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| 1 | AN ACT concerning conservation. | ||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly: | ||||||
| 4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
| 5 | Prairie Lawns Act. | ||||||
| 6 | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | ||||||
| 7 | "Department" means the Department of Natural Resources. | ||||||
| 8 | "Pollinator habitat" means any lawn, planted area of a | ||||||
| 9 | lawn, or planter box or pot where there grows native flowers, | ||||||
| 10 | native vegetation, or pollinator-friendly plants. | ||||||
| 11 | Section 10. Prairie Lawns Program created. | ||||||
| 12 | (a) The Department shall establish and administer the | ||||||
| 13 | Prairie Lawns Program to provide assistance for installing | ||||||
| 14 | pollinator-friendly native plants in residential lawns in | ||||||
| 15 | order to protect and support native species of bees, | ||||||
| 16 | butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and other pollinators. | ||||||
| 17 | (b) To promote the Prairie Lawns Program, the Department | ||||||
| 18 | shall: | ||||||
| 19 | (1) conduct outreach and publicity for the Program by, | ||||||
| 20 | among other things: | ||||||
| 21 | (A) establishing and administering a public | ||||||
| 22 | awareness campaign to raise awareness about creating | ||||||
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| 1 | pollinator habitats; and | ||||||
| 2 | (B) creating and providing a Prairie Lawns yard | ||||||
| 3 | sign for grant recipients and making the sign | ||||||
| 4 | available for download on the Department's website; | ||||||
| 5 | (2) provide educational assistance for installing | ||||||
| 6 | pollinator-friendly native plants in residential lawns by, | ||||||
| 7 | among other things: | ||||||
| 8 | (A) making educational materials available on the | ||||||
| 9 | Department website; and | ||||||
| 10 | (B) offering units of local government and | ||||||
| 11 | nonprofit organizations assistance with related | ||||||
| 12 | education and outreach efforts; | ||||||
| 13 | (3) cooperate with units of local government and | ||||||
| 14 | nonprofit organizations in creating demonstration | ||||||
| 15 | neighborhoods, which are community projects intended to | ||||||
| 16 | enhance pollinator habitats and raise awareness about | ||||||
| 17 | pollinators. | ||||||
| 18 | A unit of local government or a nonprofit organization | ||||||
| 19 | overseeing a demonstration neighborhood shall work with | ||||||
| 20 | local residents to install pocket gardens, trees, bushes, | ||||||
| 21 | shrubs, meadows, and lawns that are beneficial to | ||||||
| 22 | pollinators in residential lawns. | ||||||
| 23 | Section 15. Individual support grants. | ||||||
| 24 | (a) The Department shall adopt rules and develop criteria | ||||||
| 25 | to award through the Prairie Lawns Program individual support | ||||||
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| 1 | grants that will allow eligible Illinois residents to be | ||||||
| 2 | reimbursed for up to $400 in costs associated with | ||||||
| 3 | establishing a pollinator habitat in their yards. | ||||||
| 4 | (b) Individual support grant recipients must provide at | ||||||
| 5 | least a 25% match for their total reimbursement request. This | ||||||
| 6 | match can be in the form of purchasing materials, hiring | ||||||
| 7 | contractors, or as in-kind time spent planting or maintaining | ||||||
| 8 | plants. | ||||||
| 9 | (c) An individual support grant applicant shall submit a | ||||||
| 10 | map of the applicant's completed project in the application | ||||||
| 11 | for reimbursement. | ||||||
| 12 | (d) This Section is subject to appropriation. | ||||||
| 13 | Section 20. Demonstration neighborhood grants. | ||||||
| 14 | (a) The Department shall adopt rules and develop criteria | ||||||
| 15 | to award demonstration neighborhood grants to units of local | ||||||
| 16 | government and nonprofit organizations to create demonstration | ||||||
| 17 | neighborhoods as described in paragraph (3) of subsection (b) | ||||||
| 18 | of Section 10 of this Act. | ||||||
| 19 | (b) Units of local government and nonprofit organizations | ||||||
| 20 | shall be invited to apply for individual support grants under | ||||||
| 21 | this Act through a request for proposal process. | ||||||
| 22 | (c) This Section is subject to appropriation. | ||||||
| 23 | Section 25. No prohibition on pollinator habitats. Common | ||||||
| 24 | interest communities, as defined in Section 1-5 of the Common | ||||||
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| 1 | Interest Community Association Act, shall not prohibit any | ||||||
| 2 | resident or owner from planting a pollinator habitat within | ||||||
| 3 | the boundaries of the resident's or owner's property or lot. | ||||||
| 4 | Residents and owners shall not plant a pollinator habitat in | ||||||
| 5 | or on a common area, property owned by the common interest | ||||||
| 6 | community, or the property or lot owned by another owner | ||||||
| 7 | without the prior written consent of the common interest | ||||||
| 8 | community or other owner. Common interest communities shall | ||||||
| 9 | not enact or enforce rules and regulations that impair the | ||||||
| 10 | proper maintenance and care of pollinator habitats. | ||||||
| 11 | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | ||||||
| 12 | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes. | ||||||