Bureau of Land

More Information About the Bureau of Land

INTRODUCTION
The Bureau of Land (BOL) is responsible for the protection and restoration of land and groundwater resources in the State of Illinois. The BOL administers a broad variety of solid and hazardous waste management and cleanup programs.

The mission of the Bureau of Land is to:

1. Ensure that hazardous and non-hazardous wastes are managed in an environmentally sound manner;
2. Encourage the recycling and recovery of waste materials through suitable incentive/disincentive efforts;
3. Provide remedial responses and/or provide oversight to the uncontrolled releases of hazardous and petroleum substances into the environment.

Bureau Chief's Office - Scott Phillips, Chief
The Bureau Chief has overall responsibility and final decision making for all programs in the Bureau of Land. The Bureau is comprised of the Division of Land Pollution Control, the Division of Remediation Management, and Planning and Reporting. The primary focus of the Division of Land Pollution Control is on development and implementation issues concerning the solid and hazardous waste programs while the Division of Remediation Management primarily focuses on  clean-up programs. Planning and Reporting supports the Bureau focusing on all aspects of financial management, computer support, records management and training.

Administrative Support/Chief Staff Assistant - Linda Traylor
This office provides liaison with the Agency Personnel Office for all personnel transactions  such as hires, resignations, promotions, performance reviews, etc.; provides guidance on the interpretation of union contract language, personnel rules, Agency and Bureau policies for personnel and administrative procedures; assists with the preparation of budgets for personal services and supervises the Administrative Support Unit.

Quality Coordinator -Karen Nelson
This position interfaces with the Agency's Quality Coordinator to ensure consistency with the Agency's overall quality initiative of eliminating wasteful and duplicative activities by becoming more effective, efficient and customer focused. Functions include: coordinating, developing and presenting in-house training on team building, group dynamics, leadership, interactive people skills, and facilitation /presentation skills; tracking and assisting quality action work teams and work groups through problem solving processes; facilitating work teams and senior management meetings; coordinating the solicitation and selection of employees eligible for facilitator training; and tracking the registration and quality training of all BOL employees.

Division of Legal Counsel/Bureau of Land Support (Enforcement) - Vacant
The Division of Legal Counsel works in conjunction with personnel of the Bureau of Land to assure that facilities remain in compliance with the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. Division attorneys assigned to the Bureau of Land are primarily engaged in compliance, enforcement and regulatory development work concerning materials placed on land. Their work includes: representing the Agency's position in proceedings to enforce compliance with the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act and associated regulations adopted by the Pollution Control Board; representing the Agency in permit review proceedings before the Pollution Control Board; and providing in-house counseling, response action assistance and program development, involving drafting legislation, regulations, procedures, agreements and contracts relative to implementation of the Bureau's programs.

Community Relations/Bureau of Land Support - Kurt Neibergall
The Office of Community Relations serves the Bureau of Land by working with a wide range of groups and individuals affected or potentially affected by Bureau programs. Community Relations Coordinators use their technical backgrounds and communication skills to develop a dialogue on complex or controversial issues. Through the years, this Office has provided  feedback to improve Bureau programs, resolved misunderstandings and disputes, and gained community acceptance for programs and decisions. To help fulfill legal requirements, build trust, and be responsive to customers, Community Relations Coordinators work closely with Bureau staff to select tools and techniques appropriate for each situation. Some of these tools and techniques include: conducting public forums, developing informational materials, responding to inquiries, conducting community assessments, negotiating disputes, acquiring site access, assisting with surveying and sampling and providing presentations.

DIVISION OF LAND POLLUTION CONTROL - Doug Clay, Division Manager

The mission of the Division of the Land Pollution (DLPC) is to:

1. Ensure that hazardous and nonhazardous wastes are managed in an environmentally sound manner; and
2. Encourage the recycling and recovery of materials including used tires through suitable incentive/disincentive efforts. It is primarily responsible for implementing the regulatory control programs (i.e., RCRA, Solid Waste, UIC, Used Tires) of the Bureau.

