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Sen. Ram Villivalam
Filed: 4/21/2023
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1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3017
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2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3017 by replacing |
3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | | "Section 5. The Business Assistance and Regulatory Reform |
5 | | Act is amended by changing Sections 5, 10, and 15 and by adding |
6 | | Section 7 as follows:
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7 | | (20 ILCS 608/5)
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8 | | Sec. 5. Goal. The goal of this Act is to improve the |
9 | | State's business
climate by making it easier for small and |
10 | | mid-size businesses to deal with
State requirements for doing |
11 | | business. Subject to appropriation, this This goal will be |
12 | | achieved through
providing prompt quick , accurate information |
13 | | about on existing requirements , and avoiding
unnecessary |
14 | | requirements , and increasing the transparency and |
15 | | accessibility of permitting processes by consolidating status |
16 | | updates from State agencies regarding the issuance of permits |
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1 | | for covered projects .
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2 | | (Source: P.A. 88-404.)
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3 | | (20 ILCS 608/7 new) |
4 | | Sec. 7. Covered project. As used in this Act, "covered |
5 | | project" means any project in Illinois that: (1) involves the |
6 | | construction of infrastructure for renewable or conventional |
7 | | energy production, electricity transmission, surface |
8 | | transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource |
9 | | development, broadband, pipelines, or manufacturing; (2) |
10 | | requires authorization or environmental review by a State |
11 | | agency; (3) is likely to require a total future investment of |
12 | | more than $20,000,000; and (4) is the subject of a petition for |
13 | | recognition as a covered project that has been approved by the |
14 | | Department.
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15 | | (20 ILCS 608/10)
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16 | | Sec. 10. Executive Office. There is created an Office of |
17 | | Business
Permits and Regulatory Assistance (hereinafter |
18 | | referred to as "office")
within the Department of Commerce and |
19 | | Community Affairs (now Department of Commerce and Economic |
20 | | Opportunity)
which shall consolidate existing programs
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21 | | throughout State government, provide assistance to businesses |
22 | | with fewer than
500
employees in meeting State requirements |
23 | | for doing business and perform other
functions specified in |
24 | | this Act. The office shall use information technology tools to |
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1 | | track schedules for covered projects and metrics in order to |
2 | | improve transparency and accountability in the permitting |
3 | | process, reduce uncertainty and delays, and reduce costs and |
4 | | risks to taxpayers. The
By March 1, 1994, the office shall |
5 | | complete and file with the Governor and the
General Assembly a |
6 | | plan for the implementation of this Act. Thereafter, the
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7 | | office shall carry out the provisions of this Act, subject to |
8 | | funding
through appropriation.
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9 | | (Source: P.A. 98-463, eff. 8-16-13.)
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10 | | (20 ILCS 608/15)
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11 | | Sec. 15. Providing Information and Expediting Permit |
12 | | Reviews.
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13 | | (a) The office shall provide an online information system |
14 | | using a website toll-free
business assistance number. The |
15 | | number shall be advertised throughout the
State. Interested |
16 | | businesses shall If requested, the caller will be sent , |
17 | | electronically, a basic business kit, describing
the basic |
18 | | requirements and procedures for doing business in Illinois. If
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19 | | requested, the caller shall be directed to one or more of the |
20 | | additional
services provided by the office. All persons |
21 | | providing advice to callers on
behalf of
the office and all |
22 | | persons responsible for directly providing services to
persons |
23 | | visiting the office or one of its branches shall be persons |
24 | | with small
business experience in an administrative or |
25 | | managerial capacity.
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1 | | (b) (Blank).
