Welcome to the Chemical Industry of Illinois

BPA BAN FAILS TO ADVANCE

In spite of the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Daily Herald all editorializing in favor of a ban on bisphenol A (BPA) used in baby bottles the day the bill, HB 2485 (Nekritz, D-Northbrook), was to be called for a vote, the proposed ban on this safe and U.S. FDA approved product failed to garner the required 60 votes needed for passage and was subsequently sent back to the House Rules Committee. While nothing ever truly dies in Springfield, CICI is cautiously optimistic that the language of this measure will not be voted on again this Spring Session.

CICI, a host of business interests, and even the AFL-CIO actively opposed this bill with the main argument that if BPA is safe in metal food and beverage cans – and a whole host of health agencies around the globe, including the FDA, all agree it’s safe - then BPA is safe in baby bottles.

Ultimately the real target of this bill is canned food and beverages particularly infant formula. Interestingly, even with the proposed amendment none of the opposition went neutral on the bill and all organizations still continue to oppose the ban.

SMALL PART OF CAPITAL BILL SIGNED INTO LAW

Governor Pat Quinn has already signed into law a small part of a statewide construction program aimed at repairs for roads, bridges, and transit systems. The state has not had any type of a construction program in almost 10 years. The small $3.5 billion capital infrastructure program will allow the state to begin some repair of crumbling infrastructure and enhance mass transit across the state. The program will be funded using some federal stimulus dollars along with a $3 billion bond program funded by diverting $200 million per year from the state's Road Fund and $100 million annually from the General Revenue Fund.

SENATE LEADER RADOGNO TO SPEAK AT CICI LEGISLATIVE DAY

Mark your calendars and reserve your rooms by Monday April 13, 2009. CICI will be holding its Annual Legislative/Regulatory Day in Springfield, Tuesday, May 5, 2009, at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, with an evening reception of legislators and key government officials at the Sangamo Club.

Newly elected Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) will be the keynote speaker at the Luncheon. Leader Radogno will speak about the state’s current budget problems, the potential for tax and fee increases, and other important issues affecting the business community.

This event is a great opportunity to mingle and get to know the key people in state government, like members of the Illinois General Assembly, Constitutional Officers, IEPA officials, the members of the Pollution Control Board, and other key government officials. At the 2008 reception, close to 200 legislators and government officials attended. Come thank those elected officials who are friends of the chemical industry.

The President Abraham Lincoln Hotel has a discounted block of rooms reserved for CICI. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel at 1-866-788-1860. CICI’s block of rooms will only be available until Monday, April 13, 2009, so please make your reservations accordingly.

To register for this event, follow this link: http://www.cicil.net/Flyers/Legislativeday09.html

BLAGOJEVICH AND CREW INDICTED

As you undoubtedly know by now, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and 5 of his aides were indicted by a federal grand jury last Thursday. Blagojevich himself was indicted on 16 felony counts that could result in a maximum jail sentence of 325 years for crimes related to actions taken while he was in office. Specifically, he was charged with racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, and making false statements to federal agents. The former Governor allegedly used his public office and official acts to obtain financial benefits such as money, campaign contributions, and employment for him and others.

ANOTHER CLIMATE CHANGE BILL HELD IN COMMITTEE

Following the House’s lead a few weeks ago, an amendment was unanimously adopted by a voice vote in the Senate Environment Committee that would mandate the creation of a new cap-and-tax program in Illinois by October 1, 2010. The committee voted to adopt the amendment but at the request of the sponsor the amendment was held and sent to a subcommittee. Many business and industry groups opposed even adding this amendment to the bill. This time, however, no one was even allowed to testify for or against the bill in committee.

This particular measure, SB 856 (Steans, D-Chicago), requires the state to adopt a market-based cap-and-tax program that would require utilities and manufacturers to reduce their emissions by 25% from 2005 levels by the year 2020. The reduction would increase to 45 percent in 2030 and finally 80 percent by 2050.

CICI will keep the membership abreast of this bill should the sponsor try to move the measure out of committee.

