Bill
SB 3772
Creates an Office of Environmental Justice and requires enhanced, publicly transparent review and stricter controls for air permits in EJ areas, including past compliance use.
Role of the bill
- Title: EPA-ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
- Focus: Strengthen environmental justice integration into Illinois environmental permitting, with heightened review for air pollution control construction permits in areas identified as environmental justice (EJ) concerns.
- Status: Introduced February 5, 2026; passed Senate floor (as of action history) and awaiting House actions (format shows recent Senate activity).
Effective date
- Immediate effects for the Environmental Justice Office (Section 15 of the Environmental Justice Act) upon enactment.
- Construction permit provisions apply to applications received after January 1, 2027.
Key provisions and changes
1) Creation of an Office of Environmental Justice (within the Illinois EPA)
- Establishes the Office of Environmental Justice to coordinate EJ integration across Agency programs.
- Appoints an Environmental Justice Officer to administer the Office.
- Responsibilities include language access policies, enhanced public outreach to EJ areas, and overall EJ coordination.
2) Expanded EJ criteria and scoring for air permitting
- Defines an “area of environmental justice concern” (EJ area) as:
- Census block groups that the Agency identifies as having an environmental risk score in the top quartile statewide, plus
- All areas within one mile of those block groups.
- Environmental risk score components (environmental indicators and socioeconomic indicators):
- Environmental indicators (weighted by percentile) include: PM2.5, ozone, NO2, diesel PM, toxicity-weighted TRI chemicals, vehicle traffic, drinking water violations, pre-1960 housing, National Priority List sites, RMP facilities, hazardous waste facilities, leaking underground storage tanks, and toxic chemical concentrations in streams.
- Socioeconomic indicators include: income relative to poverty level, unemployment, limited English proficiency, HS diploma attainment, age 5 or younger, and age 64 or older.
- Some environmental indicators (G–M) are given half-weight in calculating the environmental risk score.
- The environmental risk score is used to identify EJ areas that trigger enhanced review.
3) Air pollution control construction permitting heightened review (effective Jan 1, 2027)
- Applies to:
- (1) Construction permits for new sources located in EJ areas that require a Clean Air Act Permit Program (CAAPP) permit or Federally Enforceable State Operating Permit (FESOP) under the Agency.
- (2) Construction permits for existing sources in EJ areas seeking an increase in annual emissions that already hold a CAAPP or FESOP.
- (3) Construction permits for existing sources in EJ areas seeking an increase in emissions that would require a new CAAPP or FESOP for the first time.
- Agency duties upon receipt of applicable permit applications:
- (a) Determine EJ area status and notify elected officials, community groups, and interested individuals; inform about public hearing options.
- (b) Assess whether emissions increases can be reduced or voluntarily limited (e.g., lower emission thresholds, alternative controls, reducing unit use).
- (c) Assess whether additional air quality modeling is needed to ensure compliance with ambient standards.
- Permit enhancements (potential, may be adopted by rule or used as guidance):
- Improved monitoring (including parametric and continuous monitoring).
- Fugitive dust control programs or enhancements.
- Controls to limit emissions or demonstrate compliance with emission rates.
- Increased emissions testing and other testing regimes.
- Align permit conditions with modeling assumptions (operating hours, schedules, meteorology, boundaries, etc.).
- Odor control plans and odor monitoring/complaint tracking.
- Consideration of an applicant’s compliance history (adjudications, past violations) in permit decision-making.
- Use of pollution prevention techniques.
- Community outreach by the applicant independent of permit review.
- Additional analyses (as needed) may include:
- Inter-agency and cross-source data, regional and national data, sensitive populations (schools, hospitals, etc.), and consultation with EPA or other agencies for further study or mitigation.
4) Consideration of past compliance and history
- Before issuing a construction permit under the EJ provisions, the Agency must evaluate the applicant’s history of owning/operating air pollution sources.
- Permit denial or conditioning can occur if there is a record of:
- Repeated violations of environmental laws or permit terms,
- Convictions for false information related to environmental matters,
- Gross carelessness or incompetence in operating air pollution sources.
- The Agency must prepare a written analysis of compliance history, to be posted publicly prior to public comment/hearing or with permit issuance if public participation rules do not require a notice.
5) Permit decision framework and transparency
- The Agency must weigh EJ-related factors and document analyses, including enforcement history and mitigation measures.
- Written analyses regarding compliance and potential civil rights considerations must be posted publicly.
6) Rulemaking authority
- The Agency may adopt rules to implement the section, including exact calculations for environmental risk scores, indicator percentile rankings, and measurement methods.
5) Other provisions
- Section 15 of the Environmental Justice Act creates and empowers the EJ Office with duties described above.
- Severability and general effective-date provisions: several components take effect immediately (EJ Office), with construction-permit EJ provisions applying to applications received after January 1, 2027.
Potential impact and implications
Note: The bill sets forth complex scoring and modeling methodologies for EJ areas and allows the Agency to adopt rules to implement these provisions. Specific numerical methods and regulatory text would be clarified through any future rulemaking.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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