Bill Amendment: IL HB3596 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: WETLANDS PROTECTION ACT

Status: 2026-05-15 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. La Shawn K. Ford [HB3596 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB3596-House_Amendment_002.html

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Rep. Anna Moeller

Filed: 4/14/2026

 

 

 

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3596
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3596, AS AMENDED,
by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Wetlands Protection Act.
Section 5. Findings and intent. The General Assembly
finds:
(1) In 1818, Illinois contained an estimated 8.2 million
acres of wetlands. Based on the Illinois portion of the
National Wetlands Inventory, less than 9% of those original
acres of wetlands remain.
(2) As a result of the significant loss in wetland
acreage, there has been a corresponding loss in the functional
values and benefits that wetlands provide.
(3) Illinois is bordered by 880 miles of rivers, which are

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critical to navigation, commerce, recreation, and ecosystem
health at home and downstream to the Gulf of Mexico, and the
health of Illinois rivers is heavily influenced by the health
of the tributaries and streams that flow into them.
(4) In Illinois, 9,894 total miles of streams provide
water for surface water intakes, supplying public drinking
water systems that rely at least in part on intermittent,
ephemeral, or headwater streams.
(5) Continued loss of Illinois' wetlands and streams may
deprive the People of the State of some or all of the benefits
that they provide, including:
(A) reducing flood damages and protecting vulnerable
communities by absorbing, storing, and conveying peak
flows from storms;
(B) improving water quality by serving as
sedimentation and filtering basins and as natural
biological treatment areas;
(C) providing breeding, nesting, foraging, and
protective habitat for approximately 40% of the State's
threatened and endangered plants and animals, in addition
to other forms of fish, wildlife, game, waterfowl, and
shorebirds;
(D) protecting underground water resources and helping
to recharge rivers, streams, and local or regional
underground water supplies;
(E) serving as recreational areas for hunting,

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fishing, boating, hiking, bird watching, photography, and
other uses;
(F) providing open space and aesthetic values,
particularly in rapidly developing areas;
(G) providing unique educational and research
opportunities because of their high diversity of plants
and animals, their support for a high incidence of
threatened and endangered species, and their function as a
natural buffer for rivers, lakes, and streams;
(H) supplying nutrients in freshwater food cycles and
serving as nursery areas and sanctuaries for young fish;
and
(I) helping to protect shorelines from the forces of
water erosion.
(6) Our changing climate and its more extreme and less
predictable weather patterns heighten the need for some or all
of the benefits that Illinois' wetlands provide, including
flood control, coastal resilience, water quality, aquifer
recharge, habitat, and maintenance of baseflow to recharge
rivers, streams, and local or regional underground water
supplies.
(7) Illinois historically relied on the federal Clean
Water Act's permit program administered by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
prevent harm to aquatic resources from unauthorized discharges
of dredge or fill material.

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(8) After rejection of the 1989 Wetlands Delineation
Manual and in light of uncertainty about federal protections
for some "isolated" wetlands, the General Assembly passed the
Interagency Wetland Policy Act of 1989 to protect these
wetlands from State agency actions and achieve no net loss of
wetlands.
(9) The Supreme Court's May 25, 2023 decision in Sackett
v. EPA rolled back the scope of waters of the United States,
thereby removing federal Clean Water Act protections for many
waters of the United States, including wetlands that provide
significant flood control protections, such as bottomland
hardwood forested wetlands that are separated from the
Illinois River by levees.
(10) It is important for Illinois to adopt protections
under State law to reinstate protections lost by rolling back
the scope of the federal Clean Water Act.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Adjacent" means bordering, contiguous, or neighboring.
"Adjacent wetlands" includes wetlands separated from
waters of the United States by man-made dikes or barriers,
natural river berms, beach dunes, and other man-made or
natural structures.
"Affected property" means any property upon which a
regulated activity is conducted.
"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection

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Agency.
"Approved county or district" means a county or special
district with a stormwater program that has been approved
under Section 55 to issue permits under this Act instead of the
Department of Natural Resources.
"Approved wetland specialist" means a person who has met
the educational, training, and field experience requirements
that have been adopted, by rule, under this Act or set forth in
an approved county or district code and that assure
knowledgeable wetland delineations using the Corps of
Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual in a manner that is
consistent with Section 25 of this Act.
"Avoidance" means any action that is taken in a manner
that will cause a regulated activity not to occur and that is
consistent with the federal Clean Water Act 404(b)(1)
Guidelines developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"Bog" means a peat-accumulating wetland that has no
significant inflows or outflows and that supports acidophilic
mosses, particularly sphagnum, resulting in highly acidic
conditions.
"Bottomland hardwood" means forested riverine floodplain
forest, including flatwoods in northeastern Illinois, that are
located in the 100-year flood plain of Illinois rivers and
streams and that are at least seasonally flooded.
"Class I wetland" means a top tier wetland as indicated by

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type (such as bog, bottomland hardwood forest, or panne),
designation (such as Ramsar wetland of international
importance), or function (such as threatened or endangered
species habitat or important flood protection) consistent with
Section 25 of this Act. Class I wetlands do not include waters
of the United States.
"Class II wetland" means a wetland, including its
contiguous area, that is larger than 0.5 acres and is not a
Class I wetland. Class II wetlands do not include waters of the
United States.
"Class III wetland" means a wetland, including its
contiguous area, that is between 0.1 acres and 0.5 acres and is
not a Class I wetland. Class III wetlands do not include waters
of the United States.
"Commercial battery energy storage system" means a type of
energy storage system that uses batteries to store and
distribute energy in the form of electricity for the primary
purpose of wholesale or retail sale and is not intended
primarily for use on the property on which the device or
devices reside.
"Commercial solar energy facility" means a "commercial
solar energy system" as defined in Section 10-720 of the
Illinois Property Tax Code.
"Contiguous area" means the portion of a wetland that
extends beyond the property boundary of the affected property.
"Corps of Engineers" means the U.S. Army Corps of