FEDS, STATE EXTEND UI BENEFITS

Illinois residents who have lost their jobs will be able to receive 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits because rising unemployment triggered a mechanism in current state law that automatically implements the enhanced benefits. Under state law, workers are eligible to receive an additional 13 weeks of benefits, that could rise to 20 weeks, if the state's 3-month average unemployment rate is 8 percent or higher. March unemployment numbers pushed the average over this threshold.

Due to the recently enacted American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the additional benefits are 100 percent funded by the federal government and will result in no impact to an employer's experience factor or UI tax rate.

However, not all is good news on that front as a measure, SB 1350 (Forby, D-Benton), was muscled through the State Senate last week that would provide an additional 26 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits for workers in lockout situations. Many in the business community feel this is a blatant attempt to insert government into contract discussions between employers and unions.

More importantly, this is a clear violation of the Agreed Bill process that has guided Unemployment Insurance and Workers' Compensation debate for three decades. Under the long-standing process, no UI or WC legislation will be considered unless debated and agreed upon by both the business and labor communities under the auspices of the Governor's office.

LEGISLATION ADVANCING OUT OF HOUSE, SENATE

This week was the 3^rdReading (Passage) deadline in the House and Senate. Unless given an extension, bills that were not called for a vote will be sent back to their respective chamber’s Rules or Assignments Committee. The following are bills that CICI have been involved with and/or are tracking and have passed from one chamber to another last week.

Repeal Commercial Distribution Fee

This bill, SB 1434 (Sandoval, D-Cicero), repeals the annual commercial distribution fee on vehicles of the second division weighing more than 8,000 pounds that was enacted under Blagojevich’s first budget in 2003.

Prevailing Wage for Enterprise Zones & TIF Districts

This measure, SB 43 (Clayborne, D-E. St. Louis), proposes to extend the Prevailing Wage Act to all projects in an enterprise zone or a TIF district, even for projects that are 100% financed from private sources, with the exception for single or multi-family owner/occupied projects. The bill also provides that "public works" also includes any project that will derive a financial benefit, in whole or in part, from loans, grants, subsidies, incentives, or other financial benefit made available pursuant to the Illinois Enterprise Zone Act or the Economic Development Project Area Tax Increment Allocation Act of 1995. CICI and many in the business community opposed this measure.

Petrochemical Processing Facilities – Property Assessments

This bill, SB 89 (Dahl, R-Peru), allows for a real property tax assessment settlement agreement in a county with less than 1 million inhabitants that that is used for a natural gas extraction and fractionation or a petrochemical processing facility. The legislation is the result an ongoing litigation situation in Grundy County, however, other counties with these types of facilities that enter into these agreements may also take advantage of this should it become law. Current law only allows for such a settlement agreement in a county with less than 1 million inhabitants that contains either a power generating or automotive manufacturing facility.

High-Capacity Wells

This measure, SB 2184 (Garrett, D-Lake Forest), originally placed some severe restrictions and new requirements on high-capacity wells that garnered the opposition of CICI and many industry groups. An amendment changed the bill to a requirement, without any penalties, that these types of wells, register with the Illinois State Water Survey in order to get a better idea of how much water is being withdrawn and what is placed back into a well or water body. This supposedly will allow the state to know what the demands are in various parts of the state.

Mercury Thermostat Take-Back Program

This measure, SB 1690 (Hunter, D-Chicago), creates the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act and requires thermostat manufacturers to establish and maintain a program for the collection and recycling of mercury thermostats. It also prohibits wholesalers, retailers, and technicians from selling or distributing non-mercury thermostats if they have not taken certain actions with respect to the disposal of mercury thermostats.

Green Infrastructure for Clean Water

This piece of legislation, SB 1489 (Martinez, D-Chicago), once created the Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act, requiring the IEPA to adopt comprehensive storm water management rules that meet certain requirements by July 1, 2012. This will be changed through an amendment to set up a task force to study the issue.

Pesticides/Lawn Care Products Application and Notices

This bill, SB 1769 (Steans, D-Chicago), now requires each school district and the Board of Education to adopt a procedure to comply with the requirements of the Lawn Care Products Application and Notice Act and the Structural Pest Control Act. It requires the designation of a staff person who is responsible for compliance with the requirements of those Acts and requires the owners and operators of licensed day care centers to ensure that lawn care products will not be applied to day care center grounds when children are present at a center or on its grounds. The bill also requires applicators for hire to provide, upon request, a copy of the approved pesticide registration label as well as the material safety data sheet for applied lawn care product to certain persons. The schools and day care centers are also to give parents written or phone notice 4 days before applying pesticide on day care grounds or school grounds (now, written notice must be given 2 days before pesticides are applied to school grounds).

