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1     AN ACT concerning the environment.
 
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 Illinois Climate Change Act.
 
6     Section 5. Findings; declarations. The General Assembly
7 finds that:
8         (a) marketing Illinois agricultural products generates
9     more than 9 billion dollars annually and additional revenue
10     in agricultural related industries;
11         (b) Illinois' food and fiber industry employs nearly
12     1,000,000 people;
13         (c) a 2001 National Academy of Sciences report stated
14     that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth's
15     atmosphere as a result of human activities and causing
16     surface air and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise;
17         (d) greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global
18     warming;
19         (e) increases in the Earth's surface air and subsurface
20     ocean temperatures will change Illinois' weather patterns
21     leading to hotter summers, more frequent droughts, and more
22     severe rainfalls;
23         (f) changing weather patterns due to global warming

 

 

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1     will have a significant impact on the State's agricultural
2     economy, watersheds, aquifers, and public works
3     infrastructure;
4         (g) several hundred thousand Illinois residents depend
5     on private wells for their water;
6         (h) the State has an obligation to protect the health
7     and safety of its citizens as well as an obligation to
8     protect the State's natural resources and environment; and
9         (i) it is in the State's interest to reduce greenhouse
10     gas emissions within its borders.
 
11     Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
12     "Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection
13 Agency.
14     "Greenhouse gas" or "greenhouse gases" include the
15 following gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
16 hydroflourocarbons, perflourocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.
17     "Greenhouse gas emissions level" means the total annual
18 emissions of greenhouse gases in the State expressed in tons of
19 carbon dioxide equivalents.
20     "Greenhouse gas emission source" or "source" means any
21 person who generates a greenhouse gas within the State whose
22 emissions are at a level of significance, as determined by the
23 Agency, that impact the greenhouse gas emissions level.
24     "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
25 limited liability company, sole proprietorship, firm,

 

 

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1 enterprise, franchise, association, State agency, political
2 subdivision of the State, or any other entity.
 
3     Section 15. Deputy Director. The Governor, subject to the
4 advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint to the Agency a
5 Deputy Director for Climate Change. The Deputy Director shall
6 supervise Agency programs designed to reduce the greenhouse gas
7 emissions level.
 
8     Section 20. Inventory; reports.
9     (a) Subject to appropriations, the Agency shall conduct an
10 inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the State. The
11 Department of Natural Resources, upon a request from the
12 Agency, shall provide technical assistance to the Agency in
13 conducting this inventory.
14     The Agency shall report its findings to the Governor and
15 General Assembly by January 1, 2008. This report shall compare
16 inventoried levels with inventoried levels of greenhouse gas
17 emissions in the State taken in 1990. The report shall provide
18 emissions information by categories of sources that the Agency
19 determines are significant emitters of greenhouse gases. The
20 Agency shall annually update and report to the Governor and
21 General Assembly the inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in
22 the State.
23     (b) By July 1, 2008, the Agency shall present to the
24 Governor and General Assembly a plan to significantly reduce

 

 

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1 the greenhouse gas emissions level, as reported by the Agency,
2 by the year 2020. In developing the plan, the Agency shall hold
3 3 public hearings on the issue in different regions of the
4 State. In addition, the Agency shall take into account
5 projected reductions in greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to
6 other State regulations or programs.
 
7     Section 25. Consultation. The Agency shall consult with
8 other states and the federal government to identify the most
9 effective strategies and methods to reduce greenhouse gases and
10 facilitate a regional and national greenhouse gas reduction
11 program.
 
12     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
13 becoming law.