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Engineers.
"Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual" means the
1987 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wetlands Delineation
Manual, Research Program Technical Report Y-87-1, and any
applicable Regional Supplements thereto in effect May 24,
2023.
"Cypress swamp" means forested, permanent, or
semi-permanent bodies of water, with species assemblages
characteristic of the Gulf of Mexico and Southeastern Coastal
Plains and including bald cypress, which are typically found
in far southern Illinois.
"Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.
"Director" means the Director of Natural Resources.
"Discharge" means any addition of dredged or fill material
into, including redeposit of dredged material other than
incidental fallback within, State jurisdictional wetlands.
"Dredged material" means material that is excavated or
dredged from waters of the U.S. and waters of the State.
"Fen" means a wetland fed by an alkaline water source,
such as a calcareous spring or seep.
"Fill material" means material placed in a State
jurisdictional wetland where the material has the effect of
replacing any portion of a State jurisdictional wetland with
dry land or changing the bottom elevation of any portion of a
State jurisdictional wetland.
"General permit" means a permit issued by an approved

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county or district, or the Department, in a manner that is
authorized under Section 40 of this Act. "General permit"
includes a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nationwide permit.
"High-Quality Aquatic Resources" or "HQAR" means
high-quality aquatic resources consistent with the guidelines
of the Chicago District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or
approved county or district codes.
"Individual permit" means a permit issued by the
Department under Section 25 of this Act after case-specific
sequenced review (avoidance, minimization, mitigation) of the
proposed project and certification of compliance with State
water quality standards.
"In lieu fee mitigation" means a payment to an approved in
lieu fee program made by a permittee to satisfy a mitigation
requirement in accordance with this Act and implementing
rules.
"Maintenance" means work to repair and keep in good
working order existing structures in wetlands, including
emergency reconstruction of recently damaged parts of
currently serviceable structures, including dikes, dams,
levees, groins, riprap, breakwaters, causeways, and bridge
abutments or approaches, and transportation structures.
"Maintenance" does not include any modification that changes
the character, scope, or size of the original fill design but
such a modification may be eligible to use Nationwide Permit
3, Maintenance.

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"Metropolitan Water Reclamation District" or "district"
means a special district organized under the Metropolitan
Water Reclamation District Act.
"Minimization" means reducing, as much as practicable, the
adverse environmental impact of an unavoidable regulated
activity in a manner that is consistent with this Act and the
federal Clean Water Act 404(b)(1) Guidelines developed by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers.
"Mitigation" means the restoration, establishment,
enhancement, or protection and maintenance of wetlands and
other aquatic resources for the purpose of compensating for
unavoidable adverse impacts that remain after all appropriate
and practicable avoidance and minimization have been achieved.
Mitigation must be consistent with the requirements of this
Act. Mitigation may include wetlands creation if authorized by
the Department in situations in which other mitigation is
impractical and the likelihood of success is high. Wetland
creation is restricted to areas that are currently
non-wetlands.
"Mitigation bank" means a site, or suite of sites, where
aquatic resources, such as wetlands, streams, wetland buffers,
and riparian areas, are restored, established, enhanced, or
preserved for the purpose of providing compensatory mitigation
for impacts authorized by permits under this Act.
"Nationwide permit" means a nationwide permit issued by

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the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as of the effective date of
this Act.
"Navigable water" means traditionally navigable waters
that were historically navigable, are presently navigable, or
are susceptible to future navigable use. Navigable water also
includes interstate waters (including interstate wetlands),
impoundments of traditionally navigable waters and interstate
waters (including interstate wetlands), and tributaries.
"Ordinary high water mark" means that line on the shore
established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by
physical characteristics, such as a clear, natural line
impressed on the bank, shelving, changes in the character of
soil, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, the presence of
litter and debris, or other appropriate means that consider
the characteristics of the surrounding areas.
"Panne" means wet interdunal flats located near Lake
Michigan. "Panne" includes dune and swale wetlands.
"Permit" means a written authorization issued by the
Department of Natural Resources under this Act and
implementing rules. "Permit" includes general permits and
individual permits.
"Person" means an individual, partnership, co-partnership,
firm, company, limited liability company, corporation,
association, joint-stock company, trust, estate, political
subdivision, state or federal agency or other legal entity, or
its legal representative, employee, agent or assigns.

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"Preconstruction notification" means notice that a
permittee must provide the Department before undertaking an
activity authorized by a general permit.
"Prior converted cropland" means a wetland that was
converted to agricultural use before December 23, 1985, that
had an agricultural commodity produced on it at least once
before December 23, 1985, that remains available for
agricultural commodity production, and that, as of December
23, 1985, did not support woody vegetation and met the
following hydrologic criteria for a farmed wetland: (i)
inundation was less than 15 consecutive days during the
growing season or 10% of the growing season, whichever is
less, in most years (50% chance or more); and (ii) if a
pothole, ponding was less than 7 consecutive days during the
growing season in most years (50% chance or more) and
saturation was less than 14 consecutive days during the
growing season most years (50% chance or more). However, if
the prior converted cropland is changed out of agricultural
use (including conservation) and the area reverts to a
wetland, the area may become subject to this Act under Section
15.
"Regulated activity" means the discharge of dredged or
fill material into a State jurisdictional wetland subject to
this Act.
"Renewable energy facility" means (i) a commercial solar
energy facility or commercial battery energy storage system;

