Public Act 93-0234

HB1285 Enrolled                      LRB093 02568 BDD 07873 b

    AN ACT concerning agriculture.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section   5.  The  Agricultural  Areas  Conservation  and
Protection Act is amended by changing Section 5 as follows:

    (505 ILCS 5/5) (from Ch. 5, par. 1005)
    Sec. 5.   Agricultural  Areas;  Creation.  Any  owner  or
owners  of land may submit a proposal to the county board for
the creation of an agricultural area within such  county.  An
agricultural  area,  at  the creation of any such area, shall
not be less than 350 acres in all counties with a  population
under  600,000  and  not  less than 100 acres in all counties
with a population of 600,000 or  more.  Such  proposal  shall
include  a  description  of  the proposed area, including the
boundaries thereof. Such territory shall be  as  compact  and
nearly contiguous as feasible. An area created under this Act
shall  be  established  for  a  period of ten years.  No land
shall be included in an agricultural area without the consent
of the owner.  No land within an agricultural area  shall  be
used  for  other than agricultural production as described in
Sections 3.01 and 3.02  of  this  Act.   Agreements  for  the
extraction of mineral resources duly agreed upon prior to the
creation  of  an agricultural area shall be exempted from the
use provisions of this Section.  In addition, the  extraction
of  mineral  resources conducted pursuant to The Surface Coal
Mining  Land  Conservation  and  Reclamation  Act  shall   be
considered  temporary land use and shall be exempted from the
use provisions of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 84-456.)

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