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92_HB2358
LRB9206860TAtm
1 AN ACT to create the Local Legacy Act.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Local Legacy Act.
6 Section 5. Policy.
7 (a) Illinois has a rich natural and cultural heritage.
8 Whether historic sites, natural areas, rich farmland, or
9 other prized resources, every county has treasures worth
10 preserving for future generations.
11 (b) As counties and municipalities grow, they often do
12 not have the opportunity to consider which resources are most
13 important to them. Consequently, they may inadvertently
14 imperil a historic structure, sever a potential natural
15 corridor, or fragment farmland into small and unsustainable
16 remnants.
17 (c) It is necessary and desirable to provide technical
18 assistance and funding in the form of grants to encourage
19 partnerships between counties and municipalities for the
20 creation of an inventory of their natural areas, farmland,
21 and cultural assets and to develop a Resource Protection Plan
22 for protecting those areas.
23 (d) It is also necessary to provide funding in the form
24 of grants to counties and municipalities for the protection
25 of their cultural resources, natural areas, and farmland
26 through fee simple acquisition and conservation easements.
27 (e) It is the purpose of this Act to promote voluntary
28 county-municipal partnerships in every county by the year
29 2020 that will inventory resources, develop Resource
30 Protection Plans, and implement their respective plans.
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1 Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
2 "Board" means the Local Legacy Board created under this
3 Act.
4 "Committee" means a Local Steering Committee established
5 under this Act.
6 "Cultural resource" means a structure, building,
7 district, or site that has aesthetic, architectural,
8 cultural, archeological, or historical significance at the
9 local, state, or national level.
10 "Farmland" means land devoted to agriculture or
11 horticultural uses for the production of food (including
12 grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, or mushrooms),
13 fiber, floriculture, or forest products, or the raising of
14 farm animals (including livestock, sheep, swine, horses,
15 ponies, poultry, bees, or fish) or wildlife.
16 "Inventory" means a listing of a county's and its
17 municipalities' natural areas, farmland, and cultural
18 resources.
19 "Natural area" means an area of land or water that either
20 retains or has recovered to a substantial degree its original
21 natural or primeval character, though it need not be
22 completely undisturbed, or has floral, faunal, ecological,
23 geological, or archeological features of scientific,
24 educational, recreational, scenic, or aesthetic interest.
25 "Program" means the Local Legacy Program.
26 "Resource", unless otherwise specified, means farmland, a
27 natural area, or a cultural resource.
28 "Resource Protection Plan" means an integrated document
29 that includes goals, policies, strategies, and procedures for
30 preserving key farmland, natural areas, and cultural
31 resources identified in a countywide inventory and adopted as
32 provided in Section 30 of this Act.
33 Section 15. The Local Legacy Board. The Local Legacy
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1 Board is created to administer the Program under this Act.
2 The membership of the Board shall be composed of the Director
3 of Natural Resources, the Director of Historic Preservation,
4 and the Director of Agriculture, or their respective
5 designees. The Board must choose a Chairperson to serve for
6 2 years on a rotating basis. All members must be present for
7 the Board to conduct official business. The Departments must
8 each furnish technical support to the Board.
9 The Board has those powers necessary to carry out the
10 purposes of this Act, including, without limitation, the
11 power to:
12 (1) employ agents and employees necessary to carry
13 out the purposes of this Act and fix their compensation,
14 benefits, terms, and conditions of employment;
15 (2) adopt, alter and use a corporate seal;
16 (3) have an audit made of the accounts of any
17 grantee or any person or entity that receives funding
18 under this Act;
19 (4) enforce the terms of any grant made under this
20 Act, whether in law or equity, or by any other legal
21 means;
22 (5) prepare and submit a budget and request for
23 appropriations for the necessary and contingent operating
24 expenses of the Board; and
25 (6) receive and accept, from any source, aid or
26 contributions of money, property, labor, or other items
27 of value for furtherance of any of its purposes, subject
28 to any conditions not inconsistent with this Act or with
29 the laws of this State pertaining to those contributions,
30 including, but not limited to, gifts, guarantees, or
31 grants from any department, agency, or instrumentality of
32 the United States of America.
33 The Board must adopt any rules, regulations, guidelines,
34 and directives necessary to implement the Act, including
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1 guidelines for designing inventories so that they will be
2 compatible with each other.
3 The Board must submit a report to the General Assembly
4 and the Governor by January 1, 2003 and every 2 years
5 thereafter regarding progress made towards accomplishing the
6 purposes of this Act.
