Abstract |
The Illinois hazardous waste cleanup program, 'Clean Illinois', began in 1984 with $20 million in excess interest from the investment of old bond sale proceeds. Beginning in FY 1986, additional funding was provided through the use of Build Illinois funding for cleanup projects. Since the first year of the program, annual funding has fluctuated between $5.9 million and $17.0 million. When the PRPs did not pay for cleanup either because of insufficient assets, bankruptcy, or other reasons, or when they succeeded in hiding behind incorporation or bankruptcy laws, State funding became necessary. A successful cleanup operation was put into place over the past five years. The cleanup of 59 hazardous waste sites and the significant number of leveraged responsible party cleanups testify to the effectiveness of the Illinois cleanup machine. A bill was introduced in the 1990 session of the Illinois General Assembly to fund the cleanup program through the assessment of a fee on the storage of hazardous chemicals. |