Waste Management

The Bureau of Land protects human health and the environment by regulating the transfer, storage, and disposal of waste, and by overseeing the cleanup of contaminated properties.  The Bureau’s permitting programs regulate a wide range of waste related activities, including those involving municipal waste, landscape waste, composted material, construction and demolition debris, potentially infectious medical waste, and hazardous waste.  The Bureau provides direct financial and administrative support for the collection and disposal of hard to manage wastes such as household hazardous waste and unwanted medications.  Where possible and appropriate we support diverting materials from disposal facilities and towards re-use and recycling, including programs that address hard to recycle materials such as used tires and consumer electronics.  We regularly inspect facilities to ensure compliance with applicable standards and operating requirements.  For property that has become contaminated, we oversee cleanup to ensure it is protective of human health and the environment and provides for the safe re-use of the property.  Whether a Bureau program is aimed at preventing contamination or the reduction or elimination of existing contamination, everyone in the Bureau of Land has the same goal:  protecting people and the environment from threats posed by environmental contaminants.

General Information on Land Pollution and Waste Disposal

Land Pollution and Waste Disposal for Businesses        

Waste Management for Local Governments

Cleanup Programs

BUREAU OF LAND NEWS

On February 3, 2023, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Depatrment of Central Management Services announced the participants of the inaugural cohort of the GOAL program. The highly competitive program was designed to provide a robust professional development opportunity for a population of State mid-level leaders that maintain critical roles in advancing key initiatives and maintaining optimal operations for the State. BOL's Mohammed Rahman was selected from hundreds of applicants as one of 30 participants for the inaugural cohort of GOAL.

On October 4, 2022, BOL staff hand-delivered a No Further Remediation (NFR) Letter to the City of Springfield for three (3) 1990s Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) releases. From 1990 through 1999, the City of Springfield’s Public Works reported three (3) separate LUST incidents to Illinois Emergency Management Agency for gasoline, diesel, and used oil UST releases. The City conducted numerous investigations at the location but work was never completed. In 2021, BOL identified the open incidents at 301 N. 17th Street, just three (3) blocks from Illinois EPA Headquarters and committed to utilizing Illinois EPA’s own resources to bring the incidents to closure. Pictured L to R: Director of Public Works, Nate Bottom; Illinois EPA Leaking UST Section Manager, Mohammed Zillur Rahman; Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder; and, Illinois EPA Bureau of Land Deputy Chief, Greg Dunn.

• Illinois UST Program 2022 Notable Achievement Award. On May 5, 2022, U.S. EPA's Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) recognized BOL LUST Staff at the 2022 National Notable Achievement Award (NNAA) Ceremony for winning the NNAA UST Outstanding Cleanup/Revitalization Award. The Illinois LUST Data Analysis Team’s work resulted in the development of a tool which will help improve rates of LUST incident closure and guide future policy. The BOL LUST Program is using results of this analysis to focus program efforts and to analyze and develop backlog reduction strategies.

• Amendments to Special Waste Transportation Rules. The Illinois Pollution Control Board adopted amendments to regulatory requirements applicable to the transportation of three types of special waste: hazardous waste; pollution control waste; and, industrial process waste. Effective July 20, 2020, entities that transport non-hazardous special waste are no longer required to use uniform hazardous waste manifests or U.S. EPA's electronic manifest system. These special wastes may be transported accompanied by a manifest that captures the information included on the form developed by Illinois EPA. These forms may be printed directly from Illinois EPA's website or from a third-party printer. Shipments of hazardous waste must still be accompanied by a uniform hazardous waste manifest or documentation required to utilize U.S. EPA's electronic manifest system.
  

