The Illinois Attorney General's Office recently settled an environmental enforcement action concerning a calcined coke plant located at 12187 East 950th Avenue in Robinson, Crawford County, Illinois.  Calcined Petroleum Coke is a critical ingredient in the production of aluminum. The enforcement action sought civil penalties for alleged violations of the air pollution provisions of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.  In People v. Rain CII Carbon, LLC, the State alleged eight violations: air pollution, permit condition violations, reporting and recordkeeping violations, maintenance and notification violations, other recordkeeping violations, operation and notification violations, failure to timely submit annual emissions reports, and failure to submit true and accurate compliance certifications for 2010 and 2011.

The Illinois Pollution Control Board recently issued its Environmental Register for January 2017.  The Environmental Register summarizes the Board's work for the past six months and provides a rulemaking update, appellate update, summary of actions of the Board, the Board's calendar, and listings of community water supplies that have been designated with the labels "restricted status" or critical review".  Click here to review the Environmental Register.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released its annual 2015 Toxics Release Inventory ("TRI") National Analysis, which tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment.  This information is gathered from American facilities in different industries, which must report annually on how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment.  Overall, the report shows good news: releases of toxic chemicals into the air fell 56% from 2005-2015 at industrial facilities submitting data to the TRI program, including a 63 million pound decrease from 2014 to 2015.

Counting down new Illinois environmental laws that took effect on January 1, 2017 is Public Act 99-0541, which makes changes to the composition of the Illinois Commission on Environmental Justice.  The function of the Commission is to "advise State entities on environmental justice and related community issues, review and analyze the impact of current State laws and policies on the issue of environmental justice and sustainable communities, assess the adequacy of State and local laws to address the issue of environmental justice and sustainable communities, develop criteria to assess whether communities in the State may be experiencing environmental justice issues, and recommend options to the Governor for addressing issues, concerns, or problems related to environmental justice that surface after reviewing State laws and policies, including prioritizing areas of the State that need immediate attention."

On December 12, Governor Bruce Rauner appointed Cynthia Santos to the Board.  Santos comes to the Board after serving for 20 years as a Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.  From her official biography: "Board Member Santos was appointed to the Board by Governor Bruce Rauner in December 2016.  Before joining the Board, Ms. Santos served 20 years as an elected Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation of Greater Chicago.  During her tenure, she was instrumental in the development of District’s Stormwater Management Program.  She also served as the District’s representative on the City of Chicago’s Public Building Commission where she was involved in the construction of numerous schools, libraries, and police and fire stations.  Ms. Santos earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, as well as a Master’s Degree in Political Science and Public Policy from Northeastern Illinois University.  Ms. Santos resides in Chicago."

Counting down new Illinois environmental laws that took effect on January 1, 2017 is Public Act 99-0540, which provides that if specified notice is submitted, then an employer may request that the unused portion of a terminated licensee's pesticide applicator or operator license term be transferred to a newly certified or re-certified individual.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently published a proposed rule that would amend the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Manufacturing of Nutritional Yeast source category.  This category includes any facility engaged in the manufacture of baker's yeast by fermentation (both active dry yeast and compressed yeast).  It also includes the following manufacturing process units: fermentation vessels and the drying and packaging system. The proposed amendments include revising the form of the fermenter volatile organic compounds (VOC) emission limits, changing the testing and monitoring requirements, and updating the reporting and recordkeeping requirements.  Click here to read the proposed rule.