Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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20 ILCS 3515/2

(20 ILCS 3515/2) (from Ch. 127, par. 722)

Sec. 2. Declaration of necessity and purpose - Liberal construction.
(a) The General Assembly finds:

(i) that environmental damage seriously endangers the

public health and welfare;

(ii) that such environmental damage results from air,

water, and other resource pollution and from public water supply, solid waste disposal, noise, surface mining and other environmental problems;

(iii) that to reduce, control and prevent such

pollution and problems, quality and land reclamation standards have been established necessitating the employment of anti-pollution and reclamation devices, equipment and facilities and stringent time schedules have been and will be imposed for compliance with such standards;

(iv) that it is desirable to provide additional and

alternative methods of financing the costs of the acquisition and installation of the devices, equipment and facilities required to comply with the quality and land reclamation standards;

(v) that the alternative method of financing provided

in this Act is therefore in the public interest and serves a public purpose in protecting and promoting the health and welfare of the citizens of this state by reducing, controlling and preventing environmental damage;

(vi) that it is desirable to promote the use of

Illinois coal in a manner that is consistent with air quality and land reclamation standards;

(vii) that it is desirable to promote the use of

alternative methods for managing hazardous wastes and to provide additional and alternative methods of financing the costs of establishing the recycling, incineration, physical, chemical and biological treatment, and other facilities necessary to meet the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act; and

(viii) that the environmental damage and pollution

that occurs within this State often results from sources in other states, and that providing financing alternatives for environmental facilities that are located outside the State that are owned, operated, leased, managed by, or otherwise affiliated with, institutions located within the State can reduce, control, or prevent environmental damage and pollution within this State.

(b) It is the purpose of this Act, as more specifically described in
later sections, to authorize the State
authority to acquire, construct, reconstruct, repair, alter, improve,
extend, own,  finance, lease, sell and otherwise dispose of pollution
control and surface mined land reclamation facilities to the end that the
State authority may be able to
promote the health and welfare of the people of this State and to vest
such State authority with all powers to enable such State authority to
accomplish such purpose; it is not intended by this Act that the State
authority shall itself be authorized to operate any such pollution
control, hazardous waste treatment or surface mined land
reclamation facilities; nor shall any such facilities be
geographically located outside the State of Illinois, except as otherwise provided in this Act.  It is the intent
of the General Assembly that access to the benefits of the financing
herein provided for shall be equally available to all persons.

(c) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the State
authority shall give special consideration to small businesses as
defined in paragraph (i) of Section 3 of this Act in authorizing the
issuance of bonds for the financing of pollution control or hazardous
waste treatment facilities in order to assist small businesses in surviving
the economic burdens imposed by the required financing of such facilities.

(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this Section, it is the intent of
the General Assembly that with respect to applications involving environmental
facilities for new coal-fired electric steam generating plants and new
coal-fired industrial boilers as defined in paragraph (j) of Section 3 of this
Act, the State authority shall only finance such facilities where Illinois coal
will be used as the primary source of fuel.  The Authority shall impose
appropriate financial penalties on any person who receives financing from
the State Authority for environmental facilities based on a commitment to
use Illinois coal as the primary source of fuel at a new coal-fired electric
utility steam generating plant or new coal-fired industrial boiler and later
uses a non-Illinois coal as the primary source of fuel.

(e) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Authority give
special consideration to projects which involve a reduction in volume of
hazardous waste products generated, or the recycling, re-use, reclamation,
or treatment of hazardous waste.

  (f) This Act shall be liberally construed to accomplish the
intentions expressed herein.

(Source: P.A. 98-90, eff. 7-15-13.)