• Publications. Joshua Rhodes, a geologist in BOL's Permits Section -Groundwater Unit, recently co-authored a research paper published in the Journal of Hydrology: Paul H. Glaser, Joshua Rhoades, and Andrew S. Reeve, 2020. The hydraulic conductivity of peat with respect to scaling, botanical composition, and greenhouse gas transport: Mini-aquifer tests from the Red Lake Peatland, Minnesota. The paper details aquifer tests conducted on bog landforms in the Red Lake Peatland of northern Minnesota to determine the fine-scale distribution of hydraulic conductivity within a large (>900 m3) model domain. Test results were used to calibrate a three-dimensional groundwater model with the aid of parameter estimation analysis. The model results indicated vertically continuous zones of high or low hydraulic conductivity value in contrast to the horizontal bedding planes and increasing degree of decomposition with depth. The hydraulic conductivity distribution suggests different modes of methane gas transport that either locally dilate or partially block pores in the peat. In addition, the tests and modelling results provide new insight on a conceptual model linking hydraulic conductivity to the development of all large (>20 km2) forested bog complexes in mid-continental boreal North America.
  

• Management Appointments

  • Mohammed Rahman, Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Section Manager (10/01/2020)
    
  • Paul Eisenbrandt, Field Operations Section Manager (10/16/2020)
    
  • Jeron Schultz, Remedial Project Management Section Manager (01/01/2021)
    
  • Thomas Rivera, Northern (Rockford & DesPlaines) Regional Manager (04/01/2021)
    
  • Chris Cahnovsky, Southern (Collinsville & Marion) Regional Manager (04/01/2021)
    
  • Sunil Suthar, Central (Champaign, Peoria, & Springfield) Regional Manager (10/01/2021)
    

• Management Retirements

  • John Richardson, Field Operations Section Manager (12/31/2020)
    
  • Todd Marvel, Springfield Regional Manager (12/31/2020)
    
  • David Retzlaff, Rockford Regional Manager (12/31/2020)
    

• Potentially Infectious Medical Waste (PIMW) Regulations. On December 3, 2020, the Illinois Pollution Control Board ("Board") issued a final opinion and order amending its regulations on handling PIMW. Specifically, the Board amended its definition of "Class 4 etiologic agent", which bears on the definition of PIMW. The amendments add four viral agents to the "Class 4 etiologic agent" definition: Guanarito Virus; Sabia; Ebola Virus; and, Equine Morbillivirus. The adopted rules took effect on December 3, 2020. The rulemaking is captioned, Amendments to Definition of "Class 4 etiologic agent", 35 Ill. Adm. Code 1420.102, docket R2020-017.
  

• Approval of the Pharmaceutical Rule. In September 2020, the Illinois Pollution Control Board adopted U.S EPA's RCRA Subpart P amendments, which changed the standards applicable to healthcare facilities and reverse distributors that generate or handle hazardous waste pharmaceuticals. Transporters that handle hazardous waste pharmaceuticals are subject to the existing standards applicable to transporting hazardous waste. The amendments only govern hazardous waste pharmaceuticals, so entities that generate or handle non-hazardous pharmaceuticals are not impacted by this rule. Resources for entities that generate or manage hazardous waste pharmaceuticals are available from U.S. EPA here. 
  

• Aerosol Cans as Universal Waste. Effective September 3, 2020, aerosol cans are added to the list of Universal Waste. An "aerosol can" is defined as a non-refillable receptacle containing a gas that is compressed, liquified, or dissolved under pressure, the sole purpose of which is to expel a liquid, paste, or powder, and fitted with a self-closing release device allowing the gas to eject the contents. 
  

• Generator Re-notification Requirements. A Small Quantity Generator (SQG) must re-notify U.S. EPA starting in 2021 and every 4 years thereafter using U.S. EPA Form 8700-12. The SQG must submit this re-notification by September 1 of each year in which re-notification is required. The first re-notification is due by September 21, 2021. SQGs that notify between September 1, 2017 and September 1, 2021 will not have to re-notify prior to that date. A Large Quantity Generator (LQG) must re-notify U.S. EPA by March 1 of each even-numbered year using U.S. EPA Form 8700-12. A LQG may submit this re-notification as part of its annual report, required by Section 722.141 (722.118(d)(2)). 
  
  

Bureau of Land

Management

Kyle Rominger - Chief

Greg Dunn - Deputy Chief

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Paul Eisenbrandt - Field Operations Section Manager

James Jennings - Materials Management and Compliance Section 

Paul Lake - Federal Site Remediation Section

Jeron Schultz - Remedial Projects Management Section

Jacki Cooperider - Permit Section Manager

Mohammed Rahman - Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Section

Jerry Willman - Office of Site Evaluation Manager