Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson

Filed: 3/9/2011

 

 


 

 


 
09700SB2193sam001LRB097 08242 JDS 51981 a

1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2193

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2193 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5"Environmental Justice Act".
 
6    Section 5. Legislative findings and purpose.
7    (a) The General Assembly finds:
8        (i) that the principle of environmental justice
9    requires that no segment of the population regardless of
10    race, national origin, age, or income should bear
11    disproportionately high or adverse effects of
12    environmental pollution;
13        (ii) that certain communities in the State may suffer
14    disproportionately from environmental hazards related to
15    facilities with permits approved by the State; and
16        (iii) that these environmental hazards can cause

 

 

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1    long-term health effects.
2    (b) It is, therefore, the purpose of this Act to ensure
3public participation regarding the siting of sources of
4environmental pollution to minimize those risks in affected
5communities.
 
6    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
7context clearly indicates otherwise:
8    "Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection
9Agency.
10    "Board" means the Illinois Pollution Control Board.
11    "Community environmental benefit agreement" means a
12written agreement entered into by a municipality and an owner
13or developer of real property through which the owner or
14developer agrees to develop real property that is to be used
15for a new or expanded regulated facility and to provide
16financial resources for the purpose of the mitigation, in whole
17or in part, of impacts reasonably related to that facility,
18including, but not limited to, impacts on the environment,
19traffic, parking, and noise.
20    "Environmental justice community" means a United States
21census block group, as determined in accordance with the most
22recent United States census data, in which 30% or more of the
23population consists of low-income persons who are not
24institutionalized and have an income below 200% of the federal
25poverty level.

 

 

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1    "Meaningful public participation" means (i) giving
2residents of an environmental justice community an appropriate
3opportunity to participate in decisions about a proposed
4regulated facility or the expansion of an existing regulated
5facility that may adversely affect the residents' environment
6or health; (ii) allowing the public's participation to
7influence the decisions of the Agency and Board; and (iii)
8facilitating the participation of potentially affected persons
9during the regulatory process.
10    "Regulated facility" means any pollution control facility,
11as defined under Section 3.330 of the Environmental Protection
12Act; any fossil fuel fired electric generating plant of more
13than 10 megawatts; any waste incinerator; and any major source
14of air pollution, as defined by the federal Clean Air Act.
15"Regulated facility" does not include the portion of an
16electric generating facility that uses non-emitting and
17non-polluting renewable resources, such as wind, solar, and
18hydropower, or fuel cells.
 
19    Section 15. Commission on Environmental Justice.
20    (a) The Commission on Environmental Justice is established
21and consists of the following 13 voting members.
22        (1) one member of the Senate appointed by the President
23    of the Senate;
24        (2) one member of the House of Representatives
25    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

 

 

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1        (3) the Director of the Agency or his or her designee;
2    and
3        (4) 10 members appointed by the Governor who represent
4    the following interests:
5            (i) affected communities concerned with
6        environmental justice;
7            (ii) business organizations;
8            (iii) environmental organizations;
9            (iv) experts on environmental health and
10        environmental justice;
11            (v) units of local government; and
12            (vi) members of the general public who have an
13        interest or expertise in environmental justice.
14    (b) Of the initial members of the Commission, 7 shall serve
15for a 2-year term, 6 shall serve for a 1-year term, as
16designated by the Governor at the time of appointment.
17Thereafter, the members shall serve 2-year terms. Vacancies
18shall be filled in the same manner as appointments. Members of
19the Commission appointed by the Governor may not receive
20compensation for their service on the Commission and are not
21entitled to reimbursement for expenses.
22    (c) The Governor shall designate a Chairperson from among
23the Commission's members. The Commission shall meet at the call
24of the Chairperson, but no later than 90 days after the
25effective date of this Act and at least quarterly thereafter.
26    (d) The Commission shall:

 

 

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1        (1) advise State entities on environmental justice and
2    related community issues;
3        (2) review and analyze the impact of current State laws
4    and policies on the issue of environmental justice and
5    sustainable communities;
6        (3) assess the adequacy of State and local laws to
7    address the issue of environmental justice and sustainable
8    communities;
9        (4) develop criteria to assess whether communities in
10    the State may be experiencing environmental justice
11    issues; and
12        (5) recommend options to the Governor for addressing
13    issues, concerns, or problems related to environmental
14    justice that surface after reviewing State laws and
15    policies, including prioritizing areas of the State that
16    need immediate attention.
17    (e) On or before October 1, 2011 and each October 1
18thereafter, the Commission shall report its findings and
19recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly.
20    (f) The Agency shall provide administrative and other
21support to the Commission.
 