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or (ii) supporting facilities. "Supporting facilities" means,
for purposes of this definition, transmission lines,
substations, access roads, meteorological towers, storage
containers, and equipment associated with the generation and
storage of electricity by a commercial solar energy facility.
"Supporting facilities" includes utility-owned
interconnections and upgrades necessary to connect a renewable
energy facility to the grid.
"Significant nexus" means connectivity or nexus to
maintaining the chemical, physical, or biological integrity of
navigable waters.
"State jurisdictional wetland" means a wetland that is
protected by the requirements of this Act and is identified
consistent with Department rules adopted under Section 40 of
this Act. State jurisdictional wetlands are adjacent to or
otherwise have a significant nexus to maintaining the
chemical, physical, or biological integrity of navigable
waters. "State jurisdictional wetland" does not include waters
of the United States, including waters delineated as waters of
the United States under the federal Clean Water Act.
"Threatened or endangered species" means those species
that have been designated as threatened or endangered under
the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Act and those
species that have been listed as threatened or endangered
under the federal Endangered Species Act.
"Upland" means non-wetland, dry land.

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"Voluntary aquatic habitat restoration project" means
activities that are voluntarily undertaken (not as required
mitigation) to restore, reestablish, rehabilitate, or enhance
altered, degraded, or former aquatic habitats that result in a
net increase in aquatic habitat functions and services
consistent with historic, pre-disturbance functions and
services of the aquatic habitat.
"Wetlands" means those areas that are inundated or
saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and
duration sufficient to support, and that under normal
circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically
adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. "Wetlands"
includes areas that are delineated in accordance with the
Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual.
Section 15. Exemptions.
(a) Consistent with Section 404(f) of the federal Clean
Water Act, as long as they do not have as their purpose
bringing a wetland into a use to which it was not previously
subject where the flow or circulation of navigable waters may
be impaired or the reach of such waters be reduced and do not
entail discharge of toxic pollutants consistent with Section
307 of the Clean Water Act, the following activities are not
prohibited by or otherwise subject to regulation under this
Act:
(1) Normal farming, silviculture, and ranching

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activities, including plowing, seeding, cultivating, minor
drainage, and harvesting for the production of food,
fiber, and forest products, or upland soil and water
conservation practices.
(2) Maintenance, including emergency reconstruction of
recently damaged parts, of currently serviceable
structures, such as dikes, dams, levees, groins, riprap,
breakwaters, causeways, bridge abutments or approaches,
and transportation structures. Maintenance does not
include any modification that changes the character,
scope, or size of the original fill design. Emergency
reconstruction must occur within a reasonable period of
time after damage occurs in order to qualify for this
exemption.
(3) Construction or maintenance of farm or stock ponds
or irrigation ditches, or the maintenance (but not
construction) of drainage ditches. Discharge associated
with siphons, pumps, headgates, wingwalls, weirs,
diversion structures, and such other facilities as are
appurtenant and functionally related to irrigation and
ditches are included in this definition.
(4) Construction of temporary sedimentation basins on
a construction site which does not include any regulated
activities within a wetland. As used in this paragraph,
the term "construction site" means any site involving the
erection of buildings, roads, and other discrete

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structures and the installation of support facilities
necessary for construction and utilization of such
structures. "Construction site" also includes any other
land areas which involve land-disturbing excavation
activities, including quarrying or other mining
activities, where an increase in the runoff of sediment is
controlled through the use of temporary sedimentation
basins.
(5) Construction or maintenance of farm roads or
forest roads or temporary roads for moving mining
equipment, where such roads are constructed and
maintained, in accordance with best management practices,
to assure that flow and circulation patterns and chemical
and biological characteristics of the wetland are not
impaired, that the reach of the wetland is not reduced,
and that any adverse effect on the aquatic environment
will be otherwise minimized.
(6) Activities for the placement of pilings for linear
projects, including bridges, elevated walkways, and power
line structures in accordance with best management
practices, to assure that the flow and circulation
patterns and chemical and biological characteristics of
the wetland are not impaired, that the reach of the
wetland is not reduced, and that any adverse effect on the
aquatic environment will be otherwise minimized.
(b) Any exemption that is authorized by and pertaining to

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wetlands that are subject to regulation under the federal
Clean Water Act, or regulations promulgated thereunder, at the
time of enactment of this Act, shall also be an exemption for
the purpose of this Act.
(c) The following are exempt from regulation as State
jurisdictional wetlands under this Act:
(1) Waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds
or lagoons designed to meet the requirements of the
federal Clean Water Act and comply with State water
quality standards.
(2) Prior converted cropland unless there has been a
change in use out of agricultural or conservation use and
the area reverts to a wetland.
(3) Ditches (including roadside ditches) excavated
wholly in and draining only dry land and that do not carry
a relatively permanent flow of water.
(4) An artificially irrigated area that would revert
to upland if the irrigation ceased. This shall also
include the pumping of water for purposes of waterfowl
hunting or creating waterfowl habitat.
(5) An artificial lake or pond created by excavating
or diking upland to collect and retain water and which is
used exclusively for such purposes as stock watering,
irrigation, settling basins, or rice growing.
(6) Artificial reflecting or swimming pools or other
small ornamental bodies of water created by excavating or

