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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
92_HB5727eng HB5727 Engrossed LRB9214760REsb 1 AN ACT to amend the Agricultural Areas Conservation and 2 Protection Act. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Agricultural Areas Conservation and 6 Protection Act is amended by changing Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 7 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, and 20.2 and adding Sections 8 11.5 and 20.4 as follows: 9 (505 ILCS 5/4) (from Ch. 5, par. 1004) 10 Sec. 4. Agricultural areas committee. 11 (a) A county board shallmayestablish a county 12 agricultural areas committee thatwhichshall consist of (i) 13 4fouractive farmers, no more than 2twoof whom shall be of 14 the same major political party, and (ii) a member of the 15 county board. 16 (1) The committee shall select one of its members 17 to serve as chairpersonchairman of the county committee. 18 (2) TheSuch acommittee shall be established 19 whenever a petition is received by the county board for 20 the creation of an agricultural area underpursuant to21 Section 6. A, provided that no suchcounty committee may 22 not be established if one has already been established 23 for thesuchcounty. 24 (3) Members of thesuchcounty committee shall be 25 appointed by and shall serve at the pleasure of the 26 county appointing authority. 27 (4) The members shall serve without salary, but the 28 county board may entitle eachsuchmember to 29 reimbursement forhisactual necessary expenses incurred 30 in the performance ofhisofficial duties. 31 (b) TheSuchcommittee shall advise the county board in HB5727 Engrossed -2- LRB9214760REsb 1 relation to the proposed establishment, modification, and 2 termination of agricultural areas. The county committee shall 3 render expert advice relating to the desirability of such 4 action, including advice as to the nature of farming and farm 5 resources within the proposed area and the relation of 6 farming in thesucharea to the county as a whole. 7 (Source: P.A. 81-1173.) 8 (505 ILCS 5/5) (from Ch. 5, par. 1005) 9 Sec. 5. Agricultural areas; creation. Any owner or 10 owners of land may submit a petitionproposalto the county 11 board for the creation of an agricultural area within the 12suchcounty according to the following provisions:.13 (1) An agricultural area, at the creation of the 14any sucharea, shallnotbe at leastless than350 acres. 15 (2) The petitionSuch proposalshall include a 16 description of the proposed area, including itsthe17 boundariesthereof. 18 (3) TheSuchterritory shall be as compact and 19 nearly contiguous as feasible. 20 (4) An area created under this Act shall be 21 established for a period of 10tenyears. 22 (5) No land shall be included in an agricultural 23 area without the consent of the owner. 24 (6) No land within an agricultural area shall be 25 used for other than agricultural production as described 26 in Sections 3.01 and 3.02 of this Act. 27 (7) Agreements for the extraction of mineral 28 resources duly agreed upon beforeprior tothe creation 29 of an agricultural area shall be exempted from the use 30 provisions of this Section. In addition, the extraction 31 of mineral resources conducted underpursuant tothe 32 Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act 33 shall be considered temporary land use and shall be HB5727 Engrossed -3- LRB9214760REsb 1 exempted from the use provisions of this Section. 2 (Source: P.A. 84-456.) 3 (505 ILCS 5/6) (from Ch. 5, par. 1006) 4 Sec. 6. Duties of the county board. 5 (a) Within 10 days after receivingUpon the receipt of6sucha petition to create an agricultural areaproposal, the 7 county board shall provide notice of the petition (i)such8proposalby publishing a notice in a newspaper having general 9 circulation within the proposed area or, if nosuchnewspaper 10 has a general circulation within the proposed area then in a 11 newspaper having general circulation within the county and 12 (ii) by posting thesuchnotice in 5fiveconspicuous places 13 within the proposed area. A copy of thesuchnotice shall be 14 sent to the county or regional planning commission for review 15 or written comment to be made to the county board within 30 16 days.Such comment shall be made to the county board.17 The notice required to be published or posted under this 18 Section shall contain the following information:.19 (1)1.A statement that a petitionproposalfor an 20 agricultural area has been filed with the county board 21 underpursuant tothis Act.;22 (2)2.A statement that the petitionproposalwill 23 be on file open to public inspection at the county 24 clerk's office.;25 (3)3.A statement that any landowner, owning land 26 adjacent to or partially encompassed by the proposed 27 area, may propose a modification of the area to include 28 or exclude such lands, within 30 days of the date of 29 publication of the newspaper notice. The proposed 30 modificationSuch applicationshall be made on forms 31 prescribed by the county board.;32 (4)4.A statement that any proposed modification 33 must be filed with the county clerk and the clerk of the HB5727 Engrossed -4- LRB9214760REsb 1 county board within 30 days after the publication of the 2 newspapersuchnotice.;3 (5)5.A statement that at the termination of the 4 30-day30 dayperiod, the petitionproposaland proposed 5 modifications will be submitted to the county committee,6 and that a public hearing will be held on the petition 7proposal, proposed modifications, and recommendations of 8 the county committee. 