Full Text of HB4155 103rd General Assembly
HB4155ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Sonya M. Harper Filed: 4/17/2024 | | 10300HB4155ham001 | | LRB103 33835 BDA 71821 a |
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4155
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4155 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following: | 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that | 7 | | creating an Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office | 8 | | can best address and mitigate agricultural climate-related | 9 | | issues on a wide scale by providing support and assistance to | 10 | | bona fide agricultural producers in implementing practices | 11 | | that minimize the impacts of climate change. | 12 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 13 | | "Agrivoltaics" means one or more solar energy generation | 14 | | facilities directly integrated with agricultural activities, | 15 | | including crop production, grazing, animal husbandry, |
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| 1 | | apiaries, cover cropping, or production of agricultural | 2 | | commodities for sale in the retail or wholesale market. | 3 | | "Anaerobic digester" means a sealed, oxygen-free tank into | 4 | | which feedstock, such as food waste, animal manure, or | 5 | | wastewater sludge, is placed for anaerobic digestion by | 6 | | microorganisms. | 7 | | "Bona fide agricultural producer" means an agricultural | 8 | | producer that receives a majority of the producer's annual | 9 | | income from agriculture, an agricultural producer that spends | 10 | | more than 1,040 hours per year engaged in agricultural | 11 | | production, or an Illinois business that processes | 12 | | agricultural products. | 13 | | "Department" means the Department of Agriculture. | 14 | | "Director" means the Director of Agriculture. | 15 | | "Disproportionately impacted area" means a census tract or | 16 | | comparable geographic area that the Department of Commerce and | 17 | | Economic Opportunity has determined meets one or more of the | 18 | | following criteria: | 19 | | (1) at least 20% of households in the census tract or | 20 | | comparable area fall below the poverty guidelines updated | 21 | | periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S. | 22 | | Department of Health and Human Services under the | 23 | | authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2); | 24 | | (2) 75% or more of the children in the census tract or | 25 | | comparable area participate in the National School Lunch | 26 | | Program according to reported statistics from the State |
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| 1 | | Board of Education; | 2 | | (3) at least 20% of the households in the census tract | 3 | | or comparable area receive assistance under the | 4 | | Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; or | 5 | | (4) the census tract or comparable area has an average | 6 | | unemployment rate, as determined by the Department of | 7 | | Employment Security, that is more than 120% of the | 8 | | national unemployment rate, as determined by the United | 9 | | States Department of Labor, for a period of at least 2 | 10 | | consecutive calendar years. | 11 | | "Dry digester" means an anaerobic digester that processes | 12 | | feedstock with a low moisture content. | 13 | | "Floatovoltaics" means one or more solar energy generation | 14 | | facilities placed over, near, or floating on irrigation canals | 15 | | or reservoirs. | 16 | | "Office" means the Agricultural Drought and Climate | 17 | | Resilience Office created in this Act. | 18 | | "Solar energy device" means a device or a design feature | 19 | | of a structure that provides for the collection of sunlight | 20 | | and that comprises part of a system for the conversion of the | 21 | | sun's radiant energy into thermal, chemical, mechanical, or | 22 | | electrical energy. | 23 | | "Solar energy facility" means a facility that uses real | 24 | | and personal property, including, but not limited to, one or | 25 | | more solar energy devices, agrivoltaics, floatovoltaics, | 26 | | leaseholds, and easements, to generate and deliver to the |