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diking dry land to retain water for primarily aesthetic
reasons.
(7) A water-filled depression created in dry land
incidental to construction activity and pits excavated in
dry land for the purpose of obtaining fill, sand, or
gravel unless and until the construction or excavation
operation is abandoned and the resulting water body meets
the definition of "waters of the State" consistent with
the Environmental Protection Act, including Section 3.550
of the Environmental Protection Act.
(8) Swales and erosional features, including gullies,
rills, and small washes, characterized by low volume,
infrequent, or short duration flow.
(9) Wetlands created by the construction of stormwater
facilities in upland areas, provided that the facility was
not created for the purpose of wetland mitigation.
(d) Any activity with respect to which a county or special
district has an approved program under Section 55 of this Act.
Section 20. Applicability.
(a) The requirements of this Act apply to all State
jurisdictional wetlands as that term is defined in this Act.
If a wetland ceases to meet that definition because it becomes
subject to regulation under the federal Clean Water Act, it
shall no longer be subject to the provisions of this Act. The
Department may enter into an agreement with the Corps of

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Engineers to coordinate the permit program under this Act with
the Corps of Engineers permit program under Section 404 of the
federal Clean Water Act.
(b) The following are presumed to be adjacent or have a
significant nexus to maintaining the chemical, physical, or
biological integrity of a navigable water and as such are
State jurisdictional wetlands for purposes of this Act:
(1) wetlands that are wholly or partially located
within 100 feet of the ordinary high water mark of a
navigable water, interstate water, or tributary;
(2) wetlands that are wholly or partially located in
the 100-year floodplain and are within 1,500 feet of the
ordinary high water mark of a navigable water, interstate
water, or tributary;
(3) wetlands that are wholly or partially within 1,500
feet of the ordinary high water mark of Lake Michigan; or
(4) wetlands that have a visible surface water or a
regular shallow subsurface water connection to a navigable
water.
(c) Waters of the United States that satisfy one or more of
the conditions set forth in subsection (b) of this Section are
not State jurisdictional wetlands for the purposes of this
Act.
(d) An affected property owner or developer may introduce
information that is relevant to demonstrate that a particular
wetland is not a State jurisdictional wetland, thereby

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rebutting the presumption in subsection (b). The Department
shall consider information presented to rebut the presumption
and determine whether the presumption has been rebutted. If
the Department determines that the presumption is rebutted and
the wetland is not a jurisdictional wetland for the purpose of
this Act, the wetland shall not be subject to this Act.
Section 25. Regulated activities; individual permits;
wetland classification; mitigation; delineation.
(a) No person may discharge dredged or fill material into
a State jurisdictional wetland protected by this Act except in
accordance with the terms of an individual or general permit
issued by the Department under this Section or Section 30 of
this Act. This subsection (a) becomes effective on the date
the Department adopts rules under Section 40 of this Act.
(b) No permit shall be required under this Act, and the
requirements of the Act shall not apply to, renewable energy
facility construction, maintenance, repair, improvement, or
reconstruction that commenced construction before the
effective date of rules adopted under Section 40 of this Act.
For purposes of this subsection, "commenced construction"
means:
(1) to have begun a continuous program of on-site
physical construction, such as the placement, assembly, or
installation of facilities or equipment or the conducting
of site preparation work, including clearing, excavation,

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or removal of existing structures;
(2) to have submitted a binding application or bid to
the Illinois Power Agency to execute a Renewable Energy
Credit Contract under Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power
Agency Act or to have contracted for energy storage
resources, including a contract for the sale and purchase
of Renewable Energy Credits from a brownfield photovoltaic
facility as defined in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power
Agency Act;
(3) to have entered into a binding contractual
agreement for the purchase and sale of electricity; or
(4) to have obtained municipal or county siting
approval, a special use permit, or building approval.
(c) Wetlands shall be classified as follows:
(1) The Department shall classify a wetland as Class I
if the wetland:
(A) is or encompasses a bog, bottomland hardwood
forest, fen, panne, or cypress swamp;
(B) has been designated a Ramsar wetland of
international importance under the Convention on
Wetlands;
(C) is designated for important flood protection
services under paragraph (3);
(D) is occupied or suitable habitat for a
threatened or endangered species listed under State or
federal law;

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(E) has a Floristic Quality Index that is equal to
or greater than 20 or a mean coefficient of
conservatism (Mean C) equal to or greater than 3.5,
determined in accordance with rules adopted by the
Department; or
(F) is a High-Quality Aquatic Resource.
(2) The Department shall classify a non-Class I
wetland as a Class II wetland if the wetland, including
its contiguous area, is larger than 0.5 acres. However, if
a non-Class I wetland is smaller than 0.5 acres it shall be
designated a Class III wetland. If a Class III wetland is
0.1 acres or smaller, there is no permit required.
(3) The Department may, in consultation with the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of
Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
or local authorities, designate a wetland as a Class I
wetland due to important flood protection services
protecting human life and property if the wetland is no
longer protected under the federal Clean Water Act.
(d) Mitigation shall be required in accordance with this
Act for permitted activities and shall be conducted according
to the following preferred order:
(1) Discharges impacting Class I wetlands shall be
mitigated through either on-site mitigation or off-site
mitigation at an approved wetland mitigation bank within
the same watershed as the location of the proposed fill.

