State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
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90_HB3129enr

      225 ILCS 720/2.11         from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7902.11
          Amends the Surface  Coal  Mining  Land  Conservation  and
      Reclamation  Act.    Provides that at any hearing to review a
      final decision of the Department on a permit  application,  a
      party  seeking  to  reverse the Department's decision has the
      burden of  proving  the  Department's  decision  was  clearly
      erroneous.  Effective immediately.
                                                     LRB9008865THpk
HB3129 Enrolled                                LRB9008865THpk
 1        AN  ACT relating to environmental matters, amending named
 2    Acts.
 3        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:
 5        Section  1.   Short  title.  This Act may be cited as the
 6    Kyoto Protocol Act of 1998.
 7        Section 5.  Definitions.  As used in this Act:
 8        (a)  "FCCC"  means  the  1992  United  Nations  Framework
 9    Convention on Global Climate Change.
10        (b)  "Kyoto Protocol" means the protocol  to  expand  the
11    scope  of  the  FCCC  that was negotiated in December 1997 in
12    Kyoto, Japan.
13        Section 10.  Findings and purposes. The General  Assembly
14    hereby finds that:
15        (1)  The  United States is a signatory to the 1992 United
16    Nations Framework Convention on Global Climate Change.
17        (2)  A protocol to expand  the  scope  of  the  FCCC  was
18    negotiated  in  December  1997 in Kyoto, Japan, requiring the
19    United States to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as
20    carbon dioxide and methane by 7% from  1990  emission  levels
21    during  the  period  2008  to  2012,  with  similar reduction
22    obligations for other major industrial nations.
23        (3)  Developing nations, including China, India,  Mexico,
24    Indonesia,   and  Brazil,  are  exempt  from  greenhouse  gas
25    emission limitation requirements in the FCCC.
26        (4)  Developing nations refused in the Kyoto negotiations
27    to accept any new commitments  for  greenhouse  gas  emission
28    limitations through the Kyoto Protocol or other agreements.
29        (5)  With  respect  to  new  commitments  under the FCCC,
30    President Clinton pledged on  October  22,  1997,  that  "The
HB3129 Enrolled            -2-                 LRB9008865THpk
 1    United  States will not assume binding obligations unless key
 2    developing nations meaningfully participate in this effort".
 3        (6)  On July 25, 1997, the United States  Senate  adopted
 4    Senate  Resolution  No.  98 by a vote of 95-0, expressing the
 5    sense of the Senate that,  inter  alia,  "the  United  States
 6    should  not  be  a  signatory  to  any  protocol  to or other
 7    agreement regarding,  the  Framework  Convention  on  Climate
 8    Change  ... which would require the advice and consent of the
 9    Senate  to  ratification,  and  which   would   mandate   new
10    commitments  to  mitigate  greenhouse  gas  emissions for the
11    Developed Country  Parties,  unless  the  protocol  or  other
12    agreement also mandates specific scheduled commitments within
13    the   same  compliance  period  to  mitigate  greenhouse  gas
14    emissions for Developing Country Parties".
15        (7)  The  Kyoto  Protocol  fails  to   meet   the   tests
16    established  for acceptance of new climate change commitments
17    by President Clinton and by U.S. Senate Resolution No. 98.
18        (8)  Achieving the emission reductions  proposed  by  the
19    Kyoto  Protocol  would  require  more than a 35% reduction in
20    projected United States carbon dioxide and  other  greenhouse
21    gas emissions during the period 2008 to 2012.
22        (9)  Developing    countries    exempt    from   emission
23    limitations under the Kyoto Protocol are expected to increase
24    their rates of fossil fuel use over the next 2 decades and to
25    surpass the United States and other industrialized  countries
26    in total emissions of greenhouse gases.
27        (10)  Increased   emissions   of   greenhouse   gases  by
28    developing countries would offset any potential environmental
29    benefits associated with emissions reductions achieved by the
30    United States and by other industrial nations.
31        (11)  Economic impact  studies  by  the  U.S.  Government
32    estimate  that legally binding requirements for the reduction
33    of U.S. greenhouse gases to 1990 emission levels would result
34    in the loss of more than 900,000 jobs in the  United  States,
HB3129 Enrolled            -3-                 LRB9008865THpk
 1    sharply  increased  energy prices, reduced family incomes and
 2    wages,  and  severe  losses  of  output  in  energy-intensive
 3    industries such as aluminum, steel,  rubber,  chemicals,  and
 4    utilities.
 5        (12)  The   failure   to   provide   for  commitments  by
 6    developing countries in the Kyoto Protocol creates an  unfair
 7    competitive   imbalance  between  industrial  and  developing
 8    nations, potentially leading to  the  transfer  of  jobs  and
 9    industrial  development  from the United States to developing
10    countries.
11        (13)  Federal implementation of the  Kyoto  Protocol,  if
12    ratified  by  the  United  States  Senate,  would  entail new
13    Congressional legislation whose form and requirements  cannot
14    be  predicted at this time, but could include national energy
15    taxes or emission control allocation and trading schemes that
16    would preempt  State-specific  programs  intended  to  reduce
17    emissions of greenhouse gases.
18        (14)  Piecemeal  or  other uncoordinated State regulatory
19    initiatives intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse  gases
20    may    be    inconsistent   with   subsequent   Congressional
21    determinations concerning the Kyoto Protocol and with related
22    federal legislation implementing the Kyoto Protocol.
