(70 ILCS 1830/7.1) (from Ch. 19, par. 507.1)

Sec. 7.1. Additional rights and powers. The Port District has the following additional rights and powers:

(a) To issue permits for the construction of all wharves, piers, dolphins, booms, weirs, breakwaters, bulkheads, jetties, bridges or other structures of any kind, over, under, in, or within 40 feet of any navigable waters within the Port District, for the deposit of rock, earth, sand or other material, or any matter of any kind or description in such waters;

(b) To prevent and remove obstructions in navigable waters, including the removal of wrecks or vessels; to recover damages, including attorney fees, for the removal and clean-up of the site or sites and the surrounding or downstream environment; these rights and powers shall include, but are not limited to, emergency powers to seize wrecks or vessels, remediate damages, and provide for the disposition of the wrecks or vessels;

(c) To locate and establish dock lines and shore or harbor lines;

(d) To regulate the anchorage, moorage and speed of water borne vessels and to establish and enforce regulations for the operation of bridges;

(e) To acquire, own, construct, lease, operate and maintain terminals, terminal facilities, port facilities, transportation equipment facilities, railroads and marinas, and airport facilities and systems, and to fix and collect just, reasonable, and non-discriminatory charges for use of such facilities, equipment and systems. The charges so collected shall be used to defray the reasonable expenses of the Port District, and to pay the principal of and interest on any revenue bonds issued by the Port District;

(f) To operate, maintain, manage, lease, sub-lease, and to make and enter into contracts for the use, operation or management of, and to provide rules and regulations for, the operation, management or use of, any public port or public port facility;

(g) To fix, charge and collect reasonable rentals, tolls, fees and charges for the use of any public port, or any part thereof, or any public port facility;

(h) To establish, maintain, expand and improve roadways, railroads, and approaches by land, or water, to any such terminal, terminal facility and port facilities, and to contract or otherwise provide by condemnation, if necessary, for the removal of any port, terminal, terminal facilities and port facility hazards or the removal or relocation of all private structures, railroads, mains, pipes, conduits, wires, poles, and all other facilities and equipment which may interfere with the location, expansion, development or improvement of ports, terminals, terminal facilities and port facilities or with the safe approach thereto, or exit or takeoff therefrom by vehicles, vessels, barges and other means of transportation, and to pay the cost of removal or relocation;

(i) To police its physical property only and all waterways and to exercise police powers in respect thereto or in respect to the enforcement of any rule or regulation provided by the ordinances of the District and to employ and commission police officers and other qualified persons to enforce such rules and regulations. A regulatory ordinance of the District adopted under any provisions of this Section may provide for a suspension or revocation of any rights or privileges within the control of the District for a violation of any such regulatory ordinance.

(j) To enter into agreements with the corporate authorities or governing body of any other municipal corporation or any political subdivision of this State to pay the reasonable expense of services furnished by such municipal corporation or political subdivision for or on account of income producing properties of the District;

(k) To enter into contracts dealing in any manner with the objects and purposes of this Act;

(l) To acquire, own, lease, mortgage, sell, or otherwise dispose of interests in and to real property and improvements situate thereon and in personal property necessary to fulfill the purposes of the District;

(m) To designate the fiscal year for the District;

(n) To engage in any activity or operation which is incidental to and in furtherance of efficient operation to accomplish the District's primary purpose;

(o) To acquire, erect, construct, maintain and operate aquariums, museums, planetariums, climatrons and other edifices for the collection and display of objects pertaining to natural history or the arts and sciences and to permit the directors or trustees of any corporation or society organized for the erection, construction, maintenance and operation of an aquarium, museum, planetarium, climatron or other such edifice to perform such erection, construction, maintenance and operation on or within any property now or hereafter owned by or under the control or supervision of the District; and to contract with any such directors or trustees relative to such acquisition, erection, construction, maintenance and operation and to charge or authorize such directors or trustees to charge an admission fee, the proceeds of which shall be devoted exclusively to such erection, construction, maintenance and operation;

(p) To do any act which is enumerated in Section 11-74.1-1 of the "Illinois Municipal Code", in the same manner and form as though the District were a "municipality" as referred to in such Section;

(q) To acquire, own, erect, construct, lease, reconstruct, improve, maintain and operate one or more, or a combination or combinations of, industrial buildings, office buildings, buildings to be used as a factory, mill shops, processing plants, packaging plants, assembly plants, fabricating plants, and buildings to be used as warehouses and other storage facilities.

(r) To acquire, own, construct, lease or contract for any period not exceeding 99 years, operate, develop, and maintain Port District water and sewage systems and other utility systems and services, including, but not limited to, pipes, mains, lines, sewers, pumping stations, settling tanks, treatment plants, water purification equipment, wells, storage facilities, lines, and all other equipment, material, and facilities necessary to those systems, for the use, upon payment of reasonable fee set by the District, of any tenant, occupant, or user of the District facilities or any person engaged in commerce in the District; provided that the District shall not acquire, own, construct, lease, operate, develop, and maintain the systems and services if those systems and services can be provided by an investor-owned public utility offering electric or gas services. The public utility shall provide the District with a written response, within 30 days after receiving a written request from the District for those systems or services, stating whether it will or will not be able to provide the requested systems or services in accordance with the Public Utilities Act.

(Source: P.A. 102-725, eff. 1-1-23.)