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| 1 | | interconnection meter any source of electrical, thermal, or | 2 | | mechanical energy in excess of 2 megawatts by harnessing the | 3 | | radiant energy of the sun, including any connected device for | 4 | | which the primary purpose is to store energy, and that is not | 5 | | primarily designed to supply electricity for consumption on | 6 | | site. | 7 | | Section 15. Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience | 8 | | Office; creation. The Agricultural Drought and Climate | 9 | | Resilience Office is hereby created within the Department. The | 10 | | Office may provide voluntary technical assistance, | 11 | | nonregulatory programs, and incentives, including grants, that | 12 | | increase the ability to anticipate, prepare for, mitigate, | 13 | | adapt to, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or | 14 | | disturbances related to drought or the climate. The Office | 15 | | shall advise the Director, other State agencies, and the | 16 | | Governor on the impact to agriculture of drought and climate | 17 | | policies and programs. The Director shall appoint the head of | 18 | | the Office. | 19 | | Section 20. Assistance, programs, and incentives; rules. | 20 | | (a) The Department shall adopt rules for the | 21 | | administration of the Office's assistance, programs, and | 22 | | incentives, including grants. Before adopting the rules, the | 23 | | Director shall convene a stakeholder group, including | 24 | | representatives of organizations whose membership consists of |
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| 1 | | agricultural producers engaged in the production of the top 10 | 2 | | agricultural commodities produced in Illinois, members of the | 3 | | Department of Natural Resources Conservation Reserve | 4 | | Enhancement Program, and representatives of the solar energy | 5 | | development industry. The stakeholder group shall advise the | 6 | | Director on the needs of the agriculture industry to respond | 7 | | to and mitigate the impacts of climate change on agricultural | 8 | | production. | 9 | | (b) Except for a program, assistance, incentive, or | 10 | | support administered by the Office to address immediate needs | 11 | | as a result of disaster, including wildfire and drought, a | 12 | | program, assistance, incentive, or support administered by the | 13 | | Office must include new or ongoing demonstration or research | 14 | | projects to demonstrate or study the use of agrivoltaics to: | 15 | | (1) help prepare for and mitigate the impacts that | 16 | | climate change or drought have on agriculture; | 17 | | (2) reduce energy costs in agriculture; | 18 | | (3) improve the economic resilience of agricultural | 19 | | producers; | 20 | | (4) minimize negative environmental impacts of | 21 | | photovoltaic energy production facilities on soil health, | 22 | | native vegetation, State and federal listed species, | 23 | | wildlife migration corridors, and the species, habitats, | 24 | | and ecosystems that are of the greatest conservation need; | 25 | | and | 26 | | (5) provide other statewide environmental benefits, as |
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| 1 | | identified by the Office. | 2 | | (c) In awarding grants, the Office shall give preference | 3 | | to grant applications that propose using grant money to | 4 | | conduct a new or ongoing demonstration or research project as | 5 | | a means to study the potential, benefits, and tradeoffs of | 6 | | agrivoltaics in the State. | 7 | | Any agrivoltaic study awarded as a grant under this | 8 | | Section must include findings on the additional costs, | 9 | | including the additional capital and ongoing maintenance | 10 | | costs, for the use of agrivoltaics as compared to traditional | 11 | | photovoltaics. The additional costs must be quantified on both | 12 | | a dollar-per-megawatt and a dollar-per-megawatt-hour basis. | 13 | | Grants awarded by the Office must pay for implementation | 14 | | of practices to address and mitigate the impacts of climate | 15 | | change or drought on agriculture or provide direct adaptation | 16 | | support for impacted agricultural communities, including | 17 | | mental health resources, conflict resolution assistance, and | 18 | | risk-management guidance. A grant award may pay no more than | 19 | | 5% of administrative expenses incurred by an agricultural | 20 | | producer to implement the practices. | 21 | | (d) The Office shall, at least 30 days before opening the | 22 | | grant application process, make available, on its website or | 23 | | the Department's website, information related to the grant | 24 | | program to agricultural producers. | 25 | | (e) A grant authorized pursuant to this Section must | 26 | | receive final approval by the head of the Office before a final |