23        (15)  Individual state responses to the  Kyoto  Protocol,
24    including  development of new regulatory programs intended to
25    reduce greenhouse  gas  emissions,  are  premature  prior  to
26    Senate ratification of the Protocol in its current or amended
27    form  and  Congressional  enactment  of  related implementing
28    legislation.
29        (16)  There  is  neither  federal  nor  State   statutory
30    authority  for  new  regulatory  programs  or  other  efforts
31    intended  to  reduce greenhouse gas emissions for purposes of
32    complying with or facilitating compliance with the provisions
33    of the Kyoto Protocol.
HB3129 Enrolled            -4-                 LRB9008865THpk
 1        Section 15.   Restrictions  on  State  rules  related  to
 2    greenhouse gas emissions.
 3        (a)  Effective  immediately, the Environmental Protection
 4    Agency and the Pollution Control Board shall not  propose  or
 5    adopt any new rule for the intended purpose of addressing the
 6    adverse  effects  of climate change which in whole or in part
 7    reduces emissions of greenhouse gases,  as  those  gases  are
 8    defined   by   the  Kyoto  Protocol,  from  the  residential,
 9    commercial, industrial, electric utility,  or  transportation
10    sectors.  In  the  absence  of an Act of the General Assembly
11    approving such  rules,  the  Director  of  the  Environmental
12    Protection  Agency shall not submit to the U.S. Environmental
13    Protection Agency or to  any  other  agency  of  the  federal
14    government any legally enforceable commitments related to the
15    reduction  of greenhouse gases, as those gases are defined by
16    the Kyoto Protocol.
17        (b)  Nothing in this Section shall be construed to  limit
18    or  to  impede State or private participation in any on-going
19    voluntary  initiatives  to  reduce  emissions  of  greenhouse
20    gases, including, but not limited to, the U.S.  Environmental
21    Protection Agency's Green Lights program, the U.S. Department
22    of  Energy's Climate Challenge program, and similar State and
23    federal  initiatives  relying  on  voluntary   participation,
24    provided,  however,  that such participation does not involve
25    any  allocation  or  other  distribution  of  greenhouse  gas
26    emission entitlements pursuant to or under color of the Kyoto
27    Protocol.
28        Section 20.  Effectiveness.  Section 15 of this Act shall
29    become inoperative upon ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by
30    the United States Senate or if Congress otherwise  authorizes
31    reductions  of emissions of the gases described in Section 15
32    for the purpose of addressing the adverse effects of  climate
33    change.
HB3129 Enrolled            -5-                 LRB9008865THpk
 1        Section  55.   The  Alternate  Fuels  Act  is  amended by
 2    changing Sections 10 and 25 as follows:
 3        (415 ILCS 120/10)
 4        Sec. 10.  Definitions.  As used in this Act:
 5        "Agency" means the Environmental Protection Agency.
 6        "Alternate fuel" means liquid petroleum gas, natural gas,
 7    E85 blend fuel, fuel  composed  of  a  minimum  80%  ethanol,
 8    bio-based   methanol,      fuels  derived  from  biomass,  or
 9    electricity.
10        "Alternate  fuel  vehicle"  means  any  vehicle  that  is
11    operated in Illinois and is capable  of  using  an  alternate
12    fuel.
13        "Conventional",  when  used to modify the word "vehicle",
14    "engine",  or  "fuel",  means  gasoline  or  diesel  or   any
15    reformulations of those fuels.
16        "Covered  Area" means the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane,
17    Lake, McHenry, and Will and the  townships  of  AuxSable  and
18    Goose  Lake  in  Grundy  County and the township of Oswego in
19    Kendall County.
20        "Director"  means  the  Director  of  the   Environmental
21    Protection Agency.
22        "Domestic  renewable  fuel" means a fuel, produced in the
23    United States, composed of a minimum 80%  ethanol,  bio-based
24    methanol, and fuels derived from bio-mass.
25        "E85 blend fuel" means fuel that contains 85% ethanol and
26    15% gasoline.
27        "GVWR" means Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.
28        "Location"  means  (i)  a parcel of real property or (ii)
29    multiple,  contiguous  parcels  of  real  property  that  are
30    separated  by private roadways, public roadways,  or  private
31    or  public  rights-of-way and are owned, operated, leased, or
32    under common control of one party.
33        "Original  equipment  manufacturer"  or  "OEM"  means   a
HB3129 Enrolled            -6-                 LRB9008865THpk
 1    manufacturer  of alternate fuel vehicles or a manufacturer or
 2    remanufacturer of alternate fuel  engines  used  in  vehicles
 3    greater than 8500 pounds GVWR.
 4        "Rental vehicle" means any motor vehicle that is owned or
 5    controlled primarily for the purpose of short-term leasing or
 6    rental pursuant to a contract.
 7    (Source: P.A. 89-410.)
 8        (415 ILCS 120/25)
 9        Sec.  25.  Ethanol  fuel  research  program.   The Agency
10    shall initiate a research program  to  reduce  the  costs  of
11    producing ethanol fuels and increase the viability of ethanol
12    fuels, new ethanol engine technologies, and ethanol refueling
13    infrastructure  systems.   This research shall be funded from
14    the Alternate Fuels Fund.  The research program shall  remain
15    in effect until December 31, 2002 1999, or until funds are no
16    longer available.
17    (Source: P.A. 89-410.)
18        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
19    becoming law.

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