Public Act 095-0203
 
HB0620 Enrolled LRB095 06649 HLH 26757 b

    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by adding Section
5-12020 as follows:
 
    (55 ILCS 5/5-12020 new)
    Sec. 5-12020. Wind farms. A county may establish standards
for wind farms and electric-generating wind devices. The
standards may include, without limitation, the height of the
devices and the number of devices that may be located within a
geographic area. A county may also regulate the siting of wind
farms and electric-generating wind devices in unincorporated
areas of the county outside of the zoning jurisdiction of a
municipality and the 1.5 mile radius surrounding the zoning
jurisdiction of a municipality. There shall be at least one
public hearing not more than 30 days prior to a siting decision
by the county board. Notice of the hearing shall be published
in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Counties
may allow test wind towers to be sited without formal approval
by the county board. Test wind towers must be dismantled within
3 years of installation. For the purposes of this Section,
"test wind towers" are wind towers that are designed solely to
collect wind generation data. Any provision of a county zoning
ordinance pertaining to wind farms that is in effect before the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General
Assembly may continue in effect notwithstanding any
requirements of this Section.
 
    Section 10. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
adding Section 11-13-26 as follows:
 
    (65 ILCS 5/11-13-26 new)
    Sec. 11-13-26. Wind farms. A municipality may regulate wind
farms and electric-generating wind devices within its zoning
jurisdiction and within the 1.5 mile radius surrounding its
zoning jurisdiction. There shall be at least one public hearing
not more than 30 days prior to a siting decision by the
corporate authorities of a municipality. Notice of the hearing
shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the
municipality. A municipality may allow test wind towers to be
sited without formal approval by the corporate authorities of
the municipality. Test wind towers must be dismantled within 3
years of installation. For the purposes of this Section, "test
wind towers" are wind towers that are designed solely to
collect wind generation data.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.