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2 | | (c) Any applicant for permits required for a business |
3 | | activity may confer
with the office to obtain assistance in |
4 | | the prompt and efficient processing and
review of |
5 | | applications. The office shall, subject to appropriation, may |
6 | | designate an employee of the office to
act as a permit |
7 | | assistance manager to:
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8 | | (1) facilitate contacts for the applicant with |
9 | | responsible agencies;
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10 | | (2) arrange conferences to clarify the requirements of |
11 | | interested
agencies;
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12 | | (3) consider with State agencies the feasibility of |
13 | | consolidating
hearings and data required of the applicant;
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14 | | (4) assist the applicant in resolution of outstanding |
15 | | issues identified by
State agencies; and
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16 | | (5) coordinate federal, State and local regulatory |
17 | | procedures and permit
review actions to the extent |
18 | | possible.
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19 | | (d) The office shall publish an online a directory of |
20 | | State business permits and State
programs to assist small |
21 | | businesses.
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22 | | (e) The office shall attempt to establish
agreements with |
23 | | local governments to
allow the office to provide assistance to |
24 | | applicants for permits required by
these local governments.
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25 | | (f) (Blank). Interested
State agencies shall, to the |
26 | | maximum extent feasible, establish procedures to
expedite |
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1 | | applications for infrastructure projects. Applications for |
2 | | permits
for infrastructure projects shall be approved or |
3 | | disapproved within 45 days of
submission, unless law or |
4 | | regulations specify a different period. If the
interested |
5 | | agency is unable to act within that period, the agency shall |
6 | | provide
a written notification to the office specifying |
7 | | reasons for its inability to
act and the date by which approval |
8 | | or disapproval shall be determined. The
office may require any |
9 | | interested State agency to designate an employee who
will |
10 | | coordinate the handling of permits in that area.
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11 | | (g) In addition to its responsibilities in connection with |
12 | | permit
assistance, the office shall provide general regulatory |
13 | | information by
directing businesses to appropriate officers in |
14 | | State agencies to supply the
information requested.
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15 | | (h) The office shall help businesses to locate and apply |
16 | | to training
programs available to train current employees in |
17 | | particular skills, techniques
or areas of knowledge relevant |
18 | | to the employees' present or anticipated job
duties. In |
19 | | pursuit of this objective, the office shall provide businesses |
20 | | with
pertinent information about training programs offered by |
21 | | State agencies, units
of local government, public universities |
22 | | and colleges, community colleges, and
school districts in |
23 | | Illinois.
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24 | | (i) The office shall help businesses to locate and apply |
25 | | to State programs
offering to businesses grants, loans, loan |
26 | | or bond guarantees, investment
partnerships, technology or |
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1 | | productivity consultation, or other forms of
business |
2 | | assistance.
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3 | | (j) To the extent authorized by federal law, the office |
4 | | shall assist
businesses in ascertaining and complying with the |
5 | | requirements of the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act.
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6 | | (k) The office shall provide confidential on-site |
7 | | assistance in identifying
problems and solutions in compliance |
8 | | with requirements of State and federal
environmental |
9 | | regulations. The office shall work through and contract with |
10 | | the Illinois Sustainable Technology
Center to provide |
11 | | confidential on-site
consultation audits that (i) assist |
12 | | regulatory compliance and (ii) identify
pollution prevention |
13 | | opportunities.
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14 | | (k-5) Until July 1, 2012, the office shall provide |
15 | | confidential on-site assistance, including, but not limited |
16 | | to, consultation audits, to identify
problems and solutions |
17 | | regarding compliance with the requirements of the federal
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18 | | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. On and after |
19 | | July 1, 2012, the Department of Labor shall provide |
20 | | confidential on-site assistance, including, but not limited |
21 | | to, consultation audits, to identify
problems and solutions |
22 | | regarding compliance with the requirements of the federal
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23 | | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. |
24 | | (l) The office shall provide information on existing loan |
25 | | and business
assistance programs provided by the State.
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26 | | (m) Each State agency having jurisdiction to approve or |
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1 | | deny a permit shall
have the continuing power heretofore or |
2 | | hereafter vested in it to make such
determinations. The |
3 | | provisions of this Act shall not lessen or reduce such
powers |
4 | | and shall modify the procedures followed in carrying out such |
5 | | powers
only to the extent provided in this Act.
