(20 ILCS 1108/10)

Sec. 10. Legislative findings. The General Assembly finds and determines that:

(1) human-induced greenhouse gas emissions have been identified as contributing to global warming, the effects of which pose a threat to public health and safety and the economy of the State of Illinois;

(2) in order to meet the energy needs of the State of Illinois, keep its economy strong and protect the environment while reducing its contribution to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, the State of Illinois must be a leader in developing new low-carbon technologies;

(3) carbon capture and storage is a low-carbon technology that involves capturing the captured CO2 from fossil fuel energy electric generating units and other industrial facilities and injecting it into secure geologic strata for permanent storage;

(4) the FutureGen Project is a public-private partnership between the federal Department of Energy, the FutureGen Alliance, and other partners that proposes to use this new technology as part of a plan to transport and store captured CO2 from a coal-fueled power plant that uses as its primary fuel source high-volatile bituminous rank coal with greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million btu content and other captured CO2 sources that are approved by the appropriate State of Illinois agency and permitted in the State of Illinois;

(5) the FutureGen Project will help ensure the long-term viability of Illinois Basin coal as a major energy source in the State of Illinois and throughout the nation and represents a significant step in the State of Illinois' efforts to become a self-sufficient, clean energy producer;

(6) the FutureGen Project provides an opportunity for the State of Illinois to partner with the Federal Department of Energy, the FutureGen Alliance, and other partners in the development of these innovative clean-coal technologies;

(7) the FutureGen Project will make the State of Illinois a center for developing and refining clean coal technology and carbon capture and storage, and will result in the development of new technologies designed to improve the efficiency of the energy industry that will be replicated world wide;

(8) the FutureGen Project is an important coal development and conversion project that will create jobs in the State of Illinois during the construction and operations phases, contribute to the overall economy of the State of Illinois and help reinvigorate the Illinois Basin coal industry; and

(9) the FutureGen Project and the property necessary for the FutureGen Project serve a substantial public purpose as its advanced clean-coal electricity generation, advanced emissions control and carbon capture and storage technologies will benefit the citizens of the State of Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 97-618, eff. 10-26-11.)