22    Section 20. Public participation in decisions affecting
23environmental justice communities.
24    (a) Before seeking either approval, renewal, or
25modification of a permit from the Agency for a regulated

 

 

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1facility that is located or proposed to be located in an
2environmental justice community or local siting approval from a
3unit of local government for a regulated facility that is
4located or proposed to be located in an environmental justice
5community, the person seeking that action must file a
6meaningful public participation plan with the Agency or local
7siting authority, as applicable, and obtain that governmental
8entity's approval of the plan.
9    (b) Each meaningful public participation plan must contain
10measures to facilitate meaningful public participation in the
11regulatory process and a certification that the person seeking
12the governmental action will undertake the measures contained
13in the plan. The plan must identify a time and place where an
14informal public meeting will be held that is convenient for the
15residents of the affected environmental justice community. In
16addition, the plan must identify the methods by which the
17person seeking the governmental action will publicize the date,
18time, and nature of the informal public meeting in addition to
19the publication required by subsection (c) of this Section.
20Such methods may include, but are not limited to, (i) posting a
21reasonably visible sign on the proposed or existing facility
22property, printed in English, in accordance with any local
23regulations and ordinances, (ii) posting a reasonably visible
24sign, printed in all languages spoken by at least 20% of the
25population that resides within a half-mile radius of the
26proposed or existing facility, in accordance with local

 

 

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1regulations and ordinances, (iii) notifying neighborhood and
2environmental groups, in writing, in a language appropriate for
3the target audience, and (iv) notifying local and State elected
4officials, in writing.
5    (c) Not less than 10 days before the informal public
6meeting and not more than 30 days before that meeting, the
7person seeking the governmental action must publish the date,
8time, and nature of the informal public meeting (i) in person
9or by mail to the members of the General Assembly from the
10legislative district in which the regulated facility is located
11or proposed to be located, (ii) by registered or certified mail
12to the owners of all real property located within 250 feet of
13the regulated facility or the proposed regulated facility, and
14(iii) to the general public by publication in a newspaper of
15general circulation in the county in which the regulated
16facility is located or the proposed regulated facility is to be
17located. The person seeking the governmental action shall post
18a similar notification of the informal public meeting on its
19website, if it maintains one.
20    (d) At the informal public meeting, the person seeking the
21governmental action must make a reasonable and good faith
22effort to provide clear, accurate, and complete information
23about the activity to be undertaken at the regulated facility
24or proposed regulated facility that requires governmental
25approval and any potential environmental and health impacts of
26that activity.

 

 

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1    (e) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
2neither the Agency nor the local siting authority may take the
3requested governmental action earlier than 60 days after the
4informal public meeting.
5    (f) In the event that the local siting authority has
6approved a meaningful public participation plan concerning a
7proposed or existing regulated facility and an informal public
8meeting has been held in accordance with this Section, the
9Agency may approve that plan and waive the requirement that an
10additional informal public meeting be held in accordance with
11this Section.
12    (g) To the extent that the provisions of this Act conflict
13with any other Act, the provisions of this Act control.
 
14    Section 25. Community environmental benefit agreements. A
15municipality, owner, or developer may enter into a community
16environmental benefit agreement in connection with a regulated
17facility. Mitigation may include both on-site and off-site
18improvements, activities and programs, including, but not
19limited to: funding for activities such as environmental
20education, diesel pollution reduction, construction of biking
21and walking trails, staffing for parks, urban forestry, support
22for community gardens or any other negotiated benefit to the
23environment in the environmental justice community. Before
24negotiating the terms of a community environmental benefit
25agreement, the municipality shall provide a reasonable and

 

 

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1public opportunity for residents of the potentially affected
2environmental justice community to be heard concerning the need
3for, and terms of, the agreement.
 
4    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
5becoming law.".