Capitol Recap Legislators unveil bill to keep ethylene oxide emissions away from 'densely populated regions'

A coalition of advocacy groups and lawmakers from both parties unveiled a bill Friday, Sept. 13, that would phase out emissions of a cancer-causing gas in densely populated areas and near schools or day cares by 2022.

The measure, House Bill 3888, was announced at a Chicago news conference and is the latest step in a highly publicized series of legislative and advocacy efforts to regulate or ban the use of ethylene oxide in Illinois. Ethylene oxide is a gas used in sterilization and manufacturing processes that has been linked to higher cancer rates in communities surrounding the companies that use it.

Sponsored by Waukegan Democratic Rep. Rita Mayfield, the bill provides that by 2021, no sterilization company can use ethylene oxide within five miles of a region with a population density of at least 10 residents per square mile, or within the same distance from a school or day care.

Hospitals that use the gas in sterilization processes would have to meet the same requirements by January 2022, while critical access hospitals would have until 2025.

Hospitals and sterilization facilities outside of dense areas and not within range of a day care or school would be allowed to emit no more than 30 pounds of ethylene oxide annually.

The ethylene oxide emitter in the state with the highest profile is Sterigenics, a medical supply sterilization company in the DuPage County suburb of Willowbrook. The company began facing backlash for its ethylene oxide emissions in August 2018, when the public learned of an increased cancer risk in the surrounding area. The IEPA issued a seal order in February preventing it from using the gas.

State Sen. John Curran, a Downers Grove Republican, represents Willowbrook and has sponsored several bills aimed at keeping Sterigenics closed.

"This is a dangerous cancer-causing agent, and as we've learned more we realized the emission of ethylene oxide in an area where people breathe is wrong," he said at the news conference Friday. "Through the study that has taken place in the last 13 years, we have tragically seen increased elevated cancer rates around Willowbrook due to ethylene oxide coming from Sterigenics. It's time that this ends."

Marijuana legalization

Some of the lead negotiators of the law to legalize adult-use marijuana in Illinois are seeking to provide clarity on a provision that gives local municipalities control over which facilities, if any, would be authorized to allow cannabis consumption.

The topic is at the top of the discussion list for potential follow-up legislation, commonly referred to as a trailer bill, which could be heard when the General Assembly returns for veto session in late October, the original bill's Senate sponsor said.

That senator is Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat who said it is "certainly not the intent" of House Bill 1438, the bill which legalized adult-use marijuana, to allow consumption at public places such as restaurants.

"If we need any clarification to make that crystal clear, we will do that," Steans said during a phone interview Thursday, Sept. 19. "We know we'll be doing something along those lines, most likely."

While the bill prohibits "smoking cannabis in any place where smoking is prohibited under the Smoke Free Illinois Act," mitigating language appears in Section 55-25 of the more than 600-page bill.

It reads: "A unit of local government … may regulate the on-premises consumption of cannabis at or in a cannabis business establishment within its jurisdiction in a manner consistent with this Act. A cannabis business establishment or other entity authorized or permitted by a unit of local government to allow on-site consumption shall not be deemed a public place within the meaning of the Smoke Free Illinois Act."

That language means local municipalities have the right to exempt certain facilities from the Smoke Free Illinois Act, which otherwise bans smoking in virtually all public places.

Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell, who was one of the leading forces in Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration in negotiating the bill, said the local control over social use language was put in place to prevent "de facto prohibition" of cannabis consumption for apartment dwellers who, if their landlord banned consumption, would conceivably have no place to legally partake.

Mitchell said discussions of public use generally revolved around the establishment of facilities similar to hookah bars or cigar lounges, which have legal exemptions in the Smoke Free Illinois Act to allow for tobacco consumption on their premises.

Flooding relief

The federal government has approved Illinois' request for disaster relief in 27 of 32 counties affected by flooding this year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office announced Thursday, Sept. 19.

While the public assistance will allow county and municipal governments that have exhausted their available local resources to apply for grants and loans, a request for individual assistance that would benefit homeowners and business owners affected by flooding in 22 counties is still under review, Pritzker's office said.

It is the first time the state has received a federal disaster declaration since 2013. The declaration required a recommendation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and approval from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump.

"My administration stands with every resident and business impacted by this year's flooding, and we will help our communities rebuild stronger and more resilient," Pritzker, a Democrat, said in a statement. "I want to thank our congressional delegation for their advocacy, as well as our state and federal partners, for their help securing the additional resources I requested."

Pritzker made the request for public assistance for 32 counties at the end of August. He announced that 27 of them were approved Thursday in the counties of Adams, Alexander, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Fulton, Greene, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Jackson, Jersey, Knox, Madison, Mercer, Monroe, Morgan, Pike, Randolph, Rock Island, Schuyler, Scott, St. Clair, Stephenson, Union and Whiteside.

The August request also included LaSalle, Lee, Peoria, Tazewell and Winnebago Counties, but they were not included in the governor's release as counties that will be receiving aid.

Supreme Court Day

High school and college students in the Metro East area got a rare chance to see the Illinois Supreme Court in action Wednesday, Sept. 18, when the court traveled to the campus of Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey to hear two cases.

John Lufton, who directs the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission, explained at the outset that it's something the court has done periodically for the past five or six years. He described it as "riding the circuit," a phrase that harkens back to Illinois' early years when judges would travel from town to town within their circuit to hear cases.

"I think it's a great opportunity for the court and for the people that are here," Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois before the hearing.

"In fact, my old high school has been invited to have students here, and the high school where my granddaughters attend is here. It's a great opportunity for the students that are here."

For those who attended Wednesday's session, it was also a chance to learn about the difficulties of adapting the state's legal system, including both criminal and civil law, to the internet age.

Karmeier said the practice of sending the court on the road once in a while helps elevate the profile of a branch of government that often doesn't get the same kind of publicity as the legislative or executive branches.

"When people know, I think they have less fear of the branch and what we do," he said. "When we cloak ourselves in secrecy, I think they wonder about it, so this is an opportunity for everyone."