central suction hole. (See also Pressure Field Extension.)
"Continuing Education Credits" or "CE Credits" means those
				continuing education credits received for documented successful completion of
				Agency-approved CE courses or for instructing an approved CE course.
"Crawlspace" means a foundation type with an open area beneath
				the livable space of a dwelling that typically has either a concrete slab or
				earthen floor. The crawlspace can have an open height of a few inches to
				several feet. The crawlspace may or may not be ventilated to the
				outdoors.
"Crawlspace Depressurization" means a radon control technique
				designed to achieve lower air pressure in the crawlspace relative to indoor air
				pressure by use of a fan-powered vent drawing air from within the crawlspace.
				(See also Mechanically Ventilated Crawlspace System.)
"Diagnostic Tests" means procedures used to identify or
				characterize conditions within buildings that may contribute to radon entry or
				elevated radon levels or may provide information regarding the performance of a
				mitigation system.
"Drain Tile Depressurization" or "DTD" means a type of active
				soil depressurization system where the suction point piping attaches to a drain
				tile or is located in the gas-permeable material near the drain tile. The drain
				tile may be inside or outside the footings of the building.
"Drain Tile Loop" means a continuous length of drain tile or
				perforated pipe extending around all or part of the internal or external
				perimeter of a basement or crawlspace footing.
"Dwelling" means a single family home or a single unit within a
				multiple family complex.
"Eave" means the border of a roof that overhangs any
				wall.
"Electret Ion Chamber" or "Electret" means an electrostatically
				charged piece - usually a disk - of Teflon, called an electret, located inside
				an electrically conducting plastic chamber of a known air volume. The electret
				serves as a source of high voltage needed for the chamber to operate as an ion
				chamber. It also serves as a sensor for the measurement of ionization in air.
				The ions produced inside the sensitive volume of the chamber are collected by
				the electret causing a depleted charge. The measurement of the depleted charge
				during the exposure period is a measure of integrated ionization during the
				measurement period. The electret charge is read before and after the exposure
				using a specially built non-contact electret voltage reader.
"Footprint" means each foundation type in direct contact with
				soil or other material.
"Foundation Type" means basement, crawlspace, slab-on-grade or
				any other construction technique approved by local building code.
"Government Entity" means the State, a State agency, a
				political subdivision, or any entity of local government.
"HVAC" means heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
"Home Environment Measurement" means a short term or long term
				measurement of radon in a single family home, duplex or condominium.
"Individual" means any human being.
"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.
				[420 ILCS 44/15
				]
"Laboratory" means any organization that analyzes or calibrates
				radon or radon progeny measurement devices or detectors.
"Laboratory Analysis" means the act of analyzing the radon or
				radon progeny concentrations with passive devices, or the act of calibrating
				radon or radon progeny measurement devices, or the actof exposing radon or
				radon progeny devices to known concentrations of radon or radon progeny as a
				compensated service. [420 ILCS
				44/15 ]
"Living Area" means any area in a building that is, or could
				be, adapted for human habitation whether the area is located in a basement,
				over a crawlspace, or situated on a slab-on-grade.
"Long Term Measurement" means measurements lasting 91 days or
				more; closed building conditions are not required, but are recommended. Long
				term measurements are not time-sensitive and, therefore, real estate testing
				options do not apply.
"Measurement" means any radon or radon progeny tests,
				laboratory analysis, or exposure in a known radon or radon progeny environment,
				as in a radon chamber.
"Mechanically Ventilated Crawlspace System" means a radon
				control technique designed to increase ventilation within a crawlspace, achieve
				higher air pressure in the crawlspace relative to air pressure in the soil
				beneath the crawlspace, or achieve lower air pressure in the crawlspace
				relative to air pressure in the living spaces, by use of a fan. (See also
				Crawlspace Depressurization.)
"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. [420 ILCS 44/15 ]
"Mitigation System" means any system or steps designed to
				reduce radon concentrations in the indoor air of a building.
"Multi-Family Building" means a building, 3 stories or less,
				designed to house more than 4 families in separate units that do not have a
				common HVAC system for multiple units.
"New Residential Construction" means any original construction
				of a single-family home or a dwelling containing 2 or fewer apartments,
				condominiums, or town houses. [420 ILCS 52 ]
"NIST" means the United States Department of Commerce,
				Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology
				(formerly National Bureau of Standards).
"Passive Monitor" means a measurement tool that does not
				require external power or batteries to operate, such as charcoal detectors or
				alpha track detectors.
"Passive New Construction Pipe" or "PNC" means a pipe installed
				in new construction that relies solely on the convective flow of air upward for
				soil gas depressurization and may consist of multiple pipes routed through
				conditioned space from below the foundation to above the roof. [420 ILCS 52
				]
"Performance Audit" means an examination of a program, function
				or operation or of the management systems, procedures and records of a radon
				contractor to assess whether the entity is complying with the Radon Industry
				Licensing Act [420 ILCS 44 ], this Part and its Quality Assurance
				Program.
"Perimeter Channel Drain" means a system for collecting water
				in a basement by means of a large gap or channel between the concrete floor and
				the wall. Collected water may flow to aggregate beneath the slot ("French
				Drain") or to a sump where it can be drained or pumped away.
