Public Act 0065 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1814 Enrolled LRB094 09233 JAM 39467 b

Public Act 094-0065

AN ACT concerning finance.

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 605-332 as follows:

(20 ILCS 605/605-332)

Sec. 605-332. Financial assistance to energy generation facilities.

(a) As used in this Section:

"New electric generating facility" means a newly-constructed electric generation plant or a newly constructed generation capacity expansion at an existing facility, including the transmission lines and associated equipment that transfers electricity from points of supply to points of delivery, and for which foundation construction commenced not sooner than July 1, 2001, which is designed to provide baseload electric generation operating on a continuous basis throughout the year and:

(1) has an aggregate rated generating capacity of at least 400 megawatts for all new units at one site, uses coal or gases derived from coal as its primary fuel source, and supports the creation of at least 150 new Illinois coal mining jobs; or

(2) is (i) funded through a federal Department of Energy grant before July 1, 2006 and supports the creation of Illinois coal-mining jobs; or 2005, and (ii)

(3) uses coal gasification or integrated gasification-combined cycle units that generate electricity or chemicals, or both, and that supports the creation of Illinois coal-mining jobs.

"New gasification facility" means a newly constructed coal gasification facility that generates chemical feedstocks or transportation fuels derived from coal (which may include, but are not limited to, methane, methanol, and nitrogen fertilizer), that supports the creation or retention of Illinois coal-mining jobs, and that qualifies for financial assistance from the Department before December 31, 2006. A new gasification facility does not include a pilot project located within Jefferson County or within a county adjacent to Jefferson County for synthetic natural gas from coal.

"New facility" means a new electric generating facility or a new gasification facility. A new facility does not include a pilot project located within Jefferson County or within a county adjacent to Jefferson County for synthetic natural gas from coal.

"Eligible business" means an entity that proposes to construct a new electric generating facility and that has applied to the Department to receive financial assistance pursuant to this Section. With respect to use and occupation taxes, wherever there is a reference to taxes, that reference means only those taxes paid on Illinois-mined coal used in a new electric generating facility.

"Department" means the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

(b) The Department is authorized to provide financial assistance to eligible businesses for new electric generating facilities from funds appropriated by the General Assembly as further provided in this Section.

An eligible business seeking qualification for financial assistance for a new electric generating facility, for purposes of this Section only, shall apply to the Department in the manner specified by the Department. Any projections provided by an eligible business as part of the application shall be independently verified in a manner as set forth by the Department. An application shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) the projected or actual completion date of the new electric generating facility for which financial assistance is sought;

(2) copies of documentation deemed acceptable by the Department establishing either (i) the total State occupation and use taxes paid on Illinois-mined coal used at the new electric generating facility for a minimum of 4 preceding calendar quarters or (ii) the projected amount of State occupation and use taxes paid on Illinois-mined coal used at the new electric generating facility in 4 calendar year quarters after completion of the new electric generating facility. Bond proceeds subject to this Section shall not be allocated to an eligible business until the eligible business has demonstrated the revenue stream sufficient to service the debt on the bonds; and

(3) the actual or projected amount of capital investment by the eligible business in the new electric generating facility.

The Department shall determine the maximum amount of financial assistance for eligible businesses in accordance with this paragraph. The Department shall not provide financial assistance from general obligation bond funds to any eligible business unless it receives a written certification from the Director of the Bureau of the Budget (now Governor's Office of Management and Budget) that 80% of the State occupation and use tax receipts for a minimum of the preceding 4 calendar quarters for all eligible businesses or as included in projections on approved applications by eligible businesses equal or exceed 110% of the maximum annual debt service required with respect to general obligation bonds issued for that purpose. The Department may provide financial assistance not to exceed the amount of State general obligation debt calculated as above, the amount of actual or projected capital investment in the energy generation facility, or $100,000,000, whichever is less. Financial assistance received pursuant to this Section may be used for capital facilities consisting of buildings, structures, durable equipment, and land at the new electric generating facility. Subject to the provisions of the agreement covering the financial assistance, a portion of the financial assistance may be required to be repaid to the State if certain conditions for the governmental purpose of the assistance were not met.

