(20 ILCS 3515/7) (from Ch. 127, par. 727)

Sec. 7. Powers. In addition to the powers otherwise authorized by law, for the purposes of this Act, the State authority shall have the following powers together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary for the performance thereof:

(1) to have perpetual succession as a body politic and corporate;

(2) to adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(3) to sue and be sued and to prosecute and defend actions in the courts;

(4) to have and to use a corporate seal and to alter the same at pleasure;

(5) to maintain an office at such place or places as it may designate;

(6) to determine the location, pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act, and the manner of construction of any environmental or hazardous waste treatment facility to be financed under this Act and to acquire, construct, reconstruct, repair, alter, improve, extend, own, finance, lease, sell and otherwise dispose of the facility, to enter into contracts for any and all of such purposes, to designate a person as its agent to determine the location and manner of construction of an environmental or hazardous waste treatment facility undertaken by such person under the provisions of this Act and as agent of the authority to acquire, construct, reconstruct, repair, alter, improve, extend, own, lease, sell and otherwise dispose of the facility, and to enter into contracts for any and all of such purposes;

(7) to finance and to lease or sell to a person any or all of the environmental or hazardous waste treatment facilities upon such terms and conditions as the directing body considers proper, and to charge and collect rent or other payments therefor and to terminate any such lease or sales agreement or financing agreement upon the failure of the lessee, purchaser or debtor to comply with any of the obligations thereof; and to include in any such lease or other agreement, if desired, provisions that the lessee, purchaser or debtor thereunder shall have options to renew the term of the lease, sales or other agreement for such period or periods and at such rent or other consideration as shall be determined by the directing body or to purchase any or all of the environmental or hazardous waste treatment facilities for a nominal amount or otherwise or that at or prior to the payment of all of the indebtedness incurred by the authority for the financing of such environmental or hazardous waste treatment facilities the authority may convey any or all of the environmental or hazardous waste treatment facilities to the lessee or purchaser thereof with or without consideration;

(8) to issue bonds for any of its corporate purposes, including a bond issuance for the purpose of financing a group of projects involving environmental facilities, and to refund those bonds, all as provided for in this Act and subject to Section 13 of this Act;

(9) generally to fix and revise from time to time and charge and collect rates, rents, fees and charges for the use of and services furnished or to be furnished by any environmental or hazardous waste treatment facility or any portion thereof and to contract with any person, firm or corporation or other body public or private in respect thereof;

(10) to employ consulting engineers, architects, attorneys, accountants, construction and financial experts, superintendents, managers and such other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment and to fix their compensation;

(11) to receive and accept from any public agency loans or grants for or in aid of the construction of any environmental facility and any portion thereof, or for equipping the facility, and to receive and accept grants, gifts or other contributions from any source;

(12) to refund outstanding obligations incurred by any person to finance the cost of an environmental or hazardous waste treatment facility including obligations incurred for environmental or hazardous waste treatment facilities undertaken and completed prior to or after the enactment of this Act when the authority finds that such financing is in the public interest;

(13) to prohibit the financing of environmental facilities for new coal-fired electric steam generating plants and new coal-fired industrial boilers which do not use Illinois coal as the primary source of fuel;

(14) to set and impose appropriate financial penalties on any person who receives financing from the State authority based on a commitment to use Illinois coal as the primary source of fuel at a new coal-fired electric utility steam generating plant or new coal-fired industrial boiler and later uses non-Illinois coal as the primary source of fuel;

(15) to fix, determine, charge and collect any premiums, fees, charges, costs and expenses, including, without limitation, any application fees, program fees, commitment fees, financing charges or publication fees in connection with its activities under this Act; all expenses of the State authority incurred in carrying out this Act are payable solely from funds provided under the authority of this Act and no liability shall be incurred by any authority beyond the extent to which moneys are provided under this Act. All fees and moneys accumulated by the Authority as provided in this Act or the Illinois Finance Authority Act shall be held outside of the State treasury and in the custody of the Treasurer of the Authority; and

(16) to do all things necessary and convenient to carry out the purposes of this Act.

The State authority may not operate any environmental or hazardous waste treatment facility as a business except for the purpose of protecting or maintaining such facility as security for bonds of the State authority. No environmental or hazardous waste treatment facilities completed prior to January 1, 1970 may be financed by the State authority under this Act, but additions and improvements to such environmental or hazardous waste treatment facilities which are commenced subsequent to January 1, 1970 may be financed by the State authority. Any lease, sales agreement or other financing agreement in connection with an environmental or hazardous waste treatment facility entered into pursuant to this Act must be for a term not shorter than the longest maturity of any bonds issued to finance such environmental or hazardous waste treatment facility or a portion thereof and must provide for rentals or other payments adequate to pay the principal of and interest and premiums, if any, on such bonds as the same fall due and to create and maintain such reserves and accounts for depreciation, if any, as the directing body determines to be necessary.

The Authority shall give priority to providing financing for the establishment of hazardous waste treatment facilities necessary to achieve the goals of Section 22.6 of the Environmental Protection Act.

The Authority shall give special consideration to small businesses in authorizing the issuance of bonds for the financing of environmental facilities pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 2.

The Authority shall make a financial report on all projects financed under this Section to the General Assembly, to the Governor, and to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability by April 1 of each year. Such report shall be a public record and open for inspection at the offices of the Authority during normal business hours. The report shall include: (a) all applications for loans and other financial assistance presented to the members of the Authority during such fiscal year, (b) all projects and owners thereof which have received any form of financial assistance from the Authority during such year, (c) the nature and amount of all such assistance, and (d) projected activities of the Authority for the next fiscal year, including projection of the total amount of loans and other financial assistance anticipated and the amount of revenue bonds or other evidences of indebtedness that will be necessary to provide the projected level of assistance during the next fiscal year.

The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization Act, and filing such additional copies with the State Government Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library Act.

(Source: P.A. 100-1148, eff. 12-10-18.)