"Person" means an entity including, but not limited to, an
				individual, company, corporation, firm, group, association, partnership, joint
				venture, trust, or government agency or subdivision. [420 ILCS 44/15]
"Picocurie Per Liter" or "pCi/L" means 2.2 disintegrations per
				minute of radioactive material per liter of air.
"Pressure Field Extension" means the distance that a pressure
				change is induced in the sub-slab area, measured from a single or multiple
				suction points. (See also Communication Test.)
"QAP" means Quality Assurance Program.
"Radon" means a gaseous radioactive decay product of uranium or
				thorium. [420 ILCS 44/15]
"Radon Chamber" means a facility in which radon measurement
				devices or detectors are exposed to known radon concentrations.
"Radon Contractor" or "Contractor" means a person licensed to
				perform radon or radon progeny mitigation or to perform measurements of radon
				or radon progeny in an indoor atmosphere. [420 ILCS 44/15]
"Radon Progeny" means any combination of the radioactive decay
				products of radon. [420 ILCS 44/15]
"Radon Resistant Construction" means the installation of
				passive new construction pipe during new residential construction. [420 ILCS
				52]
"Radon Service Provider" means a radon contractor, laboratory,
				or person who performs laboratory analysis.
"Real Estate Testing" means short-term measurements that may be
				requested by a party not residing in the dwelling and that are performed in, or
				as a result of, or in expectation of, a real estate transaction and are
				time-limited due to this transaction.
"Re-Entrainment" means the unintended re-entry into a building
				of radon that is being exhausted from the vent of a radon mitigation
				system.
"Renewal" means issuance of a license that is expiring, has
				expired or has been previously terminated.
"Research" means Agency-approved scientific investigation by
				testing and/or mitigating for radon or radon progeny.
"Residential Building Code" means an ordinance, resolution or
				law that establishes standards applicable to new residential construction. [420
				ILCS 52 ]
"Residential Building Contractor" means any individual,
				corporation or partnership that constructs new residential buildings. [420 ILCS
				52]
"Residential Real Estate Measurement" means a measurement of
				radon in a single family home, duplex or condominium involved in a real estate
				transaction. Based on the time sensitive nature of real estate transactions,
				only short term measurements are appropriate and specific protocols are
				required.
"School Screening Measurement" means a measurement of radon
				performed by school district staff in accordance with the School Code [105 ILCS
				5 ].
"Sealing and Caulking" means to plug and make tight to reduce
				the passage of gas. Sealing and caulking enhances radon reduction techniques;
				however, sealing and caulking alone has not been shown to lower radon levels
				significantly or consistently.
"Short Term Measurement" means measurements conducted for at
				least 48 hours and up to 90 days; closed building conditions are required for
				measurements lasting seven days or less and recommended throughout.
"Soil Gas" means the gas mixture present in soil that may
				contain radon.
"Soil Gas Retarder" means a continuous membrane of 6 mil (3 mil
				cross-laminated) polyethylene or equivalent flexible material used to retard
				the flow of soil gases into a building.
"Stack Effect" means the overall upward movement of air inside
				a building that results from heated air rising and escaping through openings in
				the building envelope, thus causing indoor air pressure in the lower portions
				of a building to be lower than the pressure in the soil beneath or surrounding
				the building foundation.
"Subfloor" means a concrete slab and other approved permanent
				floor system that directly contacts the ground and is within the walls of the
				living spaces of the building.
"Sub-Membrane Depressurization" or "SMD" means a radon control
				technique designed to achieve lower air pressure in the space under a soil gas
				retarder membrane laid on the crawlspace floor and sealed, relative to air
				pressure in the crawlspace, by use of a vent or fan-powered vent drawing air
				from beneath the membrane.
"Sub-Slab Depressurization (Active)" or "SSD (Active)" means a
				radon control technique designed to achieve lower sub-slab pressure relative to
				indoor air pressure by use of a fan-powered vent drawing air from beneath the
				concrete slab.
"Sub-Slab Depressurization (Passive)" or "SSD (Passive)" means
				a radon control technique designed to achieve lower sub-slab air pressure
				relative to indoor air pressure by use of a vent pipe (without a fan) routed
				through the conditioned space of a building and connecting the sub-slab area to
				the outdoor air. This system relies primarily on the convective flow of warmed
				air upward in the vent to draw air from beneath the concrete slab.
"Suitable for Occupancy" means a structural area in a home
				currently lived in or an area not currently used for occupancy, such as a
				basement, that an occupant or homeowner could use for living space without
				renovations. This includes an unfinished basement that could be used regularly
				as, for example, a recreation room, playroom, exercise room or workshop.
"USEPA" means the United States Environmental Protection
				Agency.
"Working Level" or "WL" means any combination of short-lived
				radon progeny in 1 liter of air that will result in the ultimate emission of
				1.3 x
				105 MeV of potential alpha particle energy. The
				short-lived radon progeny for radon-222 are: polonium-218, lead-214,
				bismuth-214 and polonium-214.
"Working Level Month" or "WLM" means a unit of exposure used to
				express the accumulated human exposure to radon decay products. It is
				calculated by multiplying the average working level to which a person has been
				exposed by the number of hours exposed and dividing the product by
				170.