[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
91_HB3711
LRB9110843MWsb
1 AN ACT concerning coal development.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Energy Conservation and Coal Development
5 Act is amended by changing Section 8 as follows:
6 (20 ILCS 1105/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7408)
7 Sec. 8. Illinois Coal Development Board.
8 (a) There shall be established as an advisory board to
9 the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, the
10 Illinois Coal Development Board, hereinafter in this Section
11 called the Board. The Board shall be composed of the
12 following voting members: the Director of the Department, who
13 shall be Chairman thereof; the Deputy Director of the Bureau
14 of Business Development within the Department of Commerce and
15 Community Affairs; the Director of Natural Resources or that
16 Director's designee; the Director of the Office of Mines and
17 Minerals within the Department of Natural Resources; 4
18 members of the General Assembly (one each appointed by the
19 President of the Senate, the Senate Minority Leader, the
20 Speaker of the House, and the House Minority Leader); and 8
21 persons appointed by the Governor, with the advice and
22 consent of the Senate, including representatives of Illinois
23 industries that are involved in the extraction, utilization
24 or transportation of Illinois coal, persons representing
25 financial or banking interests in the State, and persons
26 experienced in international business and economic
27 development. These members shall be chosen from persons of
28 recognized ability and experience in their designated field.
29 The members appointed by the Governor shall serve for terms
30 of 4 years, unless otherwise provided in this subsection.
31 The initial terms of the original appointees shall expire on
-2- LRB9110843MWsb
1 July 1, 1985, except that the Governor shall designate 3 of
2 the original appointees to serve initial terms that shall
3 expire on July 1, 1983. The initial term of the member
4 appointed by the Governor to fill the office created after
5 July 1, 1985 shall expire on July 1, 1989. The initial terms
6 of the members appointed by the Governor to fill the offices
7 created by this amendatory Act of 1993 shall expire on July
8 1, 1995, and July 1, 1997, as determined by the Governor. A
9 member appointed by a Legislative Leader shall serve for the
10 duration of the General Assembly for which he or she is
11 appointed, so long as the member remains a member of that
12 General Assembly.
13 The Board shall meet at least annually or at the call of
14 the Chairman. At any time the majority of the Board may
15 petition the Chairman for a meeting of the Board. Nine
16 members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. Members of
17 the Board shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary
18 expenses incurred while performing their duties as members of
19 the Board from funds appropriated to the Department for such
20 purpose.
21 (b) The Board shall provide advice and make
22 recommendations on the following Department powers and
23 duties:
24 (1) To develop an annual agenda which may include
25 but is not limited to research and methodologies
26 conducted for the purpose of increasing the utilization
27 of Illinois' coal and other fossil fuel resources, with
28 emphasis on high sulfur coal, in the following areas:
29 coal extraction, preparation and characterization; coal
30 technologies (combustion, gasification, liquefaction, and
31 related processes); marketing; public awareness and
32 education, as those terms are used in the Illinois Coal
33 Technology Development Assistance Act; transportation;
34 procurement of sites and issuance of permits; and
-3- LRB9110843MWsb
1 environmental impacts.
2 (2) To support and coordinate Illinois coal
3 research, and to approve projects consistent with the
4 annual agenda and budget for coal research and the
5 purposes of this Act and to approve the annual budget and
6 operating plan for administration of the Board.
7 (3) To promote the coordination of available
8 research information on the production, preparation,
9 distribution and uses of Illinois coal. The Board shall
10 advise the existing research institutions within the
11 State on areas where research may be necessary.
12 (4) To cooperate to the fullest extent possible
13 with State and federal agencies and departments,
14 independent organizations, and other interested groups,
15 public and private, for the purposes of promoting
16 Illinois coal resources.
17 (5) To submit an annual report to the Governor and
18 the General Assembly outlining the progress and
19 accomplishments made in the year, providing an accounting
20 of funds received and disbursed, reviewing the status of
21 research contracts, and furnishing other relevant
22 information.
23 (6) To focus on existing coal research efforts in
24 carrying out its mission; to make use of existing
25 research facilities in Illinois or other institutions
26 carrying out research on Illinois coal; as far as
27 practicable, to make maximum use of the research
28 facilities available at the Illinois State Geological
29 Survey, the Coal Extraction and Utilization Research
30 Center, the Illinois Coal Development Park and
31 universities and colleges located within the State of
32 Illinois; and to create a consortium or center which
33 conducts, coordinates and supports coal research
34 activities in the State of Illinois. Programmatic
-4- LRB9110843MWsb
1 activities of such a consortium or center shall be
2 subject to approval by the Department and shall be
3 consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Department
4 may authorize expenditure of funds in support of the
5 administrative and programmatic operations of such a
6 center or consortium consistent with its statutory
7 authority. Administrative actions undertaken by or for
8 such a center or consortium shall be subject to the
9 approval of the Department.
10 (7) To make a reasonable attempt, before initiating
11 any research under this Act, to avoid duplication of
12 effort and expense by coordinating the research efforts
13 among various agencies, departments, universities or
14 organizations, as the case may be.
15 (8) To adopt, amend and repeal rules, regulations
16 and bylaws governing the Board's organization and conduct
17 of business.
18 (9) To authorize the expenditure of monies from the
19 Coal Technology Development Assistance Fund, the Public
20 Utility Fund and other funds in the State Treasury
21 appropriated to the Department, consistent with the
22 purposes of this Act.
23 (10) To seek, accept, and expend gifts or grants in
24 any form, from any public agency or from any other
25 source. Such gifts and grants may be held in trust by
26 the Department and expended at the direction of the
27 Department and in the exercise of the Department's powers
28 and performance of the Department's duties.
29 (11) To publish, from time to time, the results of
30 Illinois coal research projects funded through the
31 Department.
32 (12) To authorize loans from appropriations from
33 the Build Illinois Bond Purposes Fund, the Build Illinois
34 Bond Fund and the Illinois Industrial Coal Utilization
-5- LRB9110843MWsb
1 Fund.
2 (13) To authorize expenditures of monies for coal
3 development projects under the authority of Section 13 of
4 the General Obligation Bond Act.
5 (c) The Board shall also provide advice and make
6 recommendations on the following Department powers and
7 duties:
8 (1) To create and maintain thorough, current and
9 accurate records on all markets for and actual uses of
10 coal mined in Illinois, and to make such records
11 available to the public upon request.
12 (2) To identify all current and anticipated future
13 technical, economic, institutional, market,
14 environmental, regulatory and other impediments to the
15 utilization of Illinois coal.
16 (3) To monitor and evaluate all proposals and plans
17 of public utilities related to compliance with the
18 requirements of Title IV of the federal Clean Air Act
19 Amendments of 1990, or with any other law which might
20 affect the use of Illinois coal, for the purposes of (i)
21 determining the effects of such proposals or plans on the
22 use of Illinois coal, and (ii) identifying alternative
23 plans or actions which would maintain or increase the use
24 of Illinois coal.
25 (4) To develop strategies and to propose policies
26 to promote environmentally responsible uses of Illinois
27 coal for meeting electric power supply requirements and
28 for other purposes.
29 (5) (Blank).
30 (Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96; 90-348, eff. 1-1-98;
31 90-454, eff. 8-16-97.)