Energy Efficient Building Code for Residential Buildings

This bill, HB 3987 (Hamos, D-Evanston), amends the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Act, making the law applicable to all buildings (now, all commercial buildings). The bill also provides that the Capital Development Board (CDB) must adopt the specified energy conservation code as the minimum requirements for commercial buildings and as the minimum and maximum requirements for the construction of residential buildings. Further, units of local government, except for the city of Chicago, may not regulate energy efficient building standards for residential buildings in a manner that is either less or more stringent than the standards in the bill and they may not enact any annexation ordinance or resolution, or require or enter into any annexation agreement, that imposes energy efficiency building standards for residential buildings that are either less or more stringent than the energy efficiency standards. Any unit of local government that has adopted any previously published editions of the International Energy Conservation Code on or before January 1, 2009 may continue to regulate energy efficient building standards under that Code and any supplements the unit of local government has adopted prior to January 1, 2009. Also, through an amendment, the bill replaces a provision that exempts from the Code's requirements "additions, alterations, renovations, or repairs to existing residential structures" with a provision that exempts from the Code's requirements the following: "storm windows installed over existing fenestration; glass-only replacements in an existing sash and fame; existing ceiling, wall, or floor cavities exposed during construction, provided that these cavities are filled with insulation; and construction where the existing roof, wall, or floor is not exposed".

Beneficial Use Determinations

This proposal, SB 2034 (Garrett, D-Lake Forest), authorizes the IEPA to make written determinations that certain materials that would otherwise be required to be managed as waste may be managed as non-waste if those materials are used beneficially and in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment. The bill requires applicants for beneficial use determinations to demonstrate that (1) the chemical and physical properties of the material are comparable to similar commercially available materials, (2) the market demand for the material meets certain requirements, (3) the material is legitimately beneficially used, (4) the management and use of the material will not cause, threaten, or allow the release of any contaminant into the environment, except as authorized by law, and (5) the management and use of the material otherwise protects human health and safety and the environment. It also authorizes applicants to seek review of the IEPA’s written decisions to disapprove of an application for a determination or to approve of it with conditions. These determinations will be effective for a period approved by the IEPA, but that period may not exceed 5 years. Finally, the bill authorizes certain materials to maintain their non-waste status after the effective period of the determination under certain conditions and prohibits recipients of a determination from managing or using the material that is the subject of the determination in violation of the determination or any conditions imposed by it, unless the material is managed as waste.

Clean Construction/Demolition Debris

This bill, SB 1607 (Harmon, D-Oak Park), amends the Environmental Protection Act to change the definition of "clean construction or demolition debris" (CCDD) to provide that certain materials generated from the construction or demolition of a road may be considered CCDD. The bill also defines "painted construction or demolition debris" (PCDD) as certain materials that contain paint and that are generated from construction or demolition activities and that PCDD may be treated as CCDD if certain requirements are met. The bill also provides that general fill soil may contain broken concrete, bricks, or asphalt and prohibits any person from conducting any generation, transportation, or recycling of general fill soil without certain documentation. It requires existing owners and operators of CCDD fill operations to seek a permit modification and provide that no person shall use restricted fill soil or PCDD as fill material at a CCDD fill operation unless certain requirements are met. Further, the section regarding CCDD fill operations does not apply to the use of CCDD, restricted fill soil, or PCDD as fill material under certain circumstances. The bill also authorizes the use of restricted fill soil and PCDD as fill material under certain circumstances. The legislation further reinserts portions of the introduced bill that relate to the Receipt Control and Screening Plan that must be developed and implemented by the owner or operator of a CCDD fill operation; reinserts with portions of the introduced bill that relate to the Testing and Sampling Plan that must be developed and implemented by the owner or operator of a CCDD fill operation. It also authorizes the IEPA to enter intergovernmental agreements regarding the reuse of soil and clean construction or demolition debris with state agencies, counties with a population of 3,000,000 or more (Cook), or units of local government located in a county with a population of 3,000,000 or more (Chicago).

