Public Act 096-0566
 
HB0883 Enrolled LRB096 07804 RLJ 17907 b

    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section
5-12020 as follows:
 
    (55 ILCS 5/5-12020)
    Sec. 5-12020. Wind farms. A county may establish standards
for wind farms and electric-generating wind devices. The
standards may include, without limitation, the height of the
devices and the number of devices that may be located within a
geographic area. A county may also regulate the siting of wind
farms and electric-generating wind devices in unincorporated
areas of the county outside of the zoning jurisdiction of a
municipality and the 1.5 mile radius surrounding the zoning
jurisdiction of a municipality. There shall be at least one
public hearing not more than 30 days prior to a siting decision
by the county board. Notice of the hearing shall be published
in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Counties
may allow test wind towers to be sited without formal approval
by the county board. Test wind towers must be dismantled within
3 years of installation. For the purposes of this Section,
"test wind towers" are wind towers that are designed solely to
collect wind generation data. Any provision of a county zoning
ordinance pertaining to wind farms that is in effect before the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General
Assembly may continue in effect notwithstanding any
requirements of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 95-203, eff. 8-16-07.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.