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| | HB5528 Enrolled | | LRB097 17545 KMW 62750 b |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning safety.
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| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the First |
| 5 | | Informer Broadcasters Act.
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| 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. |
| 7 | | "Broadcaster" means a radio broadcasting station, cable |
| 8 | | operator, or television broadcasting station primarily engaged |
| 9 | | in, and deriving income from, the business of facilitating |
| 10 | | speech via over-the-air communications, both as to pure speech |
| 11 | | and commercial speech. |
| 12 | | "First informer broadcaster" means a person who has been |
| 13 | | certified as a first informer broadcaster pursuant to Section |
| 14 | | 15 of this Act.
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| 15 | | Section 10. Broadcasters. Broadcasters in this State may, |
| 16 | | in cooperation with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency |
| 17 | | and the Illinois Broadcasters Association, or its successor |
| 18 | | organization, develop comprehensive, coordinated plans for |
| 19 | | preparing for and responding appropriately to an emergency or |
| 20 | | disaster.
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| 21 | | Section 15. First informer broadcasters; training and |
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| | HB5528 Enrolled | - 2 - | LRB097 17545 KMW 62750 b |
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| 1 | | certification. |
| 2 | | (a) Any Statewide organization, or any member of a |
| 3 | | Statewide organization, that represents broadcasters, cable |
| 4 | | television communications, or any other provider that uses |
| 5 | | emerging technologies may establish a program for training and |
| 6 | | certifying broadcast engineers and technical personnel as |
| 7 | | first informer broadcasters. Each program established pursuant |
| 8 | | to this subsection must:
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| 9 | | (i) be consistent with federal law and guidelines; |
| 10 | | (ii) provide training and education concerning |
| 11 | | restoring, repairing and resupplying any facilities and |
| 12 | | equipment of a broadcaster in an area affected by an |
| 13 | | emergency or disaster; and |
| 14 | | (iii) provide training and education concerning the |
| 15 | | personal safety of a first informer broadcaster in an area |
| 16 | | affected by an emergency or disaster. |
| 17 | | (b) To the extent practicable and consistent with not |
| 18 | | endangering public safety or inhibiting recovery efforts, |
| 19 | | State and local governmental agencies shall allow a first |
| 20 | | informer broadcaster access to an area affected by an emergency |
| 21 | | or disaster for the purpose of restoring, repairing, or |
| 22 | | resupplying any facility or equipment critical to the ability |
| 23 | | of a broadcaster to acquire, produce, and transmit essential |
| 24 | | emergency or disaster-related public information programming, |
| 25 | | including, without limitation, repairing and maintaining |
| 26 | | transmitters and generators, and transporting fuel for |