Bill Amendment: IL HB4725 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: STATE GOVERNMENT-TECH

Status: 2016-04-08 - House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4725 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB4725-House_Amendment_001.html

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Rep. Thomas M. Bennett

Filed: 4/4/2016

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4725
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4725 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Land
Conservation and Stewardship Act.
Section 5. Legislative findings and statement of public
policy.
(a) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) Lands and waters held in the public trust by
non-governmental conservation land trusts contribute to
the general public good, health, prosperity, and welfare of
the State and its citizenry. It is therefore appropriate
for State government to promote and assist conservation
land trusts to secure, steward, and defend for the people
of the present and future generations the benefits of land
conservation, including flood protection, improved water

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and air quality, erosion control, wildlife habitat, carbon
sequestration, wildlife migration corridors, and outdoor
recreation.
(2) Lands acquired for these purposes require
perpetual stewardship and defense actions to fully protect
them. Stewardship and defense needs often exceed the
capacity of conservation land trusts to provide the proper
level of these actions to meet the ever increasing
pressures exerted on conservation lands, including climate
change, pollution, encroachment by invasive and exotic
species, and criminal trespass.
(3) The State's natural resource agencies and
conservation land trusts are natural partners in the
implementation of the Illinois State Wildlife Action Plan
and the management and defense of lands identified on the
Illinois Natural Areas Inventory. This Act is intended to
foster local support and execution of statewide
conservation goals and priorities by streamlining the
process of acquisition, stewardship, and defense of
conservation lands. This Act is intended to enable the
Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Nature Preserves
Commission, and conservation land trusts to work
collaboratively on a scale and breadth that cannot be
otherwise achieved.
(b) It is the purpose of this Act to:
(1) provide cost share grants to conservation land

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trusts to acquire, steward, and defend undeveloped lands
that help implement the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan by
creating an interconnected system of natural areas such as
those listed on the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory or
other science-based State or county inventories, and
including other lands that connect them; and
(2) preserve and enhance natural, buffer lands, or
other conservation values of real property, assuring its
availability for maintaining or enhancing natural flood
protection capacity, water and air quality, erosion
control, wildlife habitat, travel and migration corridors,
carbon sequestration, or preserving the natural aspects of
real property, and to provide outdoor recreation
opportunities for citizens of this State now and in the
future.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Applicant" means a conservation land trust that files an
application for a grant under this Act.
"Commission" means the Illinois Nature Preserves
Commission as defined under the Illinois Natural Areas
Preservation Act.
"Director" means the Director of Natural Resources.
"Conservation easement" means a conservation right, as
defined in the Real Property Conservation Rights Act, or
dedication as a nature preserve or nature preserve buffer under

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the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act.
"Conservation land trust" means an entity exempt from
taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
whose purposes include the conservation of land, natural areas,
open space, or water areas, for the preservation of native
plants or animals, biotic communities, geologic formations, or
archeological sites.
"Conservation value" means the physical features or
geographic characteristics present that demonstrate the land
will help implement the Wildlife Action plan or help conserve
sites listed on the INAI or other science based State or county
inventories and the other lands that connect them.
"Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.
"Fines and settlements" means natural resource fines,
either State or federal, and out of court settlements for
environmental damages.
"Grant application" means a grant application for the
acquisition, stewardship, and defense of lands acquired under
this Act by conservation land trusts.
"Nature preserve" has the meaning as it is defined in the
Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act.
"Illinois Land Conservation and Stewardship Grant Program"
means a program established under Section 20 of this Act.
"INAI" means Illinois Natural Areas Inventory.
"Incidental take authorizations" means funds received for
authorized taking of endangered or threatened species under the

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Illinois Endangered Species Protection Act.
"IRS" means federal Internal Revenue Service.
"IWAP" means Illinois Wildlife Action Plan.
"Land" means real property and ownership rights applying to
it and includes water and the land thereunder, structures, and
improvements.
"LOI" means letter of inquiry.
"Management plan" means a written, management schedule,
developed for the preservation, protection, development,
management, and use of lands purchased under this Act and
approved by the landowner and the Department.
"NAAF" means Natural Areas Acquisition Fund.
"NHEF" means Natural Heritage Endowment Trust Fund.
"NRDA" means Natural Resource Damages Assessment.
"OLT" means Open Lands Trust Program under the Illinois
Open Land Trust Act.
"Project proposal" means a proposal for the acquisition,
stewardship, and defense of lands acquired under this Act by
conservation land trusts.
"Protection grant" means a grant from the Department to a
conservation land trust for the purpose of acquiring land by
fee simple acquisition or acquiring the development or
protection rights via permanent conservation easement to
steward and protect these lands in perpetuity for the purposes
of this Act.
"Stewardship grant" means a grant from the Department to a

