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1 | AN ACT concerning State government. | ||||||
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 Water | ||||||
5 | Plan Task Force Act. | ||||||
6 | Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: | ||||||
7 | "Plan" means the State Water Plan. | ||||||
8 | "Task Force" means the State Water Plan Task Force. | ||||||
9 | Section 10. State Water Plan Task Force. | ||||||
10 | (a) There shall be established within State government and | ||||||
11 | universities an interagency task force which shall be known as | ||||||
12 | the State Water Plan Task Force. The Task Force shall be | ||||||
13 | chaired by the Director of the Office of Water Resources of the | ||||||
14 | Department of Natural Resources and composed of the directors, | ||||||
15 | or their designee, from the following State entities: | ||||||
16 | (1) The Office of Resource Conservation of the | ||||||
17 | Department of Natural Resources. | ||||||
18 | (2) The Department of Public Health. | ||||||
19 | (3) The Environmental Protection Agency. | ||||||
20 | (4) The Department of Transportation. | ||||||
21 | (5) The Department of Agriculture. | ||||||
22 | (6) The Department of Transportation. |
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1 | (7) The Illinois Emergency Management Agency and | ||||||
2 | Office of Homeland Security. | ||||||
3 | (8) The Pollution Control Board | ||||||
4 | (9) The Department of Commerce and Economic | ||||||
5 | Opportunity. | ||||||
6 | (10) The State Water Survey of the University of | ||||||
7 | Illinois. | ||||||
8 | (11) The Water Resource Center of the University of | ||||||
9 | Illinois. | ||||||
10 | (b) The Task Force shall coordinate with State agencies | ||||||
11 | and universities to develop a concise plan for addressing | ||||||
12 | water issues facing the State. | ||||||
13 | (c) The Task Force shall: | ||||||
14 | (1) identify critical water issues; | ||||||
15 | (2) develop recommendations to address critical water | ||||||
16 | topic issues; | ||||||
17 | (3) implement recommendations; and | ||||||
18 | (4) reevaluate critical water issues and needs. | ||||||
19 | (d) The Task Force shall publish a State Water Plan not | ||||||
20 | less than every 10 years. The Plan shall include: | ||||||
21 | (1) Identification of critical water topics needing | ||||||
22 | specific attention in this State based on stakeholder | ||||||
23 | input sought and provided during the plan development. | ||||||
24 | (2) Topic Lead as an individual from the Task Force | ||||||
25 | membership responsible for ensuring the development of the | ||||||
26 | Topic Lead's assigned critical topic section of the Plan. |
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1 | (3) Plan development shall include public outreach | ||||||
2 | phases to obtain feedback on the most critical water | ||||||
3 | issues faced by the State and how to address those issues. | ||||||
4 | (4) Recommendations related to the identified issues | ||||||
5 | for each critical topic, including, but not limited to: | ||||||
6 | (A) New State programs or modification to existing | ||||||
7 | programs. | ||||||
8 | (B) New or modified existing policy within a | ||||||
9 | program or agency. | ||||||
10 | (C) New or modified legislation. | ||||||
11 | (D) Requests for a study or research be completed. | ||||||
12 | (E) Proposals or designs of a construction | ||||||
13 | project. | ||||||
14 | (F) Funding requests for the above listed | ||||||
15 | recommendations. | ||||||
16 | (5) No more than 2 years shall be used to develop a new | ||||||
17 | Plan. | ||||||
18 | (6) The Task Force shall develop and maintain a | ||||||
19 | publicly available website or portal that summarizes | ||||||
20 | projects of the Task Force. | ||||||
21 | (e) The Task Force shall be responsible for developing | ||||||
22 | membership voting and operational rules. | ||||||
23 | (f) The Task Force shall meet not less than once per | ||||||
24 | quarter each calendar year to: | ||||||
25 | (1) Update the status of the Plan recommendations by | ||||||
26 | providing a implementation summary that will be published |
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1 | to the official Task Force website or portal. | ||||||
2 | (2) Review, evaluate, and publish an annual report | ||||||
3 | showing the implementation status for each of the Plan's | ||||||
4 | recommendations. | ||||||
5 | (g) The Task Force shall have the authority to: | ||||||
6 | (1) Create and use subtask forces or committees to | ||||||
7 | identifying critical issues and implementing | ||||||
8 | recommendations related to the Plan. | ||||||
9 | (2) Publish special reports specific to critical | ||||||
10 | topics to add clarification and provide additional details | ||||||
11 | of action needed. | ||||||
12 | (3) Review and evaluate State laws, rules, | ||||||
13 | regulations, and procedures that relate to water needs in | ||||||
14 | the state. | ||||||
15 | (4) Recommend procedures for better coordination among | ||||||
16 | State water-related programs, with local programs and | ||||||
17 | stakeholder groups. | ||||||
18 | (5) Recommend and prioritize the State's water related | ||||||
19 | research needs. | ||||||
20 | (6) Review, coordinate, and evaluate water data | ||||||
21 | collection, analysis, and public sharing. | ||||||
22 | (7) Allow member entities to request annual | ||||||
23 | appropriations to resource necessary staff participation | ||||||
24 | on the Task Force and resource Plan development. |