PERMIT SECTION - Steve Nightingale, P.E., Manager
Permit Section staff reviews and evaluates permit applications for hazardous, non-hazardous, and special waste management facilities which include disposal, treatment, recycling, storage, composting and municipal waste transfer as well as underground injection wells.  Permits are issued to ensure that a company handles waste in a manner that is environmentally safe and in accordance with state and federal regulations. In addition to the permitting of facilities, the Section is involved with the review of the closure/post closure plans for storage, treatment and disposal facilities. Section staff also review permitted groundwater monitoring programs, interpretations of groundwater standards and general assistance concerning impacts on groundwater. The Permit Section is made up of five units.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) - Steve Nightingale, P.E., Manager
This unit is responsible for reviewing Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)  Part B and Post-Closure Part B hazardous waste permit applications for storage and disposal facilities. This unit is also responsible for regulation of "mixed waste", waste which is both hazardous and radioactive and the formulation of technical review procedures and policies concerning the management of hazardous wastes. The unit also coordinates Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs) with the Remedial Project Management Section, when appropriate.

Disposal Alternatives Unit - Ted Dragovich, P.E., Manager
The responsibilities of this unit include permitting of RCRA treatment and storage facilities and issuance of State permits for garbage transfer stations, composting facilities, and non-hazardous treatment and storage facilities. This unit is also responsible for administering the potentially infectious medical waste program.

Corrective Action Unit - Jim Moore, P.E., Manager
This unit is responsible for closure and corrective action activities carried out at RCRA, Subtitle C facilities. The closure activities are necessary at those facilities which no longer desire to manage hazardous waste under a permit. The corrective action activities occur at those facilities which obtain a Part B permit and includes development of RCRA Facility Assessments, RCRA Facility Investigation reviews, corrective measures reviews, and closure plan reviews.

Solid Waste Unit - Chris Liebman, P.E.,  L.P.G., Manager
This unit is responsible for permitting non-hazardous solid waste units and clean construction or demolition debris (CCDD) fill operations. 

Groundwater Assistance - Vacant, Solid Waste Unit Manager; Terri Blake Myers, L.P.G., RCRA Unit Manager
These groundwater assistance units overlap groundwater issues related to permit writing, closure plans and corrective action. Their responsibilities include oversight of groundwater remediation and the evaluation and application of appropriate technologies to groundwater projects. The units review hydrogeologic investigations programs for hazardous and non-hazardous sites including the proposed groundwater monitoring system, the assessment of the groundwater quality, remediation and associated technologies. These groundwater units also provide technical assistance to other units within the Bureau of Land and technical support for the development of new rules and regulations concerning groundwater.

FIELD OPERATIONS SECTION - Paul Purseglove, Manager
The Field Operations Section (FOS) is responsible for performing on-site inspections at waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities, as well as generators and transporters. These inspections are done in order to monitor and assess compliance with the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, the rules and regulations promulgated by the Pollution Control Board and all Agency issued facility permits. FOS personnel are also involved in the investigation of complaints by citizens, joint criminal investigations with State Police, collection of samples, providing testimony at enforcement hearings and emergency response activities. It also plays a major role with the Remedial Project Management Section in overseeing the actual cleanups of abandoned hazardous waste sites.

Regional Field Offices
The FOS is made up of seven regional field offices in the following locations: Champaign, Collinsville, Des Plaines, Marion, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield (see map). Each office handles the site inspections, cleanups and citizen complaints that are within the counties that comprise each Region.

Used Tire Unit - Todd Marvel, Manager
The primary responsibility of this unit is to enforce state law and the Pollution Control Board  regulations that govern the management of used and waste tires. It oversees a cleanup program for used tires, including the cleanup and processing of used tires for recycling or reuse. This unit includes staff within each FOS Region and their responsibilities include performing field work for the enforcement of this program as well as oversight for cleanup contractors.

WASTE REDUCTION AND COMPLIANCE SECTION - David Walters, Manager
The Solid Waste Management Section: assists local governments in planning and implementing local solid waste enforcement efforts; issues permits to special waste haulers; provides special waste manifests to generators; administers household hazardous waste collection programs with local governments; develops the annual Illinois landfill capacity report;  processes, compiles and summarizes annual waste reports; oversees financial assurance instruments for waste management facilities; and tracks violations by the regulated community. Four units make up the section.