9 (b) The county board shall receive any petitions 10proposalsfor modifications of the petition thatsuch11proposal whichmay be submitted by the landowners within 30 12 days after the publication of thesuchnotice. 13 (c) The county board shall simultaneously, upon the 14 termination of the 30-daysuch 30 dayperiod, refer the 15 petitionsuch proposaland proposed modifications to the 16 county committee, which shall, within 45 days, report to the 17 county board its recommendations concerning the petition 18proposaland proposed modifications. 19 (Source: P.A. 81-1173.) 20 (505 ILCS 5/7) (from Ch. 5, par. 1007) 21 Sec. 7. Public hearing required. 22 (a) The Agricultural Areas Committee of the county board 23 shall hold a public hearing on any petitionproposalfor the 24 creation of an agricultural area. TheSuchhearing shall be 25 held at a place within the proposed area or a place readily 26 accessible to the proposed area. 27 (b) Notice of the hearing shall contain (i) a statement 28 of the time, date, and place of the public hearing and (ii) a 29 description of the proposed area and any proposed additions. 30 TheSuchnotice shall in addition contain a statement that 31 the public hearing will be held concerning (i) the original 32 petitionproposal, (ii) any written modificationsamendments33 proposed during the 30 day review period, and (iii) any HB5727 Engrossed -5- LRB9214760REsb 1 recommendations proposed by the county committee or the 2 planning commissions. The notice shall (i) be published in a 3 newspaper having a general circulation within the proposed 4 area or if no newspaper has general circulation within the 5 proposed area, then in a newspaper having general circulation 6 within the county,and (ii) shall be given in writing to the 7 persons owning land withinsucha proposed area and adjacent 8 to the proposed area. 9 (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.) 10 (505 ILCS 5/8) (from Ch. 5, par. 1008) 11 Sec. 8. Factors forConsideration information of 12 agricultural areas. 13 (a) County boards, county committees, and planning 14 commissions shall grant a preference to the recommendations 15 of the landowners within the proposed agricultural area. The 16 following factors should also be considered by county boards, 17 county committees, or planning commissions, with respect to 18 the formation of any agricultural area: 19 (1)1.The viability of active farming within the 20 proposed area and in areas adjacent to the proposed area. 21thereto;22 (2)2.The presence of any viable farmlands within 23 the proposed area and within land adjacent to the 24 proposed areatheretothat are not now in active 25 farming.;26 (3)3.The nature and extent of land uses other 27 than active farming within the proposed area and land 28 adjacent to the proposed area.thereto;29 (4)4.County developmental patterns, plans, and 30 needs.;31 (5)5.The existence of a conservation plan 32 approved by the local soil and water conservation 33 district.; andHB5727 Engrossed -6- LRB9214760REsb 1 (6) The existence of public utilities within and 2 adjacent to the proposed area. 3 (7)6.Any other matter thatwhichmay be relevant. 4 (b) In judging viability, any relevant agricultural 5 information shall be considered, including: 6 (1) Soil.,7 (2) Climate.,8 (3) Topography.,9 (4) Other natural factors.,10 (5) Markets for farm products.,11 (6) The extent and nature of farm improvements.,12 (7) The present status of farming.,13 (8) Anticipated trends in agricultural economic 14 conditions and technology., and such15 (9) Other factors as may be relevant. 16 (Source: P.A. 84-456.) 17 (505 ILCS 5/9) (from Ch. 5, par. 1009) 18 Sec. 9. Municipal notice and objections. 19 (a) If the proposed agricultural area includes real 20 estate within a 1 and one-half1/2mile radius from the 21 corporate limits of any municipality, the county board shall 22 notify the municipal authorities of thesuchaffected 23 municipality of this proposed area. 24 (b) TheSuchmunicipal authorities may object to the 25 petitionproposalif thesuchobjection is presented to the 26 county board within 30 days afterofthe receipt of the 27 petitionproposalby the municipal authorities. 