HB4971 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB101 20397 JWD 69946 b

101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB4971

Introduced 2/18/2020, by Rep. Sonya M. Harper

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 60/24.1

from Ch. 5, par. 824.1

Amends the Illinois Pesticide Act. Increases administrative penalties based on stated ranges of total violation points. Provides that beginning January 1, 2021 and each January 1 thereafter, the amounts of administrative penalties shall be adjusted by the Department of Agriculture based on the annual change in the Consumer Price Index. Requires the updated penalty amounts to be made available to the public on the Department's website.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Pesticide Act is amended by changing Section 24.1 as follows:

(415 ILCS 60/24.1) (from Ch. 5, par. 824.1)

Sec. 24.1. Administrative actions and penalties.

(1) The Director is authorized after an opportunity for an administrative hearing to suspend, revoke, or modify any license, permit, special order, registration, or certification issued under this Act. This action may be taken in addition to or in lieu of monetary penalties assessed as set forth in this Section. When it is in the interest of the people of the State of Illinois, the Director may, upon good and sufficient evidence, suspend the registration, license, or permit until a hearing has been held. In such cases, the Director shall issue an order in writing setting forth the reasons for the suspension. Such order shall be served personally on the person or by registered or certified mail sent to the person's business address as shown in the latest notification to the Department. When such an order has been issued by the Director, the person may request an immediate hearing.

(2) Before initiating hearing proceedings, the Director may issue an advisory letter to a violator of this Act or its rules and regulations when the violation points total 6 or less, as determined by the Department by the Use and Violation Criteria established in this Section. When the Department determines that the violation points total more than 6 but not more than 13, the Director shall issue a warning letter to the violator.

(3) The hearing officer upon determination of a violation or violations shall assess one or more of the following penalties:

(A) For any person applying pesticides without a license or misrepresenting certification or failing to comply with conditions of an agrichemical facility permit or failing to comply with the conditions of a written authorization for land application of agrichemical contaminated soils or groundwater, a penalty of $500 shall be assessed for the first offense and $1,000 for the second and subsequent offenses.

(B) For violations of a stop use order imposed by the Director, the penalty shall be $2500.

(C) For violations of a stop sale order imposed by the Director, the penalty shall be $1500 for each individual item of the product found in violation of the order.

(D) For selling restricted use pesticides to a non-certified applicator the penalty shall be $1000.

(E) For selling restricted use pesticides without a dealer's license the penalty shall be $1,000.

(F) For constructing or operating without an agrichemical facility permit after receiving written notification, the penalty shall be $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for the second and subsequent offenses.

(G) For violations of the Act and Rules and Regulations, administrative penalties will be based upon the total violation points as determined by the Use and Violation Criteria as set forth in paragraph (4) of this Section. The monetary penalties shall be as follows:

(H) Beginning on January 1, 2021, and every January 1 thereafter, the monetary penalties described in paragraph (3)(G) shall automatically be increased or decreased, by a percentage equal to the percentage change in the All Items Consumer Index for All Urban Consumers for the U.S. City Average, 1982-84=100 (CPI-U) published by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics of the United States Department of Labor during the preceding 12-month calendar year. The updated monetary penalties resulting from each annual adjustment shall be made available to the public via the Department's official website, by January 1 of the calendar year for which the new monetary penalties apply. When calculating the monetary penalties, the Department shall round down to the nearest whole dollar. A complaint received by the Department, which results in a monetary penalty under paragraph (3)(G), shall have the monetary penalty applied based on the calendar year in which the complaint was received.

(4) The following Use and Violation Criteria establishes the point value which shall be compiled to determine the total violation points and administrative actions or monetary penalties to be imposed as set forth in paragraph (3)(G) of this Section:

(A) Point values shall be assessed upon the harm or loss incurred.

(1) A point value of 1 shall be assessed for the following:

(a) Exposure to a pesticide by plants, animals or humans with no symptoms or damage noted.

(b) Fraudulent sales practices or representations with no apparent monetary losses involved.

(2) A point value of 2 shall be assessed for the following:

(a) Exposure to a pesticide which resulted in:

(1) Plants or property showing signs of damage including but not limited to leaf curl, burning, wilting, spotting, discoloration, or dying.

(2) Garden produce or an agricultural crop not being harvested on schedule.

(3) Fraudulent sales practices or representations resulting in losses under $500.

(3) A point value of 4 shall be assessed for the following:

(a) Exposure to a pesticide resulting in a human experiencing headaches, nausea, eye irritation and such other symptoms which persisted less than 3 days.

(b) Plant or property damage resulting in a loss below $1000.

(c) Animals exhibiting symptoms of pesticide poisoning including but not limited to eye or skin irritations or lack of coordination.

(d) Death to less than 5 animals.

(e) Fraudulent sales practices or representations resulting in losses from $500 to $2000.

(4) A point value of 6 shall be assessed for the following:

(a) Exposure to a pesticide resulting in a human experiencing headaches, nausea, eye irritation and such other symptoms which persisted 3 or more days.

(b) Plant or property damage resulting in a loss of $1000 or more.

(c) Death to 5 or more animals.

(d) Fraudulent sales practices or representations resulting in losses over $2000.

(B) Point values shall be assessed based upon the signal word on the label of the chemical involved:

(5) Any penalty not paid within 60 days of notice from the Department shall be submitted to the Attorney General's Office for collection. Failure to pay a penalty shall also be grounds for suspension or revocation of permits, licenses and registrations.

(6) Private applicators, except those private applicators who have been found by the Department to have committed a "use inconsistent with the label" as defined in subsection 40 of Section 4 of this Act, are exempt from the Use and Violation Criteria point values.

(Source: P.A. 90-403, eff. 8-15-97.)