(a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Underground Storage Tank Fund. There shall be deposited into the Underground Storage Tank Fund all moneys received by the Office of the State Fire Marshal as fees for underground storage tanks under Sections 4 and 5 of the Gasoline Storage Act, fees pursuant to the Motor Fuel Tax Law, and beginning July 1, 2013, payments pursuant to the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act. All amounts held in the Underground Storage Tank Fund shall be invested at interest by the State Treasurer. All income earned from the investments shall be deposited into the Underground Storage Tank Fund no less frequently than quarterly. In addition to any other transfers that may be provided for by law, beginning on July 1, 2018 and on the first day of each month thereafter during fiscal years 2019 through 2024 only, the State Comptroller shall direct and the State Treasurer shall transfer an amount equal to 1/12 of $10,000,000 from the Underground Storage Tank Fund to the General Revenue Fund. Moneys in the Underground Storage Tank Fund, pursuant to appropriation, may be used by the Agency and the Office of the State Fire Marshal for the following purposes:
         (1) To take action authorized under Section 57.12 to
    
recover costs under Section 57.12.
        (2) To assist in the reduction and mitigation of
    
damage caused by leaks from underground storage tanks, including but not limited to, providing alternative water supplies to persons whose drinking water has become contaminated as a result of those leaks.
        (3) To be used as a matching amount towards federal
    
assistance relative to the release of petroleum from underground storage tanks.
        (4) For the costs of administering activities of the
    
Agency and the Office of the State Fire Marshal relative to the Underground Storage Tank Fund.
        (5) For payment of costs of corrective action
    
incurred by and indemnification to operators of underground storage tanks as provided in this Title.
        (6) For a total of 2 demonstration projects in
    
amounts in excess of a $10,000 deductible charge designed to assess the viability of corrective action projects at sites which have experienced contamination from petroleum releases. Such demonstration projects shall be conducted in accordance with the provision of this Title.
        (7) Subject to appropriation, moneys in the
    
Underground Storage Tank Fund may also be used by the Department of Revenue for the costs of administering its activities relative to the Fund and for refunds provided for in Section 13a.8 of the Motor Fuel Tax Law.
    (b) Moneys in the Underground Storage Tank Fund may, pursuant to appropriation, be used by the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Agency to take whatever emergency action is necessary or appropriate to assure that the public health or safety is not threatened whenever there is a release or substantial threat of a release of petroleum from an underground storage tank and for the costs of administering its activities relative to the Underground Storage Tank Fund.

Terms Used In Illinois Compiled Statutes 415 ILCS 5/57.11

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Corrective action: means activities associated with compliance with the provisions of Sections 57. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 415 ILCS 5/57.2
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Fund: means the Underground Storage Tank Fund. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 415 ILCS 5/57.2
  • Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
  • Month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" a calendar year unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone, is equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.10
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Release: means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, leaching or disposing of petroleum from an underground storage tank into groundwater, surface water or subsurface soils. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 415 ILCS 5/57.2
  • Site: means any single location, place, tract of land or parcel of property including contiguous property not separated by a public right-of-way. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 415 ILCS 5/57.2
  • State: when applied to different parts of the United States, may be construed to include the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" may be construed to include the said district and territories. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.14

     (c) Beginning July 1, 1993, the Governor shall certify to the State Comptroller and State Treasurer the monthly amount necessary to pay debt service on State obligations issued pursuant to Section 6 of the General Obligation Bond Act. On the last day of each month, the Comptroller shall order transferred and the Treasurer shall transfer from the Underground Storage Tank Fund to the General Obligation Bond Retirement and Interest Fund the amount certified by the Governor, plus any cumulative deficiency in those transfers for prior months.
     (d) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Section, the Underground Storage Tank Fund is not subject to administrative charges authorized under Section 8h of the State Finance Act that would in any way transfer any funds from the Underground Storage Tank Fund into any other fund of the State.
     (e) Each fiscal year, subject to appropriation, the Agency may commit up to $10,000,000 of the moneys in the Underground Storage Tank Fund to the payment of corrective action costs for legacy sites that meet one or more of the following criteria as a result of the underground storage tank release: (i) the presence of free product, (ii) contamination within a regulated recharge area, a wellhead protection area, or the setback zone of a potable water supply well, (iii) contamination extending beyond the boundaries of the site where the release occurred, or (iv) such other criteria as may be adopted in Agency rules.
         (1) Fund moneys committed under this subsection (e)
    
shall be held in the Fund for payment of the corrective action costs for which the moneys were committed.
        (2) The Agency may adopt rules governing the
    
commitment of Fund moneys under this subsection (e).
        (3) This subsection (e) does not limit the use of
    
Fund moneys at legacy sites as otherwise provided under this Title.
        (4) For the purposes of this subsection (e), the term
    
“legacy site” means a site for which (i) an underground storage tank release was reported prior to January 1, 2005, (ii) the owner or operator has been determined eligible to receive payment from the Fund for corrective action costs, and (iii) the Agency did not receive any applications for payment prior to January 1, 2010.
    (f) Beginning July 1, 2013, if the amounts deposited into the Fund from moneys received by the Office of the State Fire Marshal as fees for underground storage tanks under Sections 4 and 5 of the Gasoline Storage Act and as fees pursuant to the Motor Fuel Tax Law during a State fiscal year are sufficient to pay all claims for payment by the fund received during that State fiscal year, then the amount of any payments into the fund pursuant to the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act during that State fiscal year shall be deposited as follows: 75% thereof shall be paid into the State treasury and 25% shall be reserved in a special account and used only for the transfer to the Common School Fund as part of the monthly transfer from the General Revenue Fund in accordance with Section 8a of the State Finance Act.
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