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92_SB2155gms
State of Illinois
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Springfield, Illinois 62706
George H. Ryan
GOVERNOR
August 23, 2002
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate
92nd General Assembly
Pursuant to the authority vested in the Governor by
Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of
1970, and re-affirmed by the People of the State of Illinois
by popular referendum in 1974, and conforming to the standard
articulated by the Illinois Supreme Court in People ex rel.
Klinger v. Howlett, 50 Ill.2d 242 (1972), Continental
Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. v. Zagel, 78 Ill.2d 387
(1979), people ex rel. City of Canton v. Crouch, 79 Ill.2d
356 (1980), and County of Kane v. Carlson, 116 Ill.2d 186
(1987), that gubernatorial action be consistent with the
fundamental purposes and the intent of the bill, I hereby
return Senate Bill 2155 entitled "AN ACT in relation to civil
liabilities," with my specific recommendations for change.
Senate Bill 2155 provides the owner or operator of
off-road riding facilities not only civil immunity, but
criminal immunity as well, from legal suits brought on the
basis of noise or sound emissions. Senate Bill 2155
provides these immunities to (i) the facilities in existence
on January 1, 2002, and (ii) the facilities in operation
after January 1, 2002, that meet at least one additional
location, zoning, or operation requirement. Senate Bill 2155
also provides that the civil immunity for facilities in
existence after January 1, 2002, does not extend to willful
and wanton misconduct outside the normal use of the facility.
Although existing off-road riding facilities may merit
some protections against nuisance suits of persons who choose
to locate next to one of these current facilities, Senate
Bill 2155 proposes to extend these protections to the
opposite scenario where new facilities may seek to locate
near residential areas. Senate Bill 2155 also may
inadvertently affect pending suits concerning these
facilities. Therefore, my amendatory changes delete the
protections for facilities that open after January 1, 2002,
and provide that the immunity protections only apply to
causes of action accruing on or after the effective date of
this bill.
In addition, Senate Bill 2155 indeterminately provides
criminal immunity to these facilities that the State does not
regulate for noise pollution and waives civil immunity only
for willful and wanton misconduct "outside" the normal use of
an existing facility. Thus, the amendatory changes delete
the criminal immunity provisions and waive immunity for any
willful and wanton misconduct occurring in the operation of
the facility.
For these reasons, I hereby return Senate Bill 2155 with
the following recommendations for change:
on page 1, by replacing lines 21 through 27 with the
following:
"(b) An owner or operator of an off-road riding
facility in existence on January 1, 2002 is not subject
to any action for public or private nuisance or trespass
arising out of or as a consequence of noise or sound
emissions resulting from the normal use of the off-road
riding facility. Further, no court in this State may
enjoin"; and
on page 1, line 28, by replacing "a" with "an"; and
on page 1, by replacing line 31 with the following:
"(c) The immunity in this Section does not apply if
there is willful or wanton misconduct in the operation
of the off-road riding facility. This Section applies
only to causes of action accruing on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd
General Assembly."; and
On page 2, by deleting lines 1 through 23.
With these changes, Senate Bill 2155 will have my
approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,
George H. Ryan
GOVERNOR