An eligible business shall file a monthly report with the Illinois Department of Revenue stating the amount of Illinois-mined coal purchased during the previous month for use in the new electric generating facility, the purchase price of that coal, the amount of State occupation and use taxes paid on that purchase to the seller of the Illinois-mined coal, and such other information as that Department may reasonably require. In sales of Illinois-mined coal between related parties, the purchase price of the coal must have been determined in an arms-length transaction. The report shall be filed with the Illinois Department of Revenue on or before the 20th day of each month on a form provided by that Department. However, no report need be filed by an eligible business in a month when it made no reportable purchases of coal in the previous month. The Illinois Department of Revenue shall provide a summary of such reports to the Governor's Office of Management and Budget.

Upon granting financial assistance to an eligible business, the Department shall certify the name of the eligible business to the Illinois Department of Revenue. Beginning with the receipt of the first report of State occupation and use taxes paid by an eligible business and continuing for a 25-year period, the Illinois Department of Revenue shall each month pay into the Energy Infrastructure Fund 80% of the net revenue realized from the 6.25% general rate on the selling price of Illinois-mined coal that was sold to an eligible business.

(Source: P.A. 92-12, eff. 7-1-01; 93-167, eff. 7-10-03; 93-1064, eff. 1-13-05.)

Section 10. The Illinois Enterprise Zone Act is amended by changing Section 5.5 as follows:

(20 ILCS 655/5.5) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 609.1)

Sec. 5.5. High Impact Business.

(a) In order to respond to unique opportunities to assist in the encouragement, development, growth and expansion of the private sector through large scale investment and development projects, the Department is authorized to receive and approve applications for the designation of "High Impact Businesses" in Illinois subject to the following conditions:

(1) such applications may be submitted at any time during the year;

(2) such business is not located, at the time of designation, in an enterprise zone designated pursuant to this Act;

(3) the business intends to do one or more of the following:

(A) the business intends to make a minimum investment of $12,000,000 which will be placed in service in qualified property and intends to create 500 full-time equivalent jobs at a designated location in Illinois or intends to make a minimum investment of $30,000,000 which will be placed in service in qualified property and intends to retain 1,500 full-time jobs at a designated location in Illinois. The business must certify in writing that the investments would not be placed in service in qualified property and the job creation or job retention would not occur without the tax credits and exemptions set forth in subsection (b) of this Section. The terms "placed in service" and "qualified property" have the same meanings as described in subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act; or

(B) the business intends to establish a new electric generating facility at a designated location in Illinois. "New electric generating facility", for purposes of this Section, means a newly-constructed electric generation plant or a newly-constructed generation capacity expansion at an existing electric generation plant, including the transmission lines and associated equipment that transfers electricity from points of supply to points of delivery, and for which such new foundation construction commenced not sooner than July 1, 2001. Such facility shall be designed to provide baseload electric generation and shall operate on a continuous basis throughout the year; and (i) shall have an aggregate rated generating capacity of at least 1,000 megawatts for all new units at one site if it uses natural gas as its primary fuel and foundation construction of the facility is commenced on or before December 31, 2004, or shall have an aggregate rated generating capacity of at least 400 megawatts for all new units at one site if it uses coal or gases derived from coal as its primary fuel and shall support the creation of at least 150 new Illinois coal mining jobs, or, (ii) shall be is (i) funded through a federal Department of Energy grant before July 1, 2006 and shall support the creation of Illinois coal-mining jobs, or (iii) shall use 2005, and (ii) uses coal gasification or integrated gasification-combined cycle units that generate electricity or chemicals, or both, and shall support the creation of Illinois coal-mining jobs. The business must certify in writing that the investments necessary to establish a new electric generating facility would not be placed in service and the job creation in the case of a coal-fueled plant would not occur without the tax credits and exemptions set forth in subsection (b-5) of this Section. The term "placed in service" has the same meaning as described in subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act; or

(B-5) the business intends to establish a new gasification facility at a designated location in Illinois. As used in this Section, "new gasification facility" means a newly constructed coal gasification facility that generates chemical feedstocks or transportation fuels derived from coal (which may include, but are not limited to, methane, methanol, and nitrogen fertilizer), that supports the creation or retention of Illinois coal-mining jobs, and that qualifies for financial assistance from the Department before December 31, 2006. A new gasification facility does not include a pilot project located within Jefferson County or within a county adjacent to Jefferson County for synthetic natural gas from coal; or

