Amends the Illinois Petroleum Education and Marketing Act. Provides that, beginning on the effective date of the amendatory Act, the Director of Natural Resources shall make appointments to the Board, of which 10 shall be oil and gas producers. Authorizes the Director of Natural Resources to make these appointments based on names submitted to the Department of Natural Resources by oil and gas producers in the State. Effective immediately.
Amends the Timber Buyers Licensing Act. Removes language that requires a person buying timber from a timber grower to deduct from the payment to the timber grower an amount which equals 4% of the purchase price or 4% of the minimum fair market value and forward such amount to the Department of Natural Resources. Removes language that requires a timber grower who utilizes timber produced on land the timber grower owns or operates for sawing into lumber, processing, or resale to pay to the Department an amount equal to 4% of the minimum fair market value of the timber utilized during a period. Makes conforming changes.
Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that any deer herd management plan established by the Department of Natural Resources, including length of seasons and bag and possession limits, shall take into account economic damage and public safety concerns caused by deer.
Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Defines the terms "anaerobic digester", "anaerobic digestion", and "food". Deletes provisions that exempted certain composting facilities from regulation as a pollution control facility. Creates exemptions from the definition of "pollution control facility" for (i) the portion of a site or facility that is used for anaerobic digestion and (ii) the portion of a site or facility that is used to process food scrap at a food scrap processing facility. Provides for moneys that are appropriated from the Solid Waste Management Fund to the Agency in certain years for solid waste management activities to be segregated into a separate account for use by the Prairie Research Institute of the University of Illinois for the costs of implementing the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act. Amends the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act. Updates requirements for each county waste management plan's recycling program with respect to food scrap collection programs. Amends the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act. Provides that a person that generates more than the applicable regulatory threshold of food and food scrap and that is located within 20 miles, prior to July 1, 2035, or 25 miles, on and after July 1, 2035, of an Agency-permitted composting facility or anaerobic digester that accepts food scrap and that has the permitted capacity to accept food scrap shall, among other things, source separate food and food scrap from other solid waste and either arrange for the transfer of the food or food scrap to a location that manages food and food scrap in a manner consistent with the food and food scrap management hierarchy set forth in the Act or manage the food and food scrap on site in accordance with other applicable State and local laws and rules. Grants the Agency rulemaking powers. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.
Amends the Counties Code and Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that a county or municipality may not adopt any regulation that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting the use of natural gas in new construction without a referendum. Limits the concurrent exercise of home rule powers.
Creates the Illinois Cultivated Meat Act. Provides that it is unlawful for any person to manufacture for sale, sell, hold or offer for sale, or distribute cultivated meat. Provides that a person who knowingly violates this Act commits a Class C misdemeanor. Allows for rulemaking by the Department of Agriculture. Makes a finding and states the purpose. Defines cultivated meat.
Creates the Utilizing Illinois Energy Resources Task Force Act. Creates the Utilizing Illinois Energy Resources Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall study methods the State can use to support and expand the use of natural resources in this State, including, coal, crude oil, and natural gas. Provides for the membership of the Task Force. Provides that the Director of Natural Resources may retain the services of outside parties with legal, engineering, and financial expertise to assist the Task Force in carrying out its duties. Provides that the Task Force members are not eligible to receive compensation or reimbursement of expenses. Provides that the Task Force shall file a report no later than December 31, 2026 with the General Assembly on all issues deemed appropriate by the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall be abolished upon filing its report with the General Assembly. Repeals the Act on June 1, 2027. Effective immediately.
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Removes provisions prohibiting the construction of new nuclear power reactors with a nameplate capacity of more than 300 megawatts of electricity to be located within the State until the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security finds that the United States Government has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste.
SB 247 increases filing fees for specific environmental petitions under Illinois' Environmental Protection Act from $75 to $250. It directly affects individuals and organizations submitting petitions for site-specific regulations, variances, permit reviews, local government decision contests, or adjusted water quality standards. The bill changes the required fee amount for these five petition types while clarifying that converting a variance petition to a time-limited water quality standard petition does not require an additional fee. This is a straightforward fee adjustment with no other policy changes.
Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that an eligible local government unit with a population that is greater than or equal to 150,000 is not eligible for the forgiveness of principal through the Water Pollution Control Loan Program, the Public Water Supply Loan Program, or the Loan Support Program.
