Full Text of HB3523 99th General Assembly
HB3523ham002 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Adam Brown Filed: 4/16/2015
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3523
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3523, AS AMENDED, by | 3 | | replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 | | following:
| 5 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Wind | 6 | | Energy Facilities Agricultural Impact Mitigation Act. | 7 | | Section 5. Purpose. The primary purpose of this Act is to | 8 | | promote the State's welfare by protecting landowners during the | 9 | | construction and deconstruction of commercial wind energy | 10 | | facilities. | 11 | | Section 10. Definitions.
As used in this Act:
| 12 | | "Abandonment" means when deconstruction has not been | 13 | | completed within 18 months after the commercial wind energy | 14 | | facility reaches the end of its useful life. For purposes of | 15 | | this definition, a commercial wind energy facility will be |
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| 1 | | presumed to have reached the end of its useful life if (1) no | 2 | | electricity is generated for a continuous period of 12 months | 3 | | and (2) the commercial wind energy facility owner fails, for a | 4 | | period of 6 consecutive months, to pay the landowner amounts | 5 | | owed in accordance with the underlying agreement. | 6 | | "Agricultural impact mitigation agreement" means an | 7 | | agreement between the commercial wind energy facility owner and | 8 | | the Department of Agriculture described in Section 15 of this | 9 | | Act.
| 10 | | "Commercial wind energy facility" means a wind energy | 11 | | conversion facility of equal or greater than 500 kilowatts in | 12 | | total nameplate generating capacity. "Commercial wind energy | 13 | | facility" includes a wind energy conversion facility seeking an | 14 | | extension of a permit to construct granted by a county or | 15 | | municipality before the effective date of this Act. "Commercial | 16 | | wind energy facility" does not include a wind energy conversion | 17 | | facility: (1) that has submitted a complete permit application | 18 | | to a county or municipality and for which the hearing on the | 19 | | completed application has commenced on the date provided in the | 20 | | public hearing notice, which must be before the effective date | 21 | | of this Act; (2) for which a permit to construct has been | 22 | | issued before the effective date of this Act; or (3) that was | 23 | | constructed before the effective date of this Act. | 24 | | "Commercial wind energy facility owner" means a private | 25 | | commercial enterprise that owns or operates a commercial wind | 26 | | energy facility.
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| 1 | | "Construction" means the installation, preparation for | 2 | | installation, or repair of a commercial wind energy facility.
| 3 | | "County" means the county where the commercial wind energy | 4 | | facility is located.
| 5 | | "Deconstruction" means the removal of a commercial wind | 6 | | energy facility from the property of a landowner and the | 7 | | restoration of that property as provided in the agricultural | 8 | | impact mitigation agreement.
| 9 | | "Department" means the Department of Agriculture.
| 10 | | "Landowner" means any person (1) with an ownership interest | 11 | | in property that is used for agricultural purposes and (2) that | 12 | | is a party to an underlying agreement.
| 13 | | "Underlying agreement" means the written agreement with a | 14 | | landowner, including, but not limited to, an easement, option, | 15 | | lease, or license, under the terms of which another person has | 16 | | constructed, constructs, or intends to construct a commercial | 17 | | wind energy facility on the property of the landowner. | 18 | | Section 15. Agricultural impact mitigation agreement.
| 19 | | (a) A commercial wind energy facility owner of a commercial | 20 | | wind energy facility located on landowner property shall enter | 21 | | into an agricultural impact mitigation agreement with the | 22 | | Department outlining construction and deconstruction standards | 23 | | and policies designed to preserve the integrity of any | 24 | | agricultural land that is impacted by commercial wind energy | 25 | | facility construction and deconstruction.
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| 1 | | (b) The agricultural impact mitigation agreement shall | 2 | | include, but is not limited to, such items as restoration of | 3 | | agricultural land affected by construction, deconstruction | 4 | | (including upon abandonment), construction staging, and | 5 | | storage areas; support structures; aboveground facilities; guy | 6 | | wires and anchors; underground cabling depth; topsoil | 7 | | replacement; protection and repair of agricultural drainage | 8 | | tiles; rock removal; repair of compaction and rutting; land | 9 | | leveling; prevention of soil erosion; repair of damaged soil | 10 | | conservation practices; compensation for damages to private | 11 | | property; clearing of trees and brush; interference with | 12 | | irrigation systems; access roads; weed control; pumping of | 13 | | water from open excavations; advance notice of access to | 14 | | private property; indemnification of landowners; and | 15 | | deconstruction plans and financial assurance for | 16 | | deconstruction (including upon abandonment).
| 17 | | (c) For commercial wind energy facility owners seeking a | 18 | | permit from a county or municipality for the construction of a | 19 | | commercial wind energy facility, the agricultural impact | 20 | | mitigation agreement shall be entered into prior to the public | 21 | | hearing required prior to a siting decision of a county or | 22 | | municipality regarding the commercial wind energy facility. | 23 | | The agricultural impact mitigation agreement is binding on any | 24 | | subsequent commercial wind energy facility owner that takes | 25 | | ownership of the commercial wind energy facility that is the | 26 | | subject of the agreement.
