Public Act 93-0328
HB0231 Enrolled LRB093 03496 LCB 03525 b
AN ACT to create the Local Legacy Act.
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
Local Legacy Act.
Section 5. Policy.
(a) Illinois has a rich natural and cultural heritage.
Whether historic sites, natural areas, rich farmland, or
other prized resources, every county has treasures worth
preserving for future generations.
(b) As counties and municipalities grow, they often do
not have the opportunity to consider which resources are most
important to them. Consequently, they may inadvertently
imperil a historic structure, sever a potential natural
corridor, or fragment farmland into small and unsustainable
remnants.
(c) It is necessary and desirable to provide technical
assistance and funding in the form of grants to encourage
partnerships between counties and municipalities for the
creation of an inventory of their natural areas, farmland,
and cultural assets and to develop a Resource Protection Plan
for protecting those areas.
(d) It is the purpose of this Act to promote voluntary
county-municipal partnerships in every county by the year
2020 that will inventory resources, develop Resource
Protection Plans, and implement their respective plans.
Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
"Board" means the Local Legacy Board created under this
Act.
"Committee" means a Local Steering Committee established
under this Act.
"Cultural resource" means a structure, building,
district, or site that has aesthetic, architectural,
cultural, archeological, or historical significance at the
local, state, or national level.
"Farmland" means land devoted to agriculture or
horticultural uses for the production of food (including
grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, or mushrooms),
fiber, floriculture, or forest products, or the raising of
farm animals (including livestock, sheep, swine, horses,
ponies, poultry, bees, or fish) or wildlife.
"Inventory" means a listing of a county's and its
municipalities' natural areas, farmland, and cultural
resources.
"Natural area" means an area of land or water that either
retains or has recovered to a substantial degree its original
natural or primeval character, though it need not be
completely undisturbed, or has floral, faunal, ecological,
geological, or archeological features of scientific,
educational, recreational, scenic, or aesthetic interest.
"Program" means the Local Legacy Program.
"Resource", unless otherwise specified, means farmland, a
natural area, or a cultural resource.
"Resource Protection Plan" means an integrated document
that includes goals, policies, strategies, and procedures for
preserving key farmland, natural areas, and cultural
resources identified in a countywide inventory and adopted as
provided in Section 30 of this Act.
Section 15. The Local Legacy Board. The Local Legacy
Board is created to administer the Program under this Act.
The membership of the Board shall be composed of the Director
of Natural Resources, the Director of Historic Preservation,
and the Director of Agriculture, or their respective
designees. The Board must choose a Chairperson to serve for
2 years on a rotating basis. All members must be present for
the Board to conduct official business. The Departments must
each furnish technical support to the Board.
The Board has those powers necessary to carry out the
purposes of this Act, including, without limitation, the
power to:
(1) employ agents and employees necessary to carry
out the purposes of this Act and fix their compensation,
benefits, terms, and conditions of employment;
(2) adopt, alter and use a corporate seal;
(3) have an audit made of the accounts of any
grantee or any person or entity that receives funding
under this Act;
(4) enforce the terms of any grant made under this
Act, whether in law or equity, or by any other legal
means;
(5) prepare and submit a budget and request for
appropriations for the necessary and contingent operating
expenses of the Board; and
(6) receive and accept, from any source, aid or
contributions of money, property, labor, or other items
of value for furtherance of any of its purposes, subject
to any conditions not inconsistent with this Act or with
the laws of this State pertaining to those contributions,
including, but not limited to, gifts, guarantees, or
grants from any department, agency, or instrumentality of
the United States of America.
The Board must adopt any rules, regulations, guidelines,
and directives necessary to implement the Act, including
guidelines for designing inventories so that they will be
compatible with each other.
The Board must submit a report to the General Assembly
and the Governor by January 1, 2005 and every 2 years
thereafter regarding progress made towards accomplishing the
purposes of this Act.
Section 20. Local Legacy Program. The Local Legacy
Program is created. The Board shall determine the
eligibility of county-municipal partnerships for funding
under the Program. The purpose of the Program is to provide
grants to counties and municipalities to (i) inventory their
natural areas, farmland, and cultural resources; and (ii)
develop Resource Protection Plans.
Section 25. Local Steering Committee. Counties
interested in assistance under this Act must form a steering
committee consisting of 11 members in the following 3
categories chosen according to the following requirements:
(1) Three members of the county board appointed by
the county board chairperson with the advice and consent
of the county board.
(2) Three elected municipal officials chosen by the
corporate authorities of those municipalities
participating in the county-municipal partnership.
(3) Five public members who reside within the
county and are appointed by a majority vote of the county
board members and elected municipal officials on the
Local Steering Committee, with one each representing the
following categories:
(a) Agriculture.
(b) Environment.
(c) Historic preservation.
(d) Construction or development.
(e) Citizen-at-large.
When the Committee is first established, one-third of the
members of each category shall serve a term of one year;
one-third shall serve a term of 2 years; and one-third shall
serve a term of 3 years, except for the public members, one
of whom will serve for one year, 2 of whom shall serve for 2
years, and 2 of whom will serve for 3 years. All subsequent
members shall serve for a term of 3 years. A vacancy shall
be filled in the same manner as an original appointment.
The Chairperson shall be chosen for a term of 2 years
from among the members of the Committee by a majority vote of
the Committee; all members of the Committee including the
Chairperson have a vote.
The Committee shall adopt its own rules of operation.
Section 30. Duties of the Local Steering Committee. The
Local Steering Committee shall have the authority to apply
for and receive grants to conduct an inventory and develop a
Resource Protection Plan and to review all grant applications
from units of local government before they are submitted to
the Board.
The Local Steering Committee shall develop a strategy for
conducting an inventory of natural areas, farmland, and
cultural resources. The Committee shall determine which
resources should be included in the inventory, the amount of
financial and technical assistance needed from the State,
what information is already available, who will conduct the
inventory, how municipal and county efforts should be
coordinated, and how to present the information so that it is
compatible with inventories conducted by other
county-municipal partnerships.
The Committee shall use the inventory as the basis for
developing its Resource Protection Plan. Working with a
professional planner or other resource specialist, the
Committee shall develop criteria for prioritizing resources
identified by the inventory. When prioritizing resources,
the Committee shall analyze the threat to the resources using
population projections, land use patterns, and development
trends. Upon the approval of two-thirds of its members, with
at least one member from each of the 3 categories voting in
approval, the Committee shall recommend that the county board
and the municipalities within the county adopt the Resource
Protection Plan. Amendments to the Resource Protection Plan
must be approved in the same manner. A local government may
object to all or part of the Resource Protection Plan in
writing. If a written objection is filed with the Committee,
the portion of the Plan objected to shall not be effective
within that local government's borders. The objecting local
government may modify or withdraw its objection at any time.
Section 35. Local Legacy Fund. The Local Legacy Fund is
created as a special fund in the State treasury. Subject to
appropriation, moneys shall be transferred into the Local
Legacy Fund from the General Revenue Fund. All interest or
other earnings that accrue from investment of the Local
Legacy Fund moneys shall be credited to the Local Legacy
Fund. The Local Legacy Fund shall be used by the Board to
make grants to counties and municipalities for inventorying
and planning for preservation of farmland, natural areas, and
cultural resources.
Section 40. Consideration of State grant awards. When
approving grant awards under this Act, the Board or the State
agency, as the case may be, shall give preferential
consideration to counties and municipalities that have
adopted Resource Protection Plans.
Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.595 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.595 new)
Sec. 5.595. The Local Legacy Fund.