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conservation land trust for the purpose of managing
conservation land held by the trust to steward and protect the
lands as prescribed in the approved management plan and in
perpetuity for the purposes of this Act.
Section 15. Powers, duties, and authorizations. The
Department may:
(1) Make grants in accordance with Section 20 of this
Act from NAAF, under OLT, and other appropriated funds to
conservation land trusts to acquire and steward real
property, including land such as those listed on the INAI
or other science-based State or county inventories, and
including other lands that connect them to provide fish and
wildlife corridors and outdoor recreation.
(2) Establish the total amount of funds available for
annual grants with review and approval by the Commission at
one of their regularly established meetings. The total
amount available for annual grants shall not exceed 20% of
the NAAF fund balance on June 30 of the previous fiscal
year and shall not result in adverse impacts on the
operations of Department or the Commission.
(3) Accept State and federal appropriations, transfers
of unused balances from other State funds, grants, NRDA
damage assessments, natural resource fines and
settlements, compensation related to incidental take
authorizations, transfers or appropriations from the

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federal government or the State, or any agency, or
donations from any corporation, foundation,
non-governmental agency, individual, or instrumentality
thereof, for the purposes of executing this Act and these
funds are to be deposited into the NAAF.
(4) Transfer the balance in the Natural Heritage
Endowment Trust Fund into the NAAF to be used for
stewardship grants and close out the NHEF.
(5) Develop and administer the Illinois Land
Conservation and Stewardship Grant program.
(6) Adopt rules to effectuate the purposes of this Act.
(7) Execute contracts, grant agreements, memoranda of
understanding, cooperation agreements, and any other
agreements with conservation land trusts and other State
and local agencies that are necessary to implement this
Act.
(8) Monitor compliance with all agreements, grants,
contracts, and other instruments developed under this Act
and to assure coordination with the IWAP and the INAI.
(9) Develop progress reports on the implementation and
development of this Act which shall be filed annually with
the Governor and the General Assembly. These reports shall
include a statement of goals and objectives and
quantifiable support documentation as expenditures,
allocation of funds by location, and performance and
measurement criteria sufficient to enable the General

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Assembly to properly evaluate and review program
effectiveness.
Section 20. Illinois Land Conservation and Stewardship
Grant Program.
(a) The Illinois Land Conservation and Stewardship Grant
Program is established to make grants to conservation land
trusts for the purpose of acquiring real property, including
conservation easements from willing sellers, and to steward and
protect these lands in perpetuity for the purposes of this Act.
(b) The lands shall be held in fee simple title or placed
under permanent conservation easements provided that these
mechanisms are all voluntary on the part of the landowners and
shall not involve the use of eminent domain.
(c) Any conservation land trust in good standing with the
IRS may apply for a grant.
(d) Any agency, organization, or entity that has taxing
powers, collects taxes, or has eminent domain powers is not
eligible for a grant under this Act.
(e) The Department shall adopt rules in consultation with
the Commission for the selection of grant recipients, amount of
grant awards, and eligibility requirements to implement the
purposes of this Act. However, the rules must include the
following requirements:
(1) Any protection grant under this Act shall be
conditioned upon the State providing assistance not

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exceeding a 50/50 matching basis for the acquisition of
land.
A LOI from a qualifying applicant for a protection
grant shall be accepted by the Department at any time
during the calendar year. The LOI must contain a project
description, description of the conservation value of the
land, legal description, GPS coordinates, estimated cost,
budget, and map and be sent electronically. Within 30 days,
the Department shall review the LOI and respond
electronically to the land trust indicating if the proposed
project fits the grant guidelines. If the project proposal
qualifies and funding is available the Department may
request a full proposal in the form of a protection grant
application from the applicant.
Protection grant applications must be submitted
electronically within 90 days and contain a narrative
description of the project, the legal description of the
lands to be acquired or placed under permanent easement, a
map, current appraisal showing the fair market value of
those lands or the permanent easement to be acquired, a
5-year management schedule, the total project cost, and any
other information as the Department may reasonably
require.
Within 30 days after completing its consideration of a
protection grant application, the Department shall notify
the applicants of the disposition made of its application.

