SB0009eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0009 Engrossed LRB095 07385 CMK 27527 b

AN ACT concerning the environment.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Illinois Climate Change Act.

Section 5. Findings; declarations. The General Assembly finds that:

(a) marketing Illinois agricultural products generates more than 9 billion dollars annually and additional revenue in agricultural related industries;

(b) Illinois' food and fiber industry employs nearly 1,000,000 people;

(c) a 2001 National Academy of Sciences report stated that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities and causing surface air and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise;

(d) greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming;

(e) increases in the Earth's surface air and subsurface ocean temperatures will change Illinois' weather patterns leading to hotter summers, more frequent droughts, and more severe rainfalls;

(f) changing weather patterns due to global warming will have a significant impact on the State's agricultural economy, watersheds, aquifers, and public works infrastructure;

(g) several hundred thousand Illinois residents depend on private wells for their water;

(h) the State has an obligation to protect the health and safety of its citizens as well as an obligation to protect the State's natural resources and environment; and

(i) it is in the State's interest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within its borders.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

"Greenhouse gas" or "greenhouse gases" include the following gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydroflourocarbons, perflourocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.

"Greenhouse gas emissions level" means the total annual emissions of greenhouse gases in the State expressed in tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.

"Greenhouse gas emission source" or "source" means any person who generates a greenhouse gas within the State whose emissions are at a level of significance, as determined by the Agency, that impact the greenhouse gas emissions level.

"Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, sole proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association, State agency, political subdivision of the State, or any other entity.

Section 15. Deputy Director. The Governor, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint to the Agency a Deputy Director for Climate Change. The Deputy Director shall supervise Agency programs designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions level.

Section 20. Inventory; reports.

(a) Subject to appropriations, the Agency shall conduct an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the State. The Department of Natural Resources, upon a request from the Agency, shall provide technical assistance to the Agency in conducting this inventory.

The Agency shall report its findings to the Governor and General Assembly by January 1, 2008. This report shall compare inventoried levels with inventoried levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the State taken in 1990. The report shall provide emissions information by categories of sources that the Agency determines are significant emitters of greenhouse gases. The Agency shall annually update and report to the Governor and General Assembly the inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the State.

(b) By July 1, 2008, the Agency shall present to the Governor and General Assembly a plan to significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions level, as reported by the Agency, by the year 2020. In developing the plan, the Agency shall hold 3 public hearings on the issue in different regions of the State. In addition, the Agency shall take into account projected reductions in greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to other State regulations or programs.

Section 25. Consultation. The Agency shall consult with other states and the federal government to identify the most effective strategies and methods to reduce greenhouse gases and facilitate a regional and national greenhouse gas reduction program.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.