IEPA Bill - Various

This measure, SB 2145 (Haine, D-Alton), amends the Asbestos Abatement Act, deleting a provision requiring the Department of Public Health to (1) require local educational agencies to submit to them certain asbestos related response action contracts for which the agency seeks indemnification and (2) collect from the agency a certain percentage of each response action contract for deposit into the Response Contractors Indemnification Fund. The bill also amends the Response Action Contractor Indemnification Act to provide that, within 30 days after the effective date, the state Comptroller and Treasurer shall transfer all moneys in the Response Action Contractor Indemnification Fund to the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund. The bill further amends the Alternate Fuels Act in a Section concerning the rebate program, authorizing the IEPA to establish rebate priorities and provides that the rebate applications must be submitted within 12 months after a vehicle conversion occurred, rather than within the same calendar year, as is currently required. Finally, the bill repeals the Hazardous Waste Crane and Hoisting Equipment Operators Licensing Act and the Hazardous Waste Laborers Licensing Act.

Clean Air Fast-Track Rulemaking

This bill, HB 3859 (Franks, D-Woodstock), reenacts a section concerning fast-track rulemaking for the Clean Air Act, providing that if the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require the adoption of rules other than identical in substance rules, then the IPCB must adopt rules under fast-track rulemaking if requested to do so by the IEPA. The IPCB must accept evidence and comments on the economic impact of any provision of the rule and must consider the economic impact of the rule in any fast-track rulemaking proceeding.

Professional Engineers

This bill, SB 1384 (Haine, D-Alton), Extends the repeal date of the Professional Engineering Practice Act of 1989 from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2020. The bill makes changes in provisions concerning application of the act, definitions, powers and duties of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the composition and qualifications of the State Board of Professional Engineers, the powers and duties of the Board, application for licensure, minimum standards for examination for licensure as a professional engineer, minimum standards for examination for enrollment as an engineer intern, the engineer's seal, technical submissions, issuance of a license, endorsement, rosters, grounds for disciplinary action, investigations, restoration of a suspended or revoked license, and civil penalties.

NPDES Construction Site Storm Water Permits

This proposal, HB 629 (Mautino, D-Spring Valley), limits the circumstances under which the IEPA must send a fee notice to existing NPDES permittees. The bill exempts NPDES construction-site storm water permittees who meet certain requirements from paying an annual NPDES construction-site storm water permit fee after payment of an initial annual fee of $500 before January 1, 2010 or $250 or $750, depending on the number of acres disturbed, for applications received on or after January 1, 2010 Currently, NPDES construction-site storm water permittees must pay $500 initially and $500 each subsequent year, except if a permit is issued during the months of January through June, then the permittee may be exempt from paying an annual fee during "the 12 months beginning July 1 that immediately follow the period for which the initial annual fee was due". Under existing law and this Act, the IEPA may prorate the initial annual fee in the case of permits issued during the months of January through June.

Soil Contamination

This legislation, HB 4021 (Mautino, D-Spring Valley), requires the IEPA to evaluate the release of contaminants if it determines that the extent of soil, soil gas, or groundwater contamination may extend beyond the boundary of the site where the release occurred (now, only if "soil or groundwater contamination may extend beyond the boundary of the site where the release occurred"). The bill also requires the IEPA to notify the owner of the contaminated property if soil contamination beyond the boundary of the site where the release occurred, soil gas contamination beyond the boundary of the site where the release occurred, or both pose a threat of exposure to the public above the appropriate Tier 1 remediation objectives (now, the owner of the contaminated property must be contacted only about "soil contamination beyond the boundary of the site where the release occurred").

Excessive Idling

This measure, HB 2664 (Nekritz, D-Northbrook), increases the fine for an excessive idling violation from $50 to $90 for the first conviction. All fine money not receivable by local governments shall be paid, subject to appropriation, to the IEPA for the purpose of educating the trucking industry on air pollution and preventative measures specifically related to idling.

Please note that the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois Legislator is not intended to convey legal advice or set forth all legal requirements applicable to particular circumstances.

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