HB4708 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 37027 MXP 67142 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4708

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Rep. Janet Yang Rohr

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

615 ILCS 5/5	from Ch. 19, par. 52
615 ILCS 5/5a new
615 ILCS 5/25	from Ch. 19, par. 72

Amends the Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act. Provides that the public right to access and use navigable waters includes all rights recognized by State or federal law, including the rights set forth in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the federal navigational servitude, and all rights arising under the public trust doctrine, which shall be understood and applied in a manner consistent with the spirit of the Act to maximize the full and free enjoyment of State waters by the public. Provides that any segment of a lake, river, or stream that is capable of supporting use by commercial or recreational watercraft for a substantial part of the year, or that is actually so used, shall be deemed navigable, and shall be open to public access and use, unless the contrary is proven in litigation by a preponderance of the evidence. Provides that public uses in such waters shall include boating, tubing, fishing, swimming, and wading. Requires the Department of Natural Resources to protect such public uses against interference or encroachment as provided in the Act. Provides that no action or inaction by the Department of Natural Resources shall create a presumption, in any civil or criminal litigation, against the navigability of any waterway segment. Provides that the public right to access and use navigable waters shall be subject to specified protections and limitations, a violation of which shall be punished as otherwise provided by law, and, if likely to continue, enjoined by a court of competent jurisdiction. Provides that nothing in the Act shall limit the right of any person to challenge the legality of alleged interference with the public right to access or use navigable waters in any appropriate civil or criminal litigation.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning transportation.

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

Section 5. The Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act is amended by changing Sections 5 and 25 and by adding Section 5a as follows:

(615 ILCS 5/5) (from Ch. 19, par. 52)

Sec. 5. The Department of Natural Resources shall upon behalf of the State of Illinois, have jurisdiction and supervision over all of the rivers and lakes of the State of Illinois, wherein the State of Illinois or the people of the State have any rights or interests, and shall make a list by counties of all the waters of Illinois, showing the waters, both navigable and non-navigable, that are found in each county of the State, and if the same are lakes, the extent of the shore lines and the amount, extent and area of the water surface; and in a like way, if the same are rivers, and specifying whether the same are navigable or non-navigable, and whether they have or have not been meandered.

(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)

(615 ILCS 5/5a new)

Sec. 5a. Public right to access and use navigable waters.

(a) The public right to access and use navigable waters includes all rights recognized by State or federal law, including the rights set forth in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the federal navigational servitude and all rights arising under the public trust doctrine, which shall be understood and applied in a manner consistent with the spirit of section 26 to maximize the full and free enjoyment of State waters by the public. Any segment of a lake, river, or stream that is capable of supporting use by commercial or recreational watercraft for any substantial part of the year, or that is actually so used, shall be deemed navigable under such laws for purposes of public access and use, unless the contrary is proven in litigation by a preponderance of the evidence. Public uses in such waters shall include boating, tubing, fishing, swimming, and wading. The Department of Natural Resources shall protect such public uses against interference or encroachment as hereinafter provided in this Act. No action or inaction by the Department of Natural Resources shall create a presumption, in any civil or criminal litigation, against the navigability of any waterway segment.

(b) The public right to access and use navigable waters shall be subject to the following protections and limitations, a violation of which shall be punished as otherwise provided by law, and, if likely to continue, enjoined by a court of competent jurisdiction:

(1) no person shall interfere with or obstruct public access to and use of navigable waters for any lawful purpose;

(2) any person lawfully using navigable waters may touch the beds of bodies of water and adjacent riparian lands as reasonably needed for the person's lawful activities, but any portage on dry land shall be made in a safe manner that is (i) most direct, (ii) least invasive, and (iii) closest to the water;

(3) any person lawfully using navigable waters shall refrain from littering or otherwise creating a public or private nuisance; and

(4) any person using navigable waters shall not enter or exit from a point that is not public property or a public roadway without the express or implied permission of the occupant or owner of the property.

(c) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit or supersede the power or authority of any unit of local government to regulate or police public property under the ownership or control of the unit of local government, including, but not limited to, any segment of a lake, river, stream, or any other navigable waters, and the ingress or egress thereto, or to otherwise alter the power or authority granted to that unit of local government under any State law.

(d) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to alter the permit requirements and programs set forth in this Act or to expand the responsibilities of the Department of Natural Resources under Sections 11, 22, and 23b of this Act

(615 ILCS 5/25) (from Ch. 19, par. 72)

Sec. 25. The Attorney General, any State's Attorney of any county or any attorney authorized by the Department of Natural Resources shall have the power to represent said Department, and in the name of the State of Illinois, invoke for the purposes specified in this act, all of the power of the State to prevent the wrongs and injuries herein referred to, and for that purpose, such Attorney General, State's attorney or authorized attorney shall be deemed to be the proper representative of the State, with full power and authority upon its behalf to prosecute all necessary suits or actions.

Nothing in this Act shall limit the right of any person to challenge the legality of alleged interference with the public right to access or use navigable waters in any appropriate civil or criminal litigation.

(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)