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6 | | (n) (1) Each State agency shall , subject to appropriation, |
7 | | fully cooperate with the office in
providing information, |
8 | | documentation, personnel or facilities requested by the
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9 | | office.
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10 | | (2) Each State agency shall annually provide the office |
11 | | with processes and timelines for all permits having |
12 | | jurisdiction of any permit to which the
master application |
13 | | procedure is applicable shall designate an employee to act
as |
14 | | permit liaison office with the office in carrying out the |
15 | | provisions of this
Act .
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16 | | (o) (1) The office shall, subject to appropriation, |
17 | | identify and track metrics for the timeline of permit reviews, |
18 | | permit decisions, and project outcomes for covered projects |
19 | | has authority, but is not required, to keep and analyze
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20 | | appropriate statistical data regarding the number of permits |
21 | | issued by State
agencies, the amount of time necessary for the |
22 | | permits to be issued, the cost
of obtaining such permits, the |
23 | | types of projects for which specific permits are
issued, a |
24 | | geographic distribution of permits, and other pertinent data |
25 | | the
office deems appropriate .
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26 | | The office shall , subject to appropriation, administer and |
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1 | | expand the use of online transparency tools providing: |
2 | | (i) tracking and reporting metrics; |
3 | | (ii) posting of regulatory timelines for permit |
4 | | reviews and permit decisions; those timelines shall be |
5 | | provided to the office by each State agency having |
6 | | jurisdiction over permits; |
7 | | (iii) the sharing of best practices relating to |
8 | | efficient project permitting and reviews; those best |
9 | | practices shall be provided to the office by each State |
10 | | agency having jurisdiction over permits; and |
11 | | (iv) a visual display of relevant geospatial data to |
12 | | support the permitting process. make such data and any |
13 | | analysis of the data available to
the public.
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14 | | (2) The office may has authority, but is not required, to |
15 | | conduct or cause to be
conducted a thorough review of any |
16 | | agency's permit requirements and the need
by the State to |
17 | | require such permits. The office shall draw on the review, on
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18 | | its direct experience, and on its statistical analyses to |
19 | | prepare
recommendations regarding how to:
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20 | | (i) eliminate unnecessary or antiquated permit |
21 | | requirements;
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22 | | (ii) consolidate duplicative or overlapping permit |
23 | | requirements;
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24 | | (iii) simplify overly complex or lengthy application |
25 | | procedures;
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26 | | (iv) expedite time-consuming agency review and |
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1 | | approval procedures; or
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2 | | (v) otherwise improve the permitting processes in the |
3 | | State.
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4 | | The office shall submit copies of all recommendations |
5 | | within 5 days of
issuance to the affected agency, the |
6 | | Governor, the General Assembly, and the
Joint Committee on |
7 | | Administrative Rules.
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8 | | (p) The office may has authority to review State forms on |
9 | | its own initiative or
upon the request of another State agency |
10 | | to ascertain the burden, if any, of
complying with those |
11 | | forms. If the office determines that a form is unduly
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12 | | burdensome to business, it may recommend to the agency issuing |
13 | | the form either
that the form be eliminated or that specific |
14 | | changes be made in the form.
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15 | | (q) Not later than March 1 of each year, beginning March 1, |
16 | | 1995, the office
shall submit an annual
report of its |
17 | | activities during the preceding year to the Governor and |
18 | | General
Assembly. The report shall describe the activities of |
19 | | the office during the
preceding year and shall contain |
20 | | statistical information on the permit
assistance activities of |
21 | | the office.
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22 | | (r) All provisions of this Section are subject to adequate |
23 | | appropriation for the purpose of carrying out provisions of |
24 | | this Section. |
25 | | (Source: P.A. 97-787, eff. 7-13-12; 98-346, eff. 8-14-13.)".
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