All meetings of the Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission shall be open to the public and shall be held within the Mahomet Aquifer Area region or within 25 miles of the region. The Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission shall maintain a website where all reports and studies submitted to or approved by the Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission shall be posted for public display. The University of Illinois shall provide administrative assistance to the Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission. No later than 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly, the Commission shall hold its first meeting at the call of the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, at which meeting the members shall select a chairperson from among themselves. After its first meeting, the Commission shall meet at the call of the chairperson. Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation. Members' terms shall be 3 years, and members may be reappointed by their respective appointing authority.
(b) Subject to appropriation, the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shall submit a final report on the potential for carbon sequestration in the Mahomet Aquifer Area and any project review areas to the Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission no later than December 31, 2030. The Prairie Research Institute shall submit annual status reports by December 31, 2027 and December 31 of each year thereafter until the final report is submitted on December 31, 2030. The final report shall provide an assessment of the safety and risks of carbon dioxide storage in the Mahomet Aquifer and its project review areas, including, but not limited to, any effects on human, animal, and environmental health. The report shall review carbon sequestration conducted in Illinois and other similarly situated states, particularly how carbon sequestration affects aquifers and other underground water sources. The report shall review the permitting processes and the coordination with applicable federal law or regulatory commissions, including the Class VI injection well permitting process.
(c) The Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission shall also engage with interested stakeholders throughout the State to gain insights into safety perspectives from residents, environmental justice organizations, environmental nongovernmental organizations, representatives of industry, landowners, farm bureaus, manufacturing interests, labor unions, and others.
(d) The Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission shall submit a final report of its findings regarding the Mahomet Aquifer and its project review areas to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 31, 2031. The Commission may file status updates with the Governor and the General Assembly as determined by a majority of the members.
(e) The Mahomet Aquifer Advisory Study Commission is dissolved and this Section is repealed on January 1, 2032.
(Source: P.A. 104-119, eff. 1-1-26.)
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