(105 ILCS 230/5-200)

Sec. 5-200. School energy efficiency grants.

(a) The State Board of Education is authorized to make grants to school districts and special education cooperatives, without regard to enrollment, for school energy efficiency projects. These grants shall be paid out of moneys appropriated for that purpose from the School Infrastructure Fund. No grant under this Section for one fiscal year shall exceed $250,000, but a school district or special education cooperative may receive grants for more than one project during one fiscal year. A school district or special education cooperative must provide local matching funds in an amount equal to the amount of the grant under this Section. A school district or special education cooperative has no entitlement to a grant under this Section.

(b) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to implement this Section. These rules need not be the same as the rules for school construction project grants or school maintenance project grants. The rules may specify:

(1) the manner of applying for grants;

(2) project eligibility requirements;

(3) restrictions on the use of grant moneys;

(4) the manner in which school districts and special education cooperatives must account for the use of grant moneys; and

(5) any other provision that the State Board determines to be necessary or useful for the administration of this Section.

(c) In each school year in which school energy efficiency project grants are awarded, 20% of the total amount awarded shall be awarded to a school district in a city with a population of more than 500,000, provided that the school district complies with the requirements of this Section and the rules adopted under this Section.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 5 of the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act, for school energy efficiency grants awarded in 2014, grant funds may be made available for expenditure by a grantee for a period of 4 years from the date the funds were distributed by the State. Any grant funds not expended or legally obligated by the end of the grant agreement must be returned to the grantor agency within 45 days if the funds are not already on deposit with the grantor agency or the State Treasurer. Such returned funds must be deposited into the fund from which the original grant disbursement to the grantee was made.

(Source: P.A. 99-606, eff. 7-22-16.)