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| 1 | | (d) If a commercial wind energy facility owner seeks an | 2 | | extension of a permit granted by a county or municipality for | 3 | | the construction of a commercial wind energy facility prior to | 4 | | the effective date of this Act, the agricultural impact | 5 | | mitigation agreement shall be entered into prior to a decision | 6 | | by the county or municipality to grant the permit extension.
| 7 | | (e) The Department shall adopt rules that are necessary and | 8 | | appropriate for the implementation and administration of | 9 | | agricultural impact mitigation agreements as required under | 10 | | this Act.
| 11 | | Section 90. The Counties Code is amended by changing | 12 | | Section 5-12020 as follows: | 13 | | (55 ILCS 5/5-12020) | 14 | | Sec. 5-12020. Wind farms. A county may establish standards | 15 | | for wind farms and electric-generating wind devices. The | 16 | | standards may include, without limitation, the height of the | 17 | | devices and the number of devices that may be located within a | 18 | | geographic area. A county may also regulate the siting of wind | 19 | | farms and electric-generating wind devices in unincorporated | 20 | | areas of the county outside of the zoning jurisdiction of a | 21 | | municipality and the 1.5 mile radius surrounding the zoning | 22 | | jurisdiction of a municipality. There shall be at least one | 23 | | public hearing not more than 30 days prior to a siting decision | 24 | | by the county board. Notice of the hearing shall be published |
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| 1 | | in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. A | 2 | | commercial wind energy facility owner, as defined in the Wind | 3 | | Energy Facilities Agricultural Impact Mitigation Act, must | 4 | | enter into an agricultural impact mitigation agreement with the | 5 | | Department of Agriculture prior to the date of the required | 6 | | public hearing. A commercial wind energy facility owner seeking | 7 | | an extension of a permit granted by a county prior to the | 8 | | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General | 9 | | Assembly must enter into an agricultural impact mitigation | 10 | | agreement with the Department of Agriculture prior to a | 11 | | decision by the county to grant the permit extension. Counties | 12 | | may allow test wind towers to be sited without formal approval | 13 | | by the county board. Any provision of a county zoning ordinance | 14 | | pertaining to wind farms that is in effect before the effective | 15 | | date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly may | 16 | | continue in effect notwithstanding any requirements of this | 17 | | Section. | 18 | | A county may not require a wind tower or other renewable | 19 | | energy system that is used exclusively by an end user to be | 20 | | setback more than 1.1 times the height of the renewable energy | 21 | | system from the end user's property line.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 95-203, eff. 8-16-07; 96-306, eff. 1-1-10; | 23 | | 96-566, eff. 8-18-09; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.) | 24 | | Section 95. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by | 25 | | changing Section 11-13-26 as follows: |
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| 1 | | (65 ILCS 5/11-13-26) | 2 | | Sec. 11-13-26. Wind farms. | 3 | | (a) A municipality may regulate wind farms and | 4 | | electric-generating wind devices within its zoning | 5 | | jurisdiction and within the 1.5 mile radius surrounding its | 6 | | zoning jurisdiction. There shall be at least one public hearing | 7 | | not more than 30 days prior to a siting decision by the | 8 | | corporate authorities of a municipality. Notice of the hearing | 9 | | shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the | 10 | | municipality. A commercial wind energy facility owner, as | 11 | | defined in the Wind Energy Facilities Agricultural Impact | 12 | | Mitigation Act, must enter into an agricultural impact | 13 | | mitigation agreement with the Department of Agriculture prior | 14 | | to the date of the required public hearing. A commercial wind | 15 | | energy facility owner seeking an extension of a permit granted | 16 | | by a municipality prior to the effective date of this | 17 | | amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly must enter into an | 18 | | agricultural impact mitigation agreement with the Department | 19 | | of Agriculture prior to a decision by the municipality to grant | 20 | | the permit extension. A municipality may allow test wind towers | 21 | | to be sited without formal approval by the corporate | 22 | | authorities of the municipality. Test wind towers must be | 23 | | dismantled within 3 years of installation. For the purposes of | 24 | | this Section, "test wind towers" are wind towers that are | 25 | | designed solely to collect wind generation data.
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| 1 | | (b) A municipality may not require a wind tower or other | 2 | | renewable energy system that is used exclusively by an end user | 3 | | to be setback more than 1.1 times the height of the renewable | 4 | | energy system from the end user's property line. A setback | 5 | | requirement imposed by a municipality on a renewable energy | 6 | | system may not be more restrictive than as provided under this | 7 | | subsection. This subsection is a limitation of home rule powers | 8 | | and functions under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII | 9 | | of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home | 10 | | rule units of powers and functions exercised by the State. | 11 | | (Source: P.A. 95-203, eff. 8-16-07; 96-306, eff. 1-1-10.)
| 12 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 13 | | becoming law.".
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