Annual Reports and Data Analysis Unit - Vacant
This unit administers solid waste enforcement grants to counties that have been delegated inspection authority at solid waste facilities; develops the Annual Disposal Capacity Report for landfills; and tracks local government siting decisions and related permit decisions concerning waste management facilities and publishes a bi-annual report of them.

Waste Reduction Unit - Vacant
This unit oversees household hazardous waste collection programs in conjunction with local government sponsors; coordinates the Partners for Waste Paint Solutions with paint retailers; and organizes the collection of waste chemicals from Illinois schools.

Compliance Unit - Brian White, Manager
Primary responsibilities of this unit include the tracking of hazardous waste, solid wastes, LUST and used tires violations and compliance activity to the point of referral to the Enforcement Decision Group; updating Region V and FOS Regions with compliance reports; maintaining an index of EDG activities; tracking consent order conditions; and distributing information from the compliance and consent order tracking systems.

DIVISION OF REMEDIATION MANAGEMENT -Vacant, Division Manager
The purpose of the Division of Remediation Management (DRM) is to provide remedial responses and  provide oversight to the uncontrolled releases of hazardous and petroleum substances into the environment. The DRM is primarily responsible for implementing the Federal and State funded cleanup program( i.e., CERCLA, Department of Defense, LUST, and State Response Action) and the privately funded Pre-Notice Program.

OFFICE OF BROWNFIELDS ASSISTANCE - Steve Colantino, Manager
The Office of Brownfields Assistance manages the Brownfields grant and loan programs and offers technical support to communities through the services of its Brownfields representatives. Brownfields representatives work directly with communities to explain cleanup options, regulatory programs and requirements and guide municipalities through the Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment process. The Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant Program provides funding to local municipalities to investigate and clean up brownfields properties.  The Illinois Brownfields Redevelopment Loan Program is a revolving low-interest loan program that provides funds to municipalities and the private sector for the environmental cleanup of Brownfields sites.

REMEDIAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT SECTION - Joyce Munie, P.E., Manager
The Remedial Project Management Section (RPMS) oversees clean up of sites containing hazardous substances to mitigate, reduce or eliminate existing or potential threats to human health or the environment. Response actions are accomplished with either State or private party resources. The RPM Section is made up of three units (Voluntary Site Remediation Program Units A & B, and the State Response Action Program).

Voluntary Site Remediation Program Units A & B - Vacant, Unit A Manager; Greg Dunn, L.P.G.,Unit B Manager
The SRP cleanup program provides Remediation Applicants (i.e., any persons seeking to perform investigative or remedial activities) the opportunity to receive IEPA review, technical assistance and no further remediation determinations from the Illinois EPA. This program is designed to be flexible and responsive to the needs of the Remediation Applicants. The goals and scope of actions at these sites are normally defined by the Remediation Applicants.

The Illinois EPA is authorized to issue No Further Remediation (NFR) letters to the Remedial Applicants who have successfully demonstrated, through proper investigation and, when warranted, remedial action, that environmental conditions at their remediation site do not present a significant risk to human health or the environment. The NFR letter signifies a release from further responsibilities under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. This program's activities are paid by the parties requesting the Illinois EPA's oversight.

State Response Action Program - Neelu Lowder, P.E., Manager
The main objective of the State Response Action Program is to clean up hazardous substances at sites that present an imminent and substantial threat to human health and the environment, but which may not be addressed by other federal or state cleanup programs. The Program provides financial and administrative resources for timely and effective responses to releases or threatened releases. Provisions for cost recovery of state-incurred expenditures and for punitive damages compel responsible party participation in cleanups and to conserve state funds. The sites handled by the State Response Action Program include abandoned landfills, old manufacturing plants, former waste oil recycling operations, contaminated agrichemical facilities and other areas where surface water, groundwater, soil and air may be contaminated with hazardous substances.

In 1984, the General Assembly appropriated $20 million from the General Revenue Fund to create the Clean Illinois Program. The program was later renamed the State Response Action Program and was funded primarily from cost recovery from past response actions and from the Hazardous Waste Fund.

LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK SECTION - Hernando Albarracin, Manager
The Leaking Underground Storage Tank (UST) Section oversees the remedial activities after a release from an underground storage tank has been reported to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Leaking UST Section staff review the technical adequacy of site investigation plans and reports, corrective action plans and reports, and associated budgets. This includes the development and evaluation of the appropriate remediation objectives for each site. Once the site has met its remediation objectives and program requirements, the Illinois EPA issues a No Further Remediation Letter for the leaking UST incident. Leaking UST staff also perform site visits, as needed.

In addition, the section is responsible for the review and payment of all costs claims by private parties relating to the cleanup of leaking UST sites. Claims are reviewed for completeness, appropriateness and accuracy prior to preparation of vouchers  to be submitted for payment.

The Leaking UST Section is divided into three units, headed by: Michael Lowder; Harry Chappel, P.E.; and Tom Henninger.

FEDERAL SITE REMEDIATION SECTION - Clarence Smith, Manager
The Federal Site Remediation Section (FSRS) is involved in all aspects of implementing the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA or Superfund) program in Illinois. The FSRS is responsible for the oversight of cleanup activities at contaminated sites that are subject to the provisions of CERCLA. Contaminated sites in the program range in size from five to more than 40,000 acres. The sites may be abandoned hazardous waste disposal areas, abandoned mines or landfills. The contaminated sites may also be properties where the federal government conducted activities that resulted in hazardous waste, explosives, unexploded ordnance, radioactive waste, fuels or a variety of other hazardous substances that continue to present an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. These sites are some of the largest and most contaminated properties in the State of Illinois. Cleanup of these properties requires professional coordination between the FSRS and other sections of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA), as well as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, (U.S. EPA) the Department of Defense, the individual military departments and local communities. FSRS staff members and managers provide the leadership to ensure this coordination is maintained at all levels of the process. The FSRS is located within the Illinois EPA's Bureau of Land, Division of Remediation Management and is composed of approximately 20 project managers in two units that deal with National Priority List (NPL) sites and Federal Facilities. The managers of the two units report to the FSRS Manager.

NATIONAL PRIORITY LIST UNIT  - Bob Carson, P.E., Manager
Sites listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) are the most serious, uncontrolled hazardous substance sites in the state and the country. These sites are referred to the NPL program after the Office of Site Investigation has determined the sites are serious enough to warrant consideration for the NPL. FSRS project managers provide leadership and supervision for these NPL sites during a five-phase remedial response process. During the remedial response process, the extent of site contamination is investigated; possible cleanup remedies are studied; the cleanup remedy is selected and designed and the remedy is implemented. At the present time, there are 47 NPL sites in Illinois.

Illinois EPA and U.S. EPA also work together to reduce the potential number of additional NPL sites through a program called the Federal Site Restoration and Revitalization Program (FSRRP). The FSRRP applies the remedial methods of CERCLA in a voluntary manner at sites not yet listed on the NPL. This program facilitates the site remediation process and allows qualifying potentially responsible parties to avoid the stigmatization of having their site listed on the NPL.

FEDERAL FACILITIES UNIT - Bob Carson, P.E., Manager
Federal facilities of concern are those where the federal government conducts (or has conducted) a variety of activities that have resulted in hazardous waste, unexploded ordnance, explosive waste, radioactive waste, fuels, and a variety of other hazardous substances that present an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. Project managers provide regulatory oversight and technical assistance for environmental cleanups at federal properties under the federal CERCLA regulations and the Illinois Leaking Undergroun d Storage Tank program. The properties consist of active and reserve Army, Navy and Air Force facilities, as well as formerly used defense sites. The United States government is responsible for addressing contamination at approximately 13 active or closing facilities and 147 formerly used defense sites.

OFFICE OF SITE EVALUATION - Tom Crause, Manager
This office provides resources for time-critical removal actions and remediation of National Priorities List sites. Time critical removal actions are short-term emergency actions that may include disposal of tanks or drums of hazardous substances, excavation of contaminated soil or installation of security measures at a site. Immediate dangers are addressed first; and progressive steps are taken to evaluate whether a site remains a serious threat to public health or the environment. The Office of  Site Evaluation's priorities are to: a) identify potential hazardous sites; b) identify need for emergency action; c) evaluate the backlog of sites on EPA's computerized inventory of potential hazardous substance release sites; and d) propose listing of appropriate sites on the National Priorities List.