7 Section 20. Local Legacy Program. The Local Legacy
8 Program is created. The Board shall determine the
9 eligibility of county-municipal partnerships for funding
10 under the Program. The purpose of the Program is to provide
11 grants to counties and municipalities to (i) inventory their
12 natural areas, farmland, and cultural resources; (ii) develop
13 Resource Protection Plans; and (iii) acquire in fee simple,
14 natural areas, cultural resources, or farmland identified in
15 their Resource Protection Plans. To be eligible for an
16 acquisition grant, a local government must adopt a Resource
17 Protection Plan.
18 Section 25. Local Steering Committee. Counties
19 interested in assistance under this Act must form a steering
20 committee consisting of 11 members in the following 3
21 categories chosen according to the following requirements:
22 (1) Three members of the county board appointed by
23 the county board chairperson with the advice and consent
24 of the county board.
25 (2) Three elected municipal officials chosen by the
26 corporate authorities of those municipalities
27 participating in the county-municipal partnership.
28 (3) Five public members who reside within the
29 county and are appointed by a majority vote of the county
30 board members and elected municipal officials on the
31 Local Steering Committee, with one each representing the
32 following categories:
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1 (a) Agriculture.
2 (b) Environment.
3 (c) Historic preservation.
4 (d) Construction or development.
5 (e) Citizen-at-large.
6 When the Committee is first established, one-third of the
7 members of each category shall serve a term of one year;
8 one-third shall serve a term of 2 years; and one-third shall
9 serve a term of 3 years, except for the public members, one
10 of whom will serve for one year, 2 of whom shall serve for 2
11 years, and 2 of whom will serve for 3 years. All subsequent
12 members shall serve for a term of 3 years. A vacancy shall
13 be filled in the same manner as an original appointment.
14 The Chairperson shall be chosen for a term of 2 years
15 from among the members of the Committee by a majority vote of
16 the Committee; all members of the Committee including the
17 Chairperson have a vote.
18 The Committee shall adopt its own rules of operation.
19 Section 30. Duties of the Local Steering Committee. The
20 Local Steering Committee shall have the authority to apply
21 for and receive grants to conduct an inventory and develop a
22 Resource Protection Plan and to review all grant applications
23 from units of local government before they are submitted to
24 the Board.
25 The Local Steering Committee shall develop a strategy for
26 conducting an inventory of natural areas, farmland, and
27 cultural resources. The Committee shall determine which
28 resources should be included in the inventory, the amount of
29 financial and technical assistance needed from the State,
30 what information is already available, who will conduct the
31 inventory, how municipal and county efforts should be
32 coordinated, and how to present the information so that it is
33 compatible with inventories conducted by other
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1 county-municipal partnerships.
2 The Committee shall use the inventory as the basis for
3 developing its Resource Protection Plan. Working with a
4 professional planner or other resource specialist, the
5 Committee shall develop criteria for prioritizing resources
6 identified by the inventory. When prioritizing resources,
7 the Committee shall analyze the threat to the resources using
8 population projections, land use patterns, and development
9 trends. Upon the approval of two-thirds of its members, with
10 at least one member from each of the 3 categories voting in
11 approval, the Committee shall recommend that the county board
12 and the municipalities within the county adopt the Resource
13 Protection Plan. Amendments to the Resource Protection Plan
14 must be approved in the same manner. A local government may
15 object to all or part of the Resource Protection Plan in
16 writing. If a written objection is filed with the Committee,
17 the portion of the Plan objected to shall not be effective
18 within that local government's borders. The objecting local
19 government may modify or withdraw its objection at any time.
20 Only municipalities, counties, and other units of local
21 government that have adopted the Plan are eligible for grants
22 for fee simple acquisition. The Committee must screen (and
23 accept or reject) all grant applications prior to submission
24 to the Board.
25 Section 35. Local Legacy Fund. The Local Legacy Fund is
26 created as a special fund in the State Treasury. Subject to
27 appropriation, moneys shall be transferred into the Local
28 Legacy Fund from the General Revenue Fund. All interest or
29 other earnings that accrue from investment of the Local
30 Legacy Fund moneys shall be credited to the Local Legacy
31 Fund. The Local Legacy Fund shall be used by the Board to
32 make grants to counties and municipalities for inventorying
33 and planning and protecting farmland, natural areas, and
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1 cultural resources through fee simple acquisition. Funds to
2 preserve farmland may not involve the use of eminent domain.
3 In awarding grants for the implementation of Resource
4 Protection Plans, the Board shall attempt to apportion funds
5 evenly between the preservation of farmland, natural areas,
6 and cultural resources.
7 Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
8 Section 5.545 as follows:
9 (30 ILCS 105/5.545 new)
10 Sec. 5.545. The Local Legacy Fund.