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92_HB5729 LRB9213259AGcs 1 AN ACT concerning agriculture. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 5 Illinois Farm Products Economic Development Act. 6 Section 5. Findings. The legislature finds and declares 7 that it is in the best interest of the people of this State 8 that the establishment of local grain processing centers is 9 encouraged in order to augment local agricultural markets, 10 promote agricultural diversification, expand rural employment 11 opportunities, promote economic activity, enhance the 12 environment, and protect and better use the land and 13 agriculture resources of the State. The legislature finds 14 that grain processing shall be considered an agricultural 15 pursuit for the purposes of any laws that apply to or provide 16 for the advancement, benefit, or the protection of the 17 agriculture industry of this State. 18 Section 10. Purpose. The purpose of the Act is to improve 19 the environment, create jobs and rural economic growth, and 20 encourage energy self-reliance through the establishment of 21 community-sized grain processing centers that produce ethyl 22 alcohol and other grain products, encourage the establishment 23 of associated industries, and assist Illinois farmers in 24 expanding local markets for their grain production. 25 Section 15. Definitions. For the purpose of this Act; 26 "Associated industry" means an industry using the 27 by-products of a processing center, including, but not 28 limited to, ethyl alcohol, fermented grains, liquid feeds, 29 carbon dioxide, heat, or any other product resulting from the -2- LRB9213259AGcs 1 processing of agricultural products and located in proximity 2 to the processing center. 3 "Corn" means Illinois-produced corn used in a processing 4 center to make ethyl alcohol, fermented grains, solubles, and 5 carbon dioxide. 6 "Department" means the Department of Agriculture. 7 "Director" means the Director of Agriculture. 8 "Ethyl alcohol" means fermented ethyl alcohol having a 9 purity of at least 95% (190 proof) and derived from 10 agriculture products including corn, potatoes, cereal grains, 11 cheese, whey, sugar beets, forest products, or other 12 renewable resources, including residue and waste generated 13 from the production, processing, and marketing of 14 agricultural products, forest products, and other renewable 15 resources. 16 "Processing Center" means a grain processing center at 17 which ethyl alcohol is produced by fermenting corn or other 18 organic materials. 19 Section 20. Grain processing payments. The Director shall 20 make cash payments to processors in this State that use corn 21 to make ethyl alcohol and other alternative fuels made with 22 corn-based products. These payments shall apply only to corn 23 used to make ethyl alcohol and other alternative fuels made 24 with corn-based products in this State at a processing center 25 that begins production after January 1, 2002. The amount of 26 the payment for each processor's annual consumption shall be 27 30 cents per bushel of corn for each bushel of corn used to 28 produce ethyl alcohol and other alternative fuels made with 29 corn-based products in a grain processing center that began 30 production after January 1, 2002. Payment may be made only 31 during the 5-year period beginning at the same time as the 32 start of production. Payment may be made only on the first 33 5,000,000 bushels of corn consumed annually at each -3- LRB9213259AGcs 1 processing center. Each processor must file a claim for 2 payment for the bushels of corn used in a grain processing 3 center during the preceding 3 calendar months. These claims 4 must be filed by the last day of September, December, March, 5 and June of each year. A processor with more than one 6 processing center must file a separate claim for each 7 processing center. A processor who files a claim under this 8 Section must include a statement of the processor's total 9 corn consumption and total ethyl alcohol production during 10 the quarter covered by the claim. For each claim and 11 statement of production filed under this Act, the volumes and 12 amounts claimed must be examined by an independent certified 13 public accountant in accordance with standards established by 14 the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 15 Payments under this Section shall be made 90 days after 16 each claim has been filed. A separate payment shall be made 17 for each claim filed. The total quarterly payment to a 18 processor under this Act may not exceed $750,000 if the total 19 amount for which all processors are eligible in a quarter 20 exceeds $1,500,000. Total payments, in any event, shall not 21 exceed more than $6,000,000 per fiscal year. The Director 22 shall make payments in the order in which the portion of 23 production capacity covered by each claim went into 24 production. Only those processors deemed to be eligible by 25 the Director or who have received payments for the quarter or 26 received payments in an earlier quarter are eligible for corn 27 payments under this Act. 28 Section 25. Rulemaking. The Director must adopt emergency 29 and permanent rules to implement this Act. 30 Section 30. Partial Invalidity. If any provision of this 31 Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance 32 is held invalid, the remainder of this Act and the -4- LRB9213259AGcs 1 application of the provision to other persons or 2 circumstances is not affected thereby. 3 Section 35. Repeal. This Act is repealed on January 1, 4 2011, and the unobligated balance of each appropriation under 5 this Act on that date shall revert to the General Revenue 6 Fund. 7 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 8 becoming law.