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Mitigation shall be in kind, restoring to the maximum
degree practicable, as determined by the Department, both
the type and functions of the wetland that will be
affected by the regulated activity. The mitigation ratio
shall be 5:1 unless the Director, for good cause shown and
on a case-by-case basis, authorizes a higher mitigation
ratio not to exceed 6:1 or a lower mitigation ratio not
less than 4:1. In lieu fee mitigation may be used for
mitigation when there are no available mitigation credits
within the watershed.
(2) Discharges impacting Class II wetlands shall be
mitigated through either on-site mitigation or off-site
mitigation at an approved wetland mitigation bank within
the same watershed as the location of the proposed fill.
Mitigation shall be in kind, restoring to the maximum
degree practicable as determined by the Department, both
the type and functions of the wetland that will be
affected by the regulated activity. The mitigation ratio
shall be 3:1 unless the Director, for good cause shown and
on a case-by-case basis, authorizes a higher mitigation
ratio not to exceed 3.5:1 or a lower mitigation ratio not
less than 2.5:1. In lieu fee mitigation may be used for
mitigation when there are no available mitigation credits
within the watershed.
(3) Discharges impacting Class III wetlands shall be
mitigated through either participation in an approved

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wetland mitigation bank or an approved in-lieu fee
program, unless the Department for good cause requires in
kind on-site mitigation or off-site mitigation at an
approved mitigation bank. The mitigation ratio shall be
1.5:1 for compensation through an approved wetland
mitigation bank and 2:1 for compensation through an
approved in-lieu fee program. The Director, for good cause
shown and on a case-by-case basis, may authorize a higher
or lower mitigation ratio.
(e) Persons seeking a permit are responsible for wetland
delineation and classification made by or under the
supervision of an approved wetland specialist. Wetland
delineations shall be made in accordance with the Corps of
Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual. Classifications shall
be in accordance with this Section or an approved program
under Section 55. Delineations by the Corps of Engineers, by
approved counties, or by Corps of Engineers approved agencies
shall be honored. Delineation is not required under a general
permit if the person seeking a permit has reason to believe
that the project will be conducted in a State jurisdictional
wetland and the activity otherwise fully complies with the
requirements of the general permit and this Act.
(f) Persons seeking an individual permit shall provide the
Department with a complete application, including, at a
minimum, the following items: (i) a map of the area that will
be affected by the activity, including wetland and water

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boundaries for the areas affected and the existing uses and
structures; (ii) a wetland delineation made in accordance with
the Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual by or under
the supervision of an approved wetland specialist and this
Section; (iii) a description of the proposed activity,
including its purpose, the location and dimensions of any
structures, grading or fills, drainage, roads, sewers and
water supply, parking lots, stormwater facilities, discharge
of pollutants and on-site waste disposal; (iv) a description
of any public benefit to be derived from the proposed project;
(v) a description of avoidance, minimization, and mitigation,
including a mitigation plan; and (vi) the names and addresses
of adjacent landowners as determined by the current tax
assessment rolls. The Department shall notify the applicant
within 20 business days if the permit application is
incomplete and provide a reasonable time for the applicant to
correct deficiencies in the permit application. Within 90
business days of receipt of a complete permit application, the
Department shall either issue the permit, deny the permit, or
issue the permit with conditions. All individual permit
decisions are subject to public comment. If a public hearing
is held, the deadline to make a permit determination is
extended by 45 business days.
(g) The Department shall evaluate individual permit
requests through the following sequence: (i) avoidance of
impacts to aquatic resources if a less environmentally

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damaging practicable alternative exists; (ii) minimization of
unavoidable impacts by taking appropriate and practicable
steps such as reduction of the footprint of the fill; (iii)
compensatory mitigation for any remaining impacts to aquatic
resources in accordance with this Act. The Department shall
not issue an individual permit pursuant to this Section unless
the Agency has certified to the Department that the proposed
activity will not cause or contribute to a violation of a State
water quality standard. The Agency shall, within 80 business
days of receipt of a complete application, approve, deny, or
approve with conditions the water quality certification. The
applicant for a permit may mutually agree to extend the 80-day
deadline up to an additional 80 business days in which the
Agency must take final action on the water quality
certification under this paragraph. If the Agency does not
approve, deny, or approve with conditions the water quality
certification within the extended time period, the
certification requirements shall be waived and the Department
may issue its permit decision consistent with the sections of
this Act.
(h) Upon request by an applicant, the Department may issue
an after-the-fact permit if the Department determines that the
activities covered by the after-the-fact permit were
undertaken and conducted in response to emergency
circumstances that constituted an imminent threat to persons,
public infrastructure, personal property, or uninterrupted

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utility service. The request for an after-the-fact permit must
be made as soon as reasonably possible after the event. The
Department shall require compensatory mitigation. If the
Department for good cause shown denies an after-the-fact
permit, the applicant shall be in violation of this Act.
However, the applicant and Department may, through mutual
agreement, provide for compensatory mitigation, restoration,
or other measures to resolve the violation. In such an
instance, the applicant may appeal the denial of an
after-the-fact permit consistent with the appeals procedures
in this Act.
(i) The permit applicant and the Department may waive or
extend the permit deadlines in this Section through mutual
agreement. If the Department is unable to comply with the
permit deadlines and they are not waived or extended through
mutual agreement, the permit application will be denied
without prejudice.
Section 30. General permits.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 25, any person who intends to
conduct a regulated activity within the State may do so in
accordance with a general permit issued by the Department
under this Section. A general permit pre-authorizes a category
of activities that are similar in nature and impact on water
quality, will have only minimal adverse effects when performed
separately, will have minimal cumulative impacts on water

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quality provided the permittee complies with all of the
conditions of the general permit, and will not cause or
contribute to a violation of State water quality standards.
(b) Permits for all categories of activities, subject to
the same permit limitations and conditions, that are the
subject of a nationwide permit issued by the Corps of
Engineers, in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act,
are adopted as general permits covering regulated activities
subject to this Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all such
permits will include a preconstruction notification
requirement and compensatory mitigation, unless the permit
states compensatory mitigation is not required because the
work is designed to improve water quality or, with respect to
voluntary aquatic habitat restoration, to provide net increase
in wetland function. In any case, a preconstruction
notification and compensatory mitigation are not required for
impacts less than 0.1 acres.
(c) The Department may, through rulemaking in accordance
with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, adopt general
permits covering activities not covered by general permits
under subsection (b) of this Section if the Department
determines that the activities in the category would be
subject to the same permit limitations and conditions and will
cause only minimal adverse environmental effects when
performed separately, will have only minimal cumulative
adverse effect on the environment, will not cause or

