Public Act 102-0427
 
HB2411 EnrolledLRB102 14689 RJF 20042 b


  
    AN ACT concerning State government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  



 
 
    Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Economic 
Opportunity Law of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois 
is amended  by changing Section 605-1025 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 605/605-1025)
    Sec. 605-1025. Data center investment.
    (a) The Department shall issue certificates of exemption 
from the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, the Use Tax Act, the 
Service Use Tax Act, and the Service Occupation Tax Act, all 
locally-imposed retailers' occupation taxes administered and 
collected by the Department, the Chicago non-titled Use Tax, 
and a credit certification against the taxes imposed under 
subsections (a) and (b) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income 
Tax Act  to qualifying Illinois data centers. 
    (b) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 
2019, the Department shall award credits against the taxes 
imposed under subsections (a) and (b) of Section 201 of the 
Illinois Income Tax Act as provided in Section 229 of the 
Illinois Income Tax Act. 
    (c) For purposes of this Section:
        "Data center" means a facility: (1) whose primary 
    services are the storage, management, and processing of 
    digital data; and (2) that is used to house (i) computer 
    and network systems, including associated components such 
    as servers, network equipment and appliances, 
    telecommunications, and data storage systems, (ii) systems 
    for monitoring and managing infrastructure performance, 
    (iii) Internet-related equipment and services, (iv) data 
    communications connections, (v) environmental controls, 
    (vi) fire protection systems, and (vii) security systems 
    and services. 
        "Qualifying Illinois data center" means a new or 
    existing data center that: 
            (1) is located in the State of Illinois; 
            (2) in the case of an existing data center, made a 
        capital investment of at least $250,000,000 
        collectively by the data center operator and the 
        tenants of the data center over the 60-month period 
        immediately prior to January 1, 2020 or committed to 
        make a capital investment of at least $250,000,000 
        over a 60-month period commencing before January 1, 
        2020 and ending after January 1, 2020; or 
            (3) in the case of a new data center, or an 
        existing data center making an upgrade, makes a 
        capital investment of at least $250,000,000 over a 
        60-month period beginning on or after January 1, 2020; 
        and 
            (4) in the case of both existing and new data 
        centers, results in the creation of at least 20 
        full-time or full-time equivalent new jobs over a 
        period of 60 months by the data center operator and the 
        tenants of the data center, collectively, associated 
        with the operation or maintenance of the data center; 
        those jobs must have a total compensation equal to or 
        greater than 120% of the average wage paid to 
        full-time employees in the county where the data 
        center is located, as determined by the U.S. Bureau of 
        Labor Statistics; and 
            (5) within 2 years 90 days after being placed in 
        service, certifies to the Department that it is carbon 
        neutral or has attained certification under one or 
        more of the following green building standards: 
                (A) BREEAM for New Construction or BREEAM 
            In-Use; 
                (B) ENERGY STAR; 
                (C) Envision; 
                (D) ISO 50001-energy management; 
                (E) LEED for Building Design and Construction 
            or LEED for Operations and Maintenance; 
                (F) Green Globes for New Construction or Green 
            Globes for Existing Buildings; 
                (G) UL 3223; or 
                (H) an equivalent program approved by the 
            Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. 
        "Full-time equivalent job" means a job in which the 
    new employee works for the owner, operator, contractor, or 
    tenant of a data center or for a corporation under 
    contract with the owner, operator or tenant of a data 
    center at a rate of at least 35 hours per week. An owner, 
    operator or tenant who employs labor or services at a 
    specific site or facility under contract with another may 
    declare one full-time, permanent job for every 1,820 man 
    hours worked per year under that contract. Vacations, paid 
    holidays, and sick time are included in this computation. 
    Overtime is not considered a part of regular hours. 
        "Qualified tangible personal property" means: 
    electrical systems and equipment; climate control and 
    chilling equipment and systems; mechanical systems and 
    equipment; monitoring and secure systems; emergency 
    generators; hardware; computers; servers; data storage 
    devices; network connectivity equipment; racks; cabinets; 
    telecommunications cabling infrastructure; raised floor 
    systems; peripheral components or systems; software; 
    mechanical, electrical, or plumbing systems; battery 
    systems; cooling systems and towers; temperature control 
    systems; other cabling; and other data center 
    infrastructure equipment and systems necessary to operate 
    qualified tangible personal property, including fixtures; 
