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92_HB4749
LRB9212037DHmg
1 AN ACT in relation to waterways.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act is amended
5 by changing Section 23 as follows:
6 (615 ILCS 5/23) (from Ch. 19, par. 70)
7 Sec. 23. It is shall be the duty of the Department of
8 Natural Resources to maintain stream gauge stations, and to
9 make careful investigations of the streams of the State with
10 reference to the carrying capacity of all such streams in
11 times of flood and under normal conditions; to prevent the
12 carrying capacity of streams to be limited and impaired by
13 fills, deposits, obstructions, encroachments therein, deposit
14 of debris or material of any kind, including trees, tree
15 limbs, logs, shrubbery, or related growths and trimmings
16 therefrom in or upon the bank of any waters and water courses
17 or in such proximity to such waters and water courses or any
18 tributary thereto where the same shall be liable to be washed
19 into or deposited along such waters and water courses, either
20 by normal or flood flows, as a result of storms or otherwise,
21 which may in any manner impede or obstruct the natural flow
22 of such waters and water courses, or bridges over same, to an
23 extent where the same cannot safely dispose of the flood
24 waters which may naturally, lawfully, and properly be
25 discharged therein; to require such changes in bridges across
26 any navigable waters or streams, or bodies of water made
27 navigable, necessary to meet the demands of navigation and
28 commerce thereon; and to establish by regulations water
29 levels below which water cannot be drawn down behind dams
30 from any stream or river within the State of Illinois, in
31 order to retain enough water in such streams to preserve the
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1 fish and other aquatic life in the stream, and to safeguard
2 the health of the community. If the capacity of any stream
3 is limited and impaired by reason of any of the Acts or
4 construction in this Act provided, so as to constitute a
5 menace to property along the course of said stream or safety
6 of the people of the State, or results in damage, overflow,
7 or an interruption to navigation, or if water is being drawn
8 down, or is about to be drawn down in contravention of the
9 water level regulations established by the Department, the
10 Department of Natural Resources shall take such action as may
11 be required, by injunction or otherwise, to prevent such
12 encroachments or the erection of such structures, or compel
13 the removal or modification of same, or to prevent water
14 being drawn down below the levels established by the
15 Department. It shall be unlawful for any person, persons,
16 corporations, counties, cities, municipalities, or other
17 agency to make any fill, deposit, or encroachment in, deposit
18 or placement of felled or trimmed woody plant upon or along
19 the bank, or erect any bridges over a stream that has a
20 drainage area of one square mile or more in urban areas or 10
21 square miles or more in rural areas, until plans, profiles
22 and specifications and other data which may be required, have
23 been first filed with the Department of Natural Resources of
24 this State, and a written permit received therefor.
25 The Department of Natural Resources is authorized, in
26 case of existing dams, to require that the dams be maintained
27 in a proper state of repair, and at a height for proper
28 control of water levels in the disposal of flood waters and
29 at normal stages, and for such purposes to require changes
30 and modifications therein, and to compel the installation of
31 fishways in dams wherever deemed necessary; provided,
32 however, that the enactment by any governmental unit of any
33 new rule, regulation, ordinance, law, or other requirements
34 passed after the construction of an existing dam, shall not
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1 be construed to give the Department of Natural Resources the
2 power or authority to require changes in the design,
3 structure, or construction, of any existing dam in
4 conformance with all applicable standards existing at the
5 time of its construction and which is in good repair.
6 (Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)