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contribute to a violation of State water quality standards
when performed separately, and will have only a minimal
cumulative adverse effect on water quality. The Department
shall prescribe best management practices for any general
permit issued under this Section. The Department shall include
compensatory mitigation requirements in general permits for
impacts that exceed 0.1 acres.
(d) The Department shall adopt a general permit for:
(1) construction or maintenance of access roads for
utility lines, substations, or related equipment or
facilities with adequate culverts, bridges, or other
structures to provide freshwater connectivity and passage
for fish or other aquatic life;
(2) activities for the purpose of preserving and
enhancing aviation safety or to prevent an airport hazard;
and
(3) conservation activities, such as voluntary aquatic
habitat restoration and fish passage.
The Department shall develop the general permit under
paragraph (3) in consultation with local, state, and federal
resource agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
and qualified non-profit organizations engaged in aquatic
habitat restoration as a central part of their mission.
(e) No general permit adopted under subsection (b), (c),
or (d) of this Section shall be for a period of more than 5
years after the date of its adoption, and the Department shall

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revoke or modify such a general permit, after opportunity for
public hearing, if the Department determines that the
activities authorized by the general permit have an adverse
impact on the environment, cause or contribute to a violation
of State water quality standards, or are more appropriately
authorized by individual permits.
(f) Compliance with the terms of a general permit shall be
deemed compliance with the provisions of this Act if the
applicant:
(1) files a preconstruction notification in accordance
with regulations adopted under this Act, including the
specific requirements of the general permit;
(2) files all reports required by the general permit;
(3) complies with all limitations required by the
general permit; and
(4) complies with applicable compensatory mitigation
requirements.
(g) The Department may respond to a preconstruction
notification issued under this Section within 30 days after
the Department receives the notice. In any response, the
Department may require the applicant to:
(1) provide more information to determine whether the
applicant's proposed regulated activity is covered by the
general permit;
(2) file a preconstruction notification for a
different general permit if the Department determines the

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applicant's proposed activity is not covered by the
general permit for which the notification was filed; or
(3) apply for an individual permit if the Department
determines that the proposed activity does not fall within
the scope of any valid general permit.
(h) If a person files a preconstruction discharge
notification and receives no response under subsection (g) of
this Section for a general permit that is valid at the time of
the notification but that general permit is later modified,
revoked, or expires, that person may proceed as if that
general permit were still valid for the purposes of the
project for which the preconstruction discharge notification
was filed.
(i) The Department may require bonds or letters of credit
in favor of the State, including conditions sufficient to
secure compliance with conditions and limitations of a permit
under this Act.
Section 35. In lieu fee program; permittee responsible for
on-site mitigation and mitigation banking.
(a) The following entities may establish and operate a
mitigation bank or in lieu fee program consistent with this
Act and rules implementing this Act:
(1) State agencies;
(2) qualified for-profit and non-profit entities; and
(3) units of local government, including, but not

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limited to, counties, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation
District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), soil and water
conservation districts, and county forest districts.
(b) Mitigation banks may be established on public or
private lands and must be located on sites that possess the
physical, chemical, and biological characteristics to support
establishment of the desired aquatic resources and functions,
such as wetland hydrology.
A mitigation bank may be approved to provide mitigation
for impacts to wetlands that have been approved by the Corps of
Engineers under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act,
for impacts to wetlands under the Illinois Interagency
Wetlands Policy Act of 1989, or for both. A mitigation bank
must be approved by the Department in accordance with this Act
and implementing rules, by an approved county, or by the Corps
of Engineers in accordance with the process established in 33
CFR 332.8 and 40 CFR 230.98.
(c) The requirements for mitigation banks shall include a
mitigation bank instrument, long-term management and
protection, monitoring requirements, remedial action
procedures, reporting requirements, and financial assurances,
such as performance bonds.
(d) In lieu fee programs must include (i) an agreement
between an operating entity listed in subsection (a) and the
Department that is similar to a mitigation bank instrument,
(ii) a timetable, such as a requirement to use funds to design

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and implement restoration projects within 3 years, (iii)
accounting requirements, including, but not limited to,
watershed-based accounting, (iv) monitoring requirements, (v)
reporting requirements, and (vi) financial assurances. Any
agency in lieu fee program must have provisions that protect
the integrity of the fund and prevent this funding from being
reassigned to other uses.
(e) The permittee is responsible for on-site mitigation as
approved by the Department on a case-by-case basis in
accordance with this Act and implementing rules if (i) on-site
mitigation has a strong likelihood of success, (ii) the
permittee has a Department approved monitoring plan, and (iii)
sufficient financial assurances, such as bonds or letters of
credit in favor of the State, have been provided as required by
the Department to assure long-term success.
Section 40. Rulemaking and reporting.
(a) The Department shall adopt rules pursuant to the
Illinois Administrative Procedure Act:
(1) to implement Sections 25 and 30 of this Act within
one year after the effective date of this Act, including:
(A) rules for the review, issuance, denial, or
issuance with conditions of individual permits; and
(B) rules to promulgate, revise, or revoke general
permits;
(2) to administer and prioritize use of funding from

