North Cook News

State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) made a quick inquiry about HB 705, the Natural Gas-Verified Leaks bill, during a recent Energy and Environment Committee hearing.

"Just a quick question, is there any discussion about the quantity of a leak, is that just not defined at all?" Morrison asked the committee chair.

Morrison's query was fielded by the bill's main sponsor, state Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Springfield). 

“The leak is effectively defined by the identification from Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that there are different standards basically of different chemicals,” Morgan said. “So, I think there are pre-existing standards of what's defined as a leak and what is not. This legislation does not touch that, but what it does is amend existing legislation. The existing bill being the Illinois Underground Natural Gas Storage Safety Act, which has limits already.”

In summary, HB 705, which amends the Underground Natural Gas Storage Safety Act, stated that, “In the case of a verified facility leak, the owner and operator of the underground natural gas storage facility will be responsible for specified actions.”

Democratic state Reps. Kelly Cassidy, Anne Stava-Murray, Deb Conroy, Barbara Hernandez, Joyce Mason and Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz have supported the bill as added co-sponsors.