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| 1 | | award can be issued. | 2 | | (f) The Office shall post on its website or the | 3 | | Department's website all applications for grant awards. Within | 4 | | 15 days after awarding a grant, the Office shall post on its | 5 | | website or the Department's website the name of the individual | 6 | | or entity receiving a grant, the amount of the grant awarded, | 7 | | the project or projects to be funded by the grant, and the | 8 | | duration of the grant award. | 9 | | Section 25. Greenhouse gas reduction and carbon | 10 | | sequestration study; greenhouse gas offset program. | 11 | | (a) The Director or the Director's designee shall conduct | 12 | | a study to examine greenhouse gas reduction and carbon | 13 | | sequestration opportunities in the agricultural sector and in | 14 | | agricultural land management in the State, including: | 15 | | (1) soil health management practices, including cover | 16 | | cropping, manure management, soil amendments, rotational | 17 | | grazing, rangeland management, low-till and no-till | 18 | | practices, and hedge grows; | 19 | | (2) the use of dry digesters; and | 20 | | (3) the potential for creating and offering a | 21 | | certified greenhouse gas offset program and credit | 22 | | instruments to provide fungible greenhouse gas offsets for | 23 | | agricultural producers and in agricultural land | 24 | | management. | 25 | | The Director or Director's designee shall conduct the |
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| 1 | | study in consultation with the Environmental Protection | 2 | | Agency, the Department of Natural Resources, and an | 3 | | institution of higher education with expertise in climate | 4 | | change mitigation, adaptation benefits, and other | 5 | | environmental benefits related to agricultural research. | 6 | | The study must identify policy mechanisms to avoid the | 7 | | impacts that the use of greenhouse gas offsets by regulated | 8 | | sources could have on disproportionately impacted areas. | 9 | | The Director or the Director's designee shall submit to | 10 | | the General Assembly: | 11 | | (1) a report summarizing the progress on the study on | 12 | | or before October 1, 2024; and | 13 | | (2) a final report on the study on or before October 1, | 14 | | 2025. The final report must include any legislative, | 15 | | regulatory, or other recommendations for designing and | 16 | | implementing greenhouse gas reduction and carbon | 17 | | sequestration opportunities for the agricultural sector | 18 | | and in agricultural land management in the State. | 19 | | (b) After conclusion of the study under subsection (a), | 20 | | the Office may create a certified greenhouse gas offset | 21 | | program. Credit instruments offered under the program must | 22 | | reflect real, additional, quantifiable, permanent, verifiable, | 23 | | and enforceable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that | 24 | | are equivalent to the offsets provided and must not require | 25 | | agricultural producers' participation. | 26 | | Greenhouse gas offsets developed for agricultural |
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| 1 | | producers and in agricultural land management may be used as | 2 | | compliance instruments with the emission reduction obligations | 3 | | established by the Environmental Protection Agency's Bureau of | 4 | | Air to ensure that the annual, overall, absolute emissions | 5 | | from the source, sector, or group of sources decline | 6 | | consistent with the statewide greenhouse gas emission | 7 | | reduction goals; except that, if the source is located in a | 8 | | disproportionately impacted area, the Department shall | 9 | | establish by rule an annual, absolute emission reduction | 10 | | obligation specific to the source. | 11 | | Section 30. Post-study rules. | 12 | | (a) Upon conclusion of the study conducted under Section | 13 | | 25, with regard to any recommendations in the study that do not | 14 | | require legislative changes, the Department may adopt rules in | 15 | | consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency's Office | 16 | | of Energy and the Pollution Control Board to implement the | 17 | | recommendations. Any rules adopted pursuant to this subsection | 18 | | may not mandate participation by agricultural producers in any | 19 | | greenhouse gas offset program or any other greenhouse gas | 20 | | reduction and carbon sequestration programs or mechanisms | 21 | | developed in rule, but the rules may provide incentives to | 22 | | agricultural producers for the producer's voluntary | 23 | | participation in a program or mechanism developed in rule | 24 | | pursuant to this subsection and establish procedures for | 25 | | coordination with other states. |
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| 1 | | (b) Nothing in this Section requires the adoption of rules | 2 | | for greenhouse gas emission offsets or credit mechanisms or | 3 | | the acceptance of any greenhouse gas emission offsets or | 4 | | credit mechanisms as compliance instruments for emission | 5 | | reduction compliance or verification. | 6 | | Section 35. Other studies. The Office shall also conduct | 7 | | the following studies: | 8 | | (1) a study examining the effectiveness of grants | 9 | | awarded pursuant to Section 15; and | 10 | | (2) a feasibility study that examines the use of | 11 | | floatovoltaics in State waterways. | 12 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 13 | | becoming law.". |
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