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the Wetlands Protection Fund under Section 60 of this Act;
(3) to approve mitigation banks and in lieu fee
programs under Section 35 of this Act, including:
(A) criteria that an applicant to operate a
mitigation or in lieu fee program under Section 35 of
this Act shall meet and that are at least as stringent
as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requirements set
out in 33 CFR Part 332;
(B) requirements for in lieu fee agreements
consistent with subsection (d) of Section 35 of this
Act;
(C) priority for mitigation banks and in lieu fee
programs that restore previously existing wetlands and
small streams; and
(D) surety provisions for permittee-responsible
on-site mitigation, mitigation banks, and in lieu fee
programs;
(4) to establish, within one year after the effective
date of this Act, the procedures under which a
governmental body with a stormwater management program
under Section 5-1062 of the Counties Code or under Section
7h of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act
shall be recognized to have met the conditions of
subsection (b) of Section 55 of this Act;
(5) to govern State jurisdictional wetlands
determinations; State jurisdictional wetlands are adjacent

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to or otherwise have a significant nexus to maintaining
the chemical, physical, or biological integrity of
navigable waters;
(6) to establish procedures and standards for
rebutting a significant nexus presumption under Section 20
of this Act;
(7) to provide for approval of wetland delineators
consistent with Section 25 of this Act, including
recognition of existing county, special district, or U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers wetland delineator training
programs, approval programs, or both; and
(8) to otherwise implement and administer this Act.
(b) The Department may provide by rule for any
requirements regarding bonds or letters of credit in favor of
the State, including conditions sufficient to secure
compliance with conditions and limitations of a permit.
(c) The Department may consult with the Illinois Water
Plan Task Force.
(d) The Department shall seek to create a joint permit
process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
(e) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall do all
of the following:
(1) provide a report to the Governor and the Illinois
General Assembly regarding implementation of this Act and
recommendations, including legislative proposals, to
enhance the effectiveness of this Act;

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(2) provide recommendations to harmonize these
wetlands protections with the Illinois Interagency
Wetlands Policy Act of 1989; and
(3) study the impact of federal rollback of protection
for waters beyond wetlands, such as ephemeral streams, in
Illinois and provide recommendations, including possible
legislative proposals, to protect the citizens of Illinois
and waters of the State.
Section 45. Appeal of final Department decisions; judicial
review.
(a) Any permit applicant who has been denied a permit in
whole or in part, and any person who participated in the permit
proceeding and who is aggrieved by a decision of the
Department to grant a permit in whole or in part, may appeal
the decision to the Director within 60 calendar days of the
date the permit is granted or denied. In all such appeals, the
burden of persuasion shall be on the party appealing the
Department's decision. Appeals shall be in accordance with
administrative rules set out by the Department, including
allowed basis for appeals.
(b) A person who is aggrieved by a final decision made
under this Act and who has participated in an appeal to the
Director under subsection (a) of this Section, including
parties that have participated in the permit process if a
permit was granted, may seek judicial review of the Director's

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decision under the Administrative Review Law.
Section 50. Investigation; enforcement.
(a) In accordance with constitutional limitations, the
Department shall have authority to enter at all reasonable
times upon any private or public lands for the purpose of
inspecting and investigating to ascertain compliance and
possible violations of this Act, implementing rules, or permit
terms or conditions.
(b) The State's Attorney of the county in which the
violation occurred or the Attorney General may, at the request
of the Agency or on his or her own motion, institute a civil
action for a prohibitory or mandatory injunction on or against
a person who violates any provision of this Act, any rule
adopted under this Act, any permit issued under this Act, or
any term or condition of a permit issued under this Act. The
State's Attorney of the county in which the violation occurred
or the Attorney General shall bring an action for an
injunction in the name of the people of the State of Illinois.
(c) Any person who violates any provision of this Act, any
rule adopted under this Act, any permit issued under this Act,
or any term or condition of a permit issued under this Act
shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per
day of violation. Any such penalty shall be made payable to the
Wetlands Protection Fund and shall be deposited into that Fund
as provided in Section 60. In assessing a penalty, courts

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shall consider any matters of record including:
(1) the duration and gravity of the violation;
(2) the presence or absence of due diligence on the
part of the violator in attempting to comply with the Act;
(3) any economic benefits accrued by the violator
through the violation;
(4) the likely deterrence effect of the penalty;
(5) any history on the part of the violator of past
violations of this Act; and
(6) a recommendation by the Department to limit or
waive penalties.
(d) All final orders imposing civil penalties under this
Section shall prescribe the time for payment of the penalties.
If any penalty is not paid within the time prescribed,
interest on the penalty, which accrues at the rate set forth in
subsection (a) of Section 1003 of the Illinois Income Tax Act,
shall be paid for the period from the date payment is due until
the date payment is received. However, if the time for payment
is stayed during the pendency of an appeal, interest shall not
accrue during such stay.
(e) The Department may terminate a permit if the permittee
violated the terms or conditions of the permit, obtained the
permit by misrepresentation, or failed to disclose relevant
facts.
(f) The Attorney General or State's Attorney of the county
where the affected wetland is located, may, upon his or her own

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motion or upon request of the Department, institute a civil
action in circuit court for an injunction or other appropriate
legal action to restrain a violation of this Act. In the
proceeding, the court shall determine whether a violation of
this Act has been committed, and shall enter any order it
considers necessary to remove the effects of the violation and
to prevent the violation from occurring, continuing or being
renewed in the future. An order may include a requirement that
the violator restore the affected wetland area, including a
provision that, if the violator does not comply by restoring
the wetland within a reasonable time, the Department may
restore the wetland to its condition prior to the violation
and the violator shall be liable to the Department for the cost
of the restoration. However, the Department retains the right
to act to remedy emergency situations, such as threats to
public safety, and the violator shall be liable to the
Department for the cost of the restoration.
(g) Any person, other than the Attorney General or the
State's Attorney, may file a complaint with the Illinois
Pollution Control Board against any person allegedly violating
this Act, any rule adopted under this Act, any permit issued
under this Act, or any term or condition of a permit issued
under this Act, or any relevant Board order. The Board shall
have authority to conduct proceedings upon complaints charging
such violations of this Act unless the Board determines that
such complaint is duplicative or frivolous. The Board may

