Illinois Administrative Code › Title 35 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part 1501 - DRYCLEANER ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE TRUST FUND PROGRAM › Subpart C - REMEDIAL ACTION CLAIMS › Section 1501.350 - Claim Procedures

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) All
				claims for reimbursement received by the Agency on or after January 17, 2023,
				must be reviewed in accordance with this Part. Claims received before that date
				must be reviewed in accordance with the rules in effect at the time of claim
				submission under 35 Ill. Adm. Code 1500. Except as provided in Section 77 of
				the DERT Fund Act, the Agency must not review or modify a final determination
				made by the Council or the Council's contractor before July 1, 2020.
b) Budgets
1) To obtain approval of reimbursable
				remedial action costs, a claimant must submit a budget to the Agency for review
				and approval before beginning work. The Agency must not accept a budget unless
				a corresponding SRP plan has been submitted with the budget in compliance with
				35 Ill. Adm. Code 740.
2) The
				budget must be submitted on forms and in a format prescribed by the Agency and
				must include, at a minimum, the following:
A)
				Identification of the claimant and the remediation site, including the
				following:
i) The full legal name, address and
				telephone number of the claimant, and any contact person to whom inquiries and
				correspondence should be addressed;
ii) The address, site name, tax parcel
				identification number or numbers, and Agency-issued site identification number
				for the remediation site and the date of acceptance into the SRP; and
iii) The Federal Employer Identification
				Number (FEIN) or Social Security Number (SSN) of the claimant.
B) Line-item estimates of the
				eligible remedial action costs for which the claimant will seek reimbursement,
				including the following:
i) Site investigation
				activities: drilling costs; physical soil analysis; monitoring well
				installation; soil and water disposal costs from drilling activities; and soil
				gas sampling.
ii) Sampling and
				analysis activities: soil analysis costs; groundwater analysis costs; soil gas
				analysis costs; and groundwater purge water disposal costs.
iii) Remedial activities: groundwater
				remediation costs; soil excavation and soil disposal costs; soil remediation
				costs; backfill costs; groundwater remediation costs; and installation of
				building control technologies.
iv)
				SRP plan and report preparation costs.
3) The original budget and one copy, both in
				paper form, must be mailed to the address designated by the Agency on the
				forms.
4) If, following the
				approval of a budget, the corresponding SRP plan is amended or the budget needs
				to be amended, the claimant must submit an amended budget for review in
				accordance with this Part.
5) The
				Agency must review the budget in conjunction with the corresponding SRP plan to
				determine whether the estimated costs submitted are eligible remedial action
				costs and whether the costs estimated for the activities are reasonable.
A)
To be eligible for
eventual
reimbursement from the Fund, costs must be within the range of
				usual and customary rates for similar or equivalent goods or services, incurred
				in performance of remediation work approved by the Agency, and necessary to
				respond to the release for which the claimant is seeking reimbursement from the
				Fund.
[415 ILCS
				135/40(f)(8) ]
B) The Agency's budget review must consist of
				a detailed review of the costs associated with each element necessary to
				accomplish the response to the identified release under the EPAct and 35 Ill.
				Adm Code 740. Items to be reviewed must include costs associated with any
				materials, activities, or services that are included in the SRP plan. The
				claimant must demonstrate that all costs are within the range of usual and
				customary rates for similar or equivalent goods or services, incurred in
				performance of remediation work approved by the Agency, and necessary to
				respond to the release for which the claimant is seeking reimbursement from the
				Fund.
6) Upon completion
				of the review, the Agency must issue a letter to the claimant approving,
				disapproving, or modifying the remedial action costs submitted in the budget.
				The following procedures, at a minimum, apply regarding Agency determinations:
A) The Agency's budget determination must be
				provided in writing.
B) The Agency
				may combine the notification of its budget determination with the notification
				of its final determination on the corresponding SRP plan.
C) If costs in a budget are disapproved or
				approved with modification, the written notification of the Agency's budget
				determination must contain the following:
i)
				An explanation of the specific type of information or documentation, if any,
				that the Agency finds the claimant did not provide;
ii) The reasons for the disapproval or
				modification; and
iii) Citations to
				statutory or regulatory provisions upon which the determination is
				based.
D) If the Agency
				disapproves an SRP plan or approves an SRP plan with conditions, in accordance
				with 35 Ill. Adm. Code 740, the Agency may return the corresponding budget to
				the claimant without review. If an amended SRP plan is submitted in response to
				the Agency's action, the claimant may submit an amended budget for review. A
				claimant may also submit an amended budget in response to the Agency's approval
				of an SRP plan with conditions.
E)
				The burden of proof is on the claimant in any review.
7) The Agency must not reimburse a cost from
				the Fund unless the corresponding work has been approved in an SRP plan in
				accordance with 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 740 and the cost has been approved in a
				budget in accordance with the requirements of this Part.