(C) the business intends to establish production operations at a new coal mine, re-establish production operations at a closed coal mine, or expand production at an existing coal mine at a designated location in Illinois not sooner than July 1, 2001; provided that the production operations result in the creation of 150 new Illinois coal mining jobs as described in subdivision (a)(3)(B) of this Section, and further provided that the coal extracted from such mine is utilized as the predominant source for a new electric generating facility. The business must certify in writing that the investments necessary to establish a new, expanded, or reopened coal mine would not be placed in service and the job creation would not occur without the tax credits and exemptions set forth in subsection (b-5) of this Section. The term "placed in service" has the same meaning as described in subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act; or

(D) the business intends to construct new transmission facilities or upgrade existing transmission facilities at designated locations in Illinois, for which construction commenced not sooner than July 1, 2001. For the purposes of this Section, "transmission facilities" means transmission lines with a voltage rating of 115 kilovolts or above, including associated equipment, that transfer electricity from points of supply to points of delivery and that transmit a majority of the electricity generated by a new electric generating facility designated as a High Impact Business in accordance with this Section. The business must certify in writing that the investments necessary to construct new transmission facilities or upgrade existing transmission facilities would not be placed in service without the tax credits and exemptions set forth in subsection (b-5) of this Section. The term "placed in service" has the same meaning as described in subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act; and

(4) no later than 90 days after an application is submitted, the Department shall notify the applicant of the Department's determination of the qualification of the proposed High Impact Business under this Section.

(b) Businesses designated as High Impact Businesses pursuant to subdivision (a)(3)(A) of this Section shall qualify for the credits and exemptions described in the following Acts: Section 9-222 and Section 9-222.1A of the Public Utilities Act, subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act, and Section 1d of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act; provided that these credits and exemptions described in these Acts shall not be authorized until the minimum investments set forth in subdivision (a)(3)(A) of this Section have been placed in service in qualified properties and, in the case of the exemptions described in the Public Utilities Act and Section 1d of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, the minimum full-time equivalent jobs or full-time jobs set forth in subdivision (a)(3)(A) of this Section have been created or retained. Businesses designated as High Impact Businesses under this Section shall also qualify for the exemption described in Section 5l of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. The credit provided in subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act shall be applicable to investments in qualified property as set forth in subdivision (a)(3)(A) of this Section.

(b-5) Businesses designated as High Impact Businesses pursuant to subdivisions (a)(3)(B), (a)(3)(B-5), (a)(3)(C), and (a)(3)(D) of this Section shall qualify for the credits and exemptions described in the following Acts: Section 51 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, Section 9-222 and Section 9-222.1A of the Public Utilities Act, and subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act; however, the credits and exemptions authorized under Section 9-222 and Section 9-222.1A of the Public Utilities Act, and subsection (h) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act shall not be authorized until the new electric generating facility, the new gasification facility, the new transmission facility, or the new, expanded, or reopened coal mine is operational, except that a new electric generating facility whose primary fuel source is natural gas is eligible only for the exemption under Section 5l of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act.

(c) High Impact Businesses located in federally designated foreign trade zones or sub-zones are also eligible for additional credits, exemptions and deductions as described in the following Acts: Section 9-221 and Section 9-222.1 of the Public Utilities Act; and subsection (g) of Section 201, and Section 203 of the Illinois Income Tax Act.

(d) Existing Illinois businesses which apply for designation as a High Impact Business must provide the Department with the prospective plan for which 1,500 full-time jobs would be eliminated in the event that the business is not designated.

(e) New proposed facilities which apply for designation as High Impact Business must provide the Department with proof of alternative non-Illinois sites which would receive the proposed investment and job creation in the event that the business is not designated as a High Impact Business.

(f) In the event that a business is designated a High Impact Business and it is later determined after reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing as provided under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, that the business would have placed in service in qualified property the investments and created or retained the requisite number of jobs without the benefits of the High Impact Business designation, the Department shall be required to immediately revoke the designation and notify the Director of the Department of Revenue who shall begin proceedings to recover all wrongfully exempted State taxes with interest. The business shall also be ineligible for all State funded Department programs for a period of 10 years.

(g) The Department shall revoke a High Impact Business designation if the participating business fails to comply with the terms and conditions of the designation.

(h) Prior to designating a business, the Department shall provide the members of the General Assembly and Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability with a report setting forth the terms and conditions of the designation and guarantees that have been received by the Department in relation to the proposed business being designated.

(Source: P.A. 92-12, eff. 7-1-01; 93-1064, eff. 1-13-05; 93-1067, eff. 1-15-05; revised 1-25-05.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.