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The Department shall, in addition, direct the payment of
grant funds to the applicants whose projects have been
approved within the limits of the amounts appropriated for
grants and the level available established in the process
described in paragraph (2) of Section 15 of this Act for
that fiscal year.
Individual protection grants shall not exceed
$1,000,000 to any one grantee per fiscal year.
(2) Any stewardship grant under this Act shall require
a 20% match but cannot exceed $25,000 to any applicant in
any fiscal year. Stewardship grant applications from
qualifying conservation land trusts shall be accepted by
the Department at any time during the calendar year.
Applications must contain a project description, including
a description of the conservation value of the land,
ownership, budget, map, and timeline for completion and be
sent electronically. The Department shall review the
application and respond electronically to the land trust
indicating whether the proposed project fits the grant
guidelines. If the project proposal qualifies and funding
is available, the Department may approve the application or
request more information from the conservation land trust.
Lands included in a stewardship grant that are not already
encumbered by a permanent conservation easement approved
in writing by the Director or under rules adopted under
this Act, shall be so encumbered by a permanent

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conservation easement, the conditions of which have been
approved in writing by the Director or under rules adopted
under this Act.
(3) Land acquired with grant funds must be accessible
to the public for conservation and outdoor recreation
purposes as provided in the grant application and agreed to
in the management plan approved by the Department and the
Commission, unless the Department and the owner agree that
public accessibility would be detrimental to the real
property or any associated natural resources.
(4) No land acquired with grant funds may be sold,
leased, exchanged, or transferred to the federal
government, the State, a unit of local government or
another qualifying conservation land trust without the
written approval by the Director and only if the new owner
intends to continue the same conservation purposes
specified in the grant agreement. If the land is sold to a
government agency, then the agency shall be given a cash
credit for the purchase equal to the value of the grant
funds received, less any documented expenses for acquiring
and holding the land until it is transferred to the
governmental agency and less the value of any conservation
easement held by the Department or Commission. This credit
shall be no less than $0.
(5) All grantees must agree to encumber the property
acquired using the grant funds from this Act with a

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permanent conservation easement, the conditions of which
have been approved in writing by the Director or prescribed
in rules adopted under this Act.
(6) Grantees must agree to develop a management plan
and manage lands in accordance with the terms of the grant.
Any changes to the management plan must have written
approval by the Department and the Commission if the land
is encumbered by a conservation easement held by the
Commission.
(7) Acquisitions with approved protection grant funds
must be completed within 120 days or funds must be returned
to the Comptroller unless an extension of time is granted
by the Director.
Section 25. Priorities. In considering applications for
grants under this Act, the Department shall give priority to
projects which will provide the greatest benefit to
implementing the needs and priorities identified in the IWAP
and sites on the INAI. The total amount of grants made for any
fiscal year may not exceed the amount of the appropriation for
that fiscal year or 20% of the funds in the NAAF on June 30 of
the previous fiscal year.
Section 30. Injunctions. The Attorney General or the
State's Attorney of the county where a project is located, may,
upon his or her own motion or upon request of the Department,

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Commission, or the public, institute a civil action for an
injunction or other appropriate legal action to restrain
violations of this Act or its rules. In this proceeding, the
court shall determine whether a violation has been committed
and shall enter orders as it considers necessary to remove the
effects of any violation and to prevent the violation from
continuing or from being renewed in the future.
Section 35. Violations. Any person, agency, or
organization that willfully violates this Act or its rules, or
causes a violation by their employee or agent, shall be liable
for a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each violation,
and the penalty shall be recovered in an action brought by the
Attorney General or the State's Attorney in the circuit court.
All penalties shall be deposited in the NAAF.
Section 40. Administrative Review Law. All final
administrative decisions under this Act are subject to judicial
review under the Administrative Review Law and its rules.
"Administrative decision" means the term as defined in Section
3-101 of the Administrative Review Law.
Section 45. Exceptions. Conservation land trusts are
exempt from any Department charges, costs, and expenses,
including, without limitation, any application fees,
commitment fees, or program fees, in connection with its

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activities under this Act.
Section 50. Fund depository. All funds, assessments,
fines, settlements, compensations, transfers, appropriations,
penalties, and donations made under this Act shall be deposited
into the NAAF and subject to the limitations described in
paragraph (2) of Section 15 of this Act.
Section 55. Due diligence. With appropriations from NAAF,
the Department shall make grants to conservation land trusts as
financial assistance for the acquisition, stewardship, and
defense of natural areas, including acquisition of
conservation easements and other property interests less than
fee simple ownership if the Department and the Commission
determine that the property interests are sufficient to carry
out the purposes of this Act, subject to the purposes,
conditions, and limitations set forth in this Act.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.".