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impose civil penalties for a violation of this Act as
described in subsection (c).
(h) Any penalty assessed under this Act, including costs
of wetland restoration and any restoration requirement, shall
be recorded by the clerk of the court as a lien against the
property and shall not be removed until the penalty is paid or
the restoration is completed.
(i) All costs, fees, and expenses in connection with an
enforcement or restoration action shall be assessed as damages
against the violator.
(j) Enforcement actions under this Section may be
concurrent or separate.
Section 55. County and special district authority.
(a) Nothing in this Act preempts or denies the right of any
governmental body with a stormwater management program under
Section 5-1062 of the Counties Code or a special district with
a stormwater program under Section 7h of the Metropolitan
Water Reclamation District Act from controlling or regulating
activities in any wetlands within the jurisdiction of the
governmental body.
(b) Upon the request of a governmental body with a
stormwater management program under Section 5-1062 of the
Counties Code or under Section 7h of the Metropolitan Water
Reclamation District Act, the Director shall, within 30
calendar days of receiving the written request or, in the case

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of subsection (d), within 30 calendar days after the effective
date of this Act, provide a letter of recognition delegating
permitting authority under this Act to the county or special
district stormwater program. Subject to subsection (c), the
letter of recognition shall be provided if the governmental
body's stormwater management program:
(1) provides wetlands protections that are consistent
with the scope and intent of this Act and that are at least
as stringent as those in this Act;
(2) has an administration and qualified staff to
implement the governmental body's stormwater management
program; and
(3) is implementing and enforcing its stormwater
management program.
(c) Activities within or affecting wetlands that occur in
the jurisdiction of a governmental body with a stormwater
management program under Section 5-1062 of the Counties Code
or under Section 7h of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation
District Act and that meet the requirements of paragraphs (1),
(2), and (3) of subsection (b) of this Section are deemed to be
in compliance with the requirements of this Act, but must meet
those county or special district stormwater management
requirements, at a minimum. This also applies during the
period that the Department is considering a county's request
under subsection (b), but the requirements of this Act do
apply until the county has requested recognition under

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subsection (b).
(d) Lake, Cook, Kane, McHenry, and DuPage Counties and the
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago are
deemed to have requested recognition as of the effective date
of this Act, and their programs are deemed to meet the
requirements of paragraph (b) of this Section.
(e) The Director may rescind recognition status, or place
conditions on recognition status, for any county or special
district program as set out in administrative rule, if the
defect with regard to subsection (b) is not resolved. However,
notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a county
or special district delegation will not be revoked or modified
if the local program remains at least as stringent as it was on
the effective date of this Act.
(f) A governmental body with a stormwater management
program under Section 5-1062 of the Counties Code or under
Section 7h of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act
that has obtained recognition by the Director under this
Section shall submit an annual report to the Director.
(g) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a limitation
or preemption of any home rule power.
(h) The Department may provide technical assistance and
grant funding under Section 60 to governmental bodies with
approved programs under this Section.
Section 60. Wetlands Protection Fund.

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(a) The Wetlands Protection Fund shall be established as a
special fund in the State treasury, to be managed by the
Department, separate and distinct from the General Revenue
Fund. Any interest earned by the Wetlands Protection Fund
shall be credited to the Fund. The purpose of the Wetlands
Protection Fund is to further wetlands and small streams
protection and management. Its purpose is to supplement, not
supplant, existing Department resources. The Wetlands
Protection Fund may not be used to pay for compensatory
mitigation obligations under this Act.
(b) Pursuant to Section 50, all penalties collected by the
Department under this Act shall be deposited into the Wetlands
Protection Fund.
(c) The Illinois General Assembly may appropriate
additional moneys to the Wetlands Protection Fund to implement
this Act.
(d) The Department shall use the moneys in the Wetlands
Protection Fund to further wetlands and small streams
protection and management. Eligible uses of moneys in the Fund
include:
(1) providing technical assistance and grant funding
to counties or special districts with approved programs
under Section 55 to restore, preserve, enhance, protect,
or maintain wetlands, streams, and upland buffers,
particularly Class I areas or wetlands, waters, and
buffers that provide floodwater storage and flood risk

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reduction;
(2) supplementing other State, local, or private
funding for non-compensatory wetlands and small streams
restoration, enhancement, preservation and maintenance;
(3) providing matching funds for wetland and stream
inventories, mapping, watershed planning and wetland
program development grants; and
(4) covering staffing, administrative, and enforcement
costs for the Department to implement this Act.
Section 65. Review fee. All inquiries to determine whether
or not the proposed activity requires permit authorization by
the Department under this Act will be reviewed by the
Department free of charge. A permit review fee that is to be
set by the Department by rule is required for all permit
applications under this Act. The Department shall establish a
graduated review fee payment schedule depending on the
intensity of required review and the size of the individual
project. Accordingly, the highest review fees will be charged
for individual permits to authorize major projects. The
Department may, by rule, impose a reasonable fee for wetlands
delineation and classification.
Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.1038 as follows:

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(30 ILCS 105/5.1038 new)
Sec. 5.1038. The Wetlands Protection Fund.
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.".