Public Act 103-0795
 
HB1855 EnrolledLRB103 28119 RLC 54498 b

    AN ACT concerning conservation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly: 
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Forestry Development Act is 
amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (525 ILCS 15/5)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 9105)
    Sec. 5. A forest development cost share program is created 
and shall be administered by the Department of Natural 
Resources.
    A timber grower who desires to participate in the cost 
share program shall devise a forest management plan. To be 
eligible to submit a proposed forest management plan, a timber 
grower must own or operate at least 10 contiguous acres of land 
in this State on which timber is produced, except that, no acre 
on which a permanent building is located shall be included in 
calculations of acreage for the purpose of determining 
eligibility. Timber growers with Department approved forest 
management plans covering less than 10 acres in effect on or 
before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th 
General Assembly shall continue to be eligible under the 
Illinois Forestry Development Act provisions. The proposed 
forest management plan shall include a description of the land 
to be managed under the plan, a description of the types of 
timber to be grown, a projected harvest schedule, a 
description of forest management practices to be applied to 
the land, an estimation of the cost of such practices, plans 
for afforestation, plans for regenerative harvest and 
reforestation, and a description of soil and water 
conservation goals and wildlife habitat enhancement which will 
be served by implementation of the forest management plan.
    Upon receipt from a timber grower of a draft forest 
management plan, the Department shall review the plan and, if 
necessary, assist the timber grower to revise the plan. The 
Department shall officially approve acceptable plans. Forest 
management plans shall be revised as necessary and all 
revisions must be approved by the Department. A plan shall be 
evaluated every 2 years for reapproval.
    The eligible land shall be maintained in a forest 
condition for a period of 10 years or until commercial 
harvest, whichever last occurs, as required by the plan.
    The Department shall enter into agreements with timber 
growers with approved forest management plans under which the 
Department shall agree to pay a share of the total cost of 
acceptable forest management plans and practices implemented 
under the plan. The cost share amount is up to 80% of the total 
cost of the forest management practices for such practices 
approved to be funded from monies appropriated for this 
purpose for subsequent fiscal years. Cost share funds shall be 
paid from monies appropriated to the Department by the General 
Assembly for that purpose from the Illinois Forestry 
Development Fund or any other fund in the State Treasury. 
    Starting in 2025, the Department shall file a report in 
writing to the General Assembly on or before March 1 of each 
year with the following information from the preceding year: 
the total number of agreements entered into pursuant to this 
Section, the total amount of payments made pursuant to this 
Section from the Illinois Forestry Development Fund, and the 
total number of acres that were affected by the payments. 
    The Department, upon recommendations made to it by the 
Council, may provide for the categorization of forest 
management practices and determine an appropriate cost share 
percentage for each such category. Forest management practices 
submitted by timber growers on whose timber sales fees of 4% of 
the sale amount were paid as provided in Section 9a of the 
"Timber Buyers Licensing Act", approved September 1, 1969, may 
be accorded a priority for approval within the assigned 
category. Such timber growers may receive a cost share amount 
which is increased above the amount for which they would 
otherwise qualify by an amount equal to the fees paid by the 
timber grower on sales occurring in the 2 fiscal years 
immediately preceding the fiscal year in which the forest 
management practices are approved and funded; provided, 
however, that the total cost share amount shall not exceed the 
total cost of the approved forest management practices.
    Upon transfer of his or her right and interest in the land 
or a change in land use, the timber grower shall forfeit all 
rights to future payments and other benefits resulting from an 
approved plan and shall refund to the Department all payments 
received therefrom during the previous 10 years unless the 
transferee of any such land agrees with the Department to 
assume all obligations under the plan.
(Source: P.A. 96-217, eff. 8-10-09; 96-545, eff. 8-17-09.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.

Effective Date:  8/9/2024