Public Act 1022 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1892 Enrolled LRB094 11429 RXD 42339 b

Public Act 094-1022

AN ACT concerning business.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. If and only if Senate Bill 17 of the 94th General Assembly becomes law, the River Edge Redevelopment Zone Act is amended by changing Sections 10-2, 10-4, and 10-5.3 as follows:

(94SB17 Art. 10, Sec. 10-2)

Sec. 10-2. Findings. The General Assembly finds and declares that those municipalities adjacent to or surrounding river areas often lack critical tools to safely revive and redevelop environmentally-challenged properties that will stimulate economic revitalization and create jobs in Illinois. Environmentally-challenged properties adjacent to or surrounding Illinois rivers are a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the people of this State. Many of these environmentally-challenged properties adjacent to or surrounding rivers were former industrial areas that now, subject to appropriate environmental clean-up and remediation, would be ideal for office, residential, retail, hospitality, commercial, recreational, warehouse and distribution, and other economically productive uses. The cost of the cleaning and remediation of these environmentally-challenged properties is often the primary obstacle to returning these properties to a safe and economically productive use.

Cooperative and continuous partnership among the State, through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Environmental Protection Agency, municipalities adjacent to or surrounding rivers, and the private sector is necessary to appropriately encourage the cost-effective cleaning and remediation of these environmentally-challenged properties in order to bring about a safe and economically productive use of the properties.

Therefore, it is declared to be the purpose of this Act to identify and initiate 3 2 pilot River Edge Redevelopment Zones to stimulate the safe and cost-effective re-use of environmentally-challenged properties adjacent to or surrounding rivers by means of tax incentives or grants.

(Source: 94SB17ham003.)

(94SB17 Art. 10, Sec. 10-4)

Sec. 10-4. Qualifications for River Edge Redevelopment Zones. An area is qualified to become a zone if it:

(1) is a contiguous area adjacent to or surrounding a river;

(2) comprises a minimum of one half square mile and not more than 12 square miles, exclusive of lakes and waterways;

(3) satisfies any additional criteria established by the Department consistent with the purposes of this Act;

(4) is entirely within a single home rule municipality; and

(5) has at least 100 acres of environmentally challenged land within 1500 yards of the riverfront.

(Source: 94SB17ham003.)

(94SB17 Art. 10, Sec. 10-5.3)

Sec. 10-5.3. Certification of River Edge Redevelopment Zones.

(a) Approval of designated River Edge Redevelopment Zones shall be made by the Department by certification of the designating ordinance. The Department shall promptly issue a certificate for each zone upon its approval. The certificate shall be signed by the Director of the Department, shall make specific reference to the designating ordinance, which shall be attached thereto, and shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State. A certified copy of the River Edge Redevelopment Zone Certificate, or a duplicate original thereof, shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which the River Edge Redevelopment Zone lies.

(b) A River Edge Redevelopment Zone shall be effective upon its certification. The Department shall transmit a copy of the certification to the Department of Revenue, and to the designating municipality. Upon certification of a River Edge Redevelopment Zone, the terms and provisions of the designating ordinance shall be in effect, and may not be amended or repealed except in accordance with Section 10-5.4.

(c) A River Edge Redevelopment Zone shall be in effect for the period stated in the certificate, which shall in no event exceed 30 calendar years. Zones shall terminate at midnight of December 31 of the final calendar year of the certified term, except as provided in Section 10-5.4.

(d) In calendar years 2006 and 2007, the Department may certify one pilot River Edge Redevelopment Zone in the City of East St. Louis, one pilot River Edge Redevelopment Zone in the City of Rockford, and one pilot River Edge Redevelopment Zone in the City of Aurora.

Thereafter the Department may not certify any additional River Edge Redevelopment Zones, but may amend and rescind certifications of existing River Edge Redevelopment Zones in accordance with Section 10-5.4.

(e) A municipality in which a River Edge Redevelopment Zone has been certified must submit to the Department, within 60 days after the certification, a plan for encouraging the participation by minority persons, females, persons with disabilities, and veterans in the zone. The Department may assist the municipality in developing and implementing the plan. The terms "minority person", "female", and "person with a disability" have the meanings set forth under Section 2 of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Females, and Persons with Disabilities Act. "Veteran" means an Illinois resident who is a veteran as defined in subsection (h) of Section 1491 of Title 10 of the United States Code.

(Source: 94SB17ham003.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.

Effective Date: 7/12/2006