    and component parts of any of the foregoing, including 
    installation, maintenance, repair, refurbishment, and 
    replacement of qualified tangible personal property to 
    generate, transform, transmit, distribute, or manage 
    electricity necessary to operate qualified tangible 
    personal property; and all other tangible personal 
    property that is essential to the operations of a computer 
    data center. "Qualified tangible personal property" also 
    includes building materials physically incorporated in to 
    the qualifying data center.
    To document the exemption allowed under this Section, the 
retailer must obtain from the purchaser a copy of the 
certificate of eligibility issued by the Department. 
    (d) New and existing data centers seeking a certificate of 
exemption for new or existing facilities shall apply to the 
Department in the manner specified by the Department. The 
Department shall determine the duration of the certificate of 
exemption awarded under this Act. The duration of the 
certificate of exemption may not exceed 20 calendar years. The 
Department and any data center seeking the exemption, 
including a data center operator on behalf of itself and its 
tenants, must enter into a memorandum of understanding that at 
a minimum provides: 
        (1) the details for determining the amount of capital 
    investment to be made; 
        (2) the number of new jobs created; 
        (3) the timeline for achieving the capital investment 
    and new job goals; 
        (4) the repayment obligation should those goals not be 
    achieved and any conditions under which repayment by the 
    qualifying data center or data center tenant claiming the 
    exemption will be required; 
        (5) the duration of the exemption; and 
        (6) other provisions as deemed necessary by the 
    Department. 
    (e) Beginning July 1, 2021, and each year thereafter, the 
Department shall annually report to the Governor and the 
General Assembly on the outcomes and effectiveness of Public 
Act 101-31 that shall include the following: 
        (1) the name of each recipient business; 
        (2) the location of the project; 
        (3) the estimated value of the credit; 
        (4) the number of new jobs and, if applicable, 
    retained jobs pledged as a result of the project; and 
        (5) whether or not the project is located in an 
    underserved area.
    (f) New and existing data centers seeking a certificate of 
exemption related to the rehabilitation or construction of 
data centers in the State shall require the contractor and all 
subcontractors to comply with the requirements of Section 
30-22 of the Illinois Procurement Code as they apply to 
responsible bidders and to present satisfactory evidence of 
that compliance to the Department. 
    (g) New and existing data centers seeking a certificate of 
exemption for the rehabilitation or construction of data 
centers in the State shall require the contractor to enter 
into a project labor agreement approved by the Department.
    (h) Any qualifying data center issued a certificate of 
exemption under this Section must annually report to the 
Department the total data center tax benefits that are 
received by the business. Reports are due no later than May 31 
of each year and shall cover the previous calendar year. The 
first report is for the 2019 calendar year and is due no later 
than May 31, 2020. 
    To the extent that a business issued a certificate of 
exemption under this Section has obtained an Enterprise Zone 
Building Materials Exemption Certificate or a High Impact 
Business Building Materials Exemption Certificate, no 
additional reporting for those building materials exemption 
benefits is required under this Section. 
    Failure to file a report under this subsection (h) may 
result in suspension or revocation of the certificate of 
exemption. Factors to be considered in determining whether a 
data center certificate of exemption shall be suspended or 
revoked include, but are not limited to, prior compliance with 
the reporting requirements, cooperation in discontinuing and 
correcting violations, the extent of the violation, and 
whether the violation was willful or inadvertent. 
    (i) The Department shall not issue any new certificates of 
exemption under the provisions of this Section after July 1, 
2029.  This sunset shall not affect any existing certificates 
of exemption in effect on July 1, 2029. 

    (j) The Department shall adopt rules to implement and 
administer this Section. 
(Source: P.A. 101-31, eff. 6-28-19; 101-604, eff. 12-13-19.)
 
    Section 10. The Brownfields Redevelopment and Intermodal 
Promotion Act is amended  by changing Section 3-20 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 607/3-20)

    Sec. 3-20. South Suburban Brownfields Redevelopment Fund; 
eligible projects. In State fiscal years 2015 through 2026 
2021, all moneys in the South Suburban Brownfields 
Redevelopment Fund shall be held solely to fund eligible 
projects undertaken pursuant to the provisions of Section 3-35 
of this Act and performed either directly by Cook County 
through a development agreement with the Department, by an 
entity designated by Cook County through a development 
agreement with the Department to perform specific tasks, or by 
an Eligible Developer or an Eligible Employer through a 
development agreement. All Eligible Projects are subject to 
review and approval by the Managing Partner and by the 
Department.   The life span of the Fund may be extended past 2026 
by law.

(Source: P.A. 101-275, eff. 8-9-19.)
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.