28 Upon receipt of thesuchobjection by the county board, 29 the proposed area shall be modified to exclude the real 30 estate within the 1 and one-half1/2mile radius of the 31 corporate limits of thesuchmunicipality, unless the 32 property in question is approved for inclusion in the 33 agricultural area by a favorable vote of three-fourths of all HB5727 Engrossed -7- LRB9214760REsb 1 members of the county board. In counties where the county 2 board consists of 3 members, only a two-thirds vote is 3 required. If no objection is received within the specified 4 time period, the affected real estate shall be included in 5 the agricultural area. 6 (Source: P.A. 81-1173.) 7 (505 ILCS 5/10) (from Ch. 5, par. 1010) 8 Sec. 10. Adoption of petitionplanby county board.The9county board,After receiving the reports of the county 10 committee and other comments,and after thesuchpublic 11 hearing, the county board may adoptas a planthe petition 12proposalor any modification of the petitionproposalit 13 deems appropriate,includingthe inclusion, to the extent 14 feasible,ofadjacent viable farmlands,and may excludethe15exclusion, to the extent feasible,ofnon-viable farmland and 16 non-farm land. The county board shall act to adopt or reject 17 the petitionproposal,or any modification of it not later 18 than 45 days from the date that the county committee's 19 recommendation on the petitionproposalwas submitted to it. 20 The county board shall notify the Department of Agriculture 21 of the adoption or rejection of the petitionproposaland 22 shall provide the Department with a description of the 23 agricultural area within 45 days of taking thesuchaction. 24 (Source: P.A. 84-456.) 25 (505 ILCS 5/11) (from Ch. 5, par. 1011) 26 Sec. 11. FilingRequirement thatdescription of area 27Agricultural Areas be filedwith county clerk and recorder. 28 Upon the creation or alteration of an agricultural area, the 29 county board must file the description and the accompanying 30 board resolution or ordinance:thereof shall be filed by the31county board32 (1) With the county clerk. HB5727 Engrossed -8- LRB9214760REsb 1 (2)Such description shall also be placedOn record 2 in the office of the recorder. 3 (Source: P.A. 84-456.) 4 (505 ILCS 5/11.5 new) 5 Sec. 11.5. Stewardship agreements. The Department of 6 Agriculture may enter into agreements with any federal or 7 State agency, other entity, or with any landowner within an 8 agricultural area or proposed agricultural area as may be 9 necessary to furnish surveys, engineering, and assistance for 10 the formation, expansion, maintenance, or renewal of 11 agricultural conservation practices. The Department of 12 Agriculture shall develop, by rule, an incentive program for 13 land stewardship that pays up to 75% of the costs of these 14 conservation practices for land that is designated or 15 proposed to be designated as an agricultural area. 16 (505 ILCS 5/12) (from Ch. 5, par. 1012) 17 Sec. 12. Petition for Withdrawal. Any person owning land 18 within an agricultural area may submit a petition to the 19 county board requesting the withdrawal of land from the 20 agricultural area located within that county. Such petition 21 must contain: 22 1. A statement indicating the proposed alternative use 23 of the land. 24 2. An explanation of the necessity for changing the 25 current use. 26 3. An explanation why land outside the agricultural area 27 would not be suitable for proposed use. 28 4. A legal description, map, and acreage of the land 29 proposed for withdrawal. 30 (Source: P.A. 81-1173.) 31 (505 ILCS 5/13) (from Ch. 5, par. 1013) HB5727 Engrossed -9- LRB9214760REsb 1 Sec. 13. Procedures for Consideration of Petition for 2 Withdrawal. 3 1. Within 5 days after the receipt of a petition for 4 withdrawal of land from an agricultural area, the county 5 board shall provide notice of such petition by certified mail 6 to all record owners of property in the agricultural area and 7 by publishing a notice in a newspaper having general 8 circulation in the immediate area of the affected land or, if 9 no such newspaper has a general circulation within such area, 10 then in a newspaper having general circulation within the 11 county, and by posting such notice in 5 conspicuous places 12 within the immediate area of the affected land. Such notice 13 shall contain the following information: 14 (a) a statement that a petition for withdrawal of 15 land from an agricultural area has been filed with the 16 county board pursuant to this Act; 17 (b) a statement that the petition will be on file 18 open to public inspection at the county clerk's office; 19 (c) a brief, narrative description of the location 20 of the affected land; 21 (d) a statement of the proposed non-agricultural 22 use of the land; 23 (e) a statement that the petition will be referred 24 to the county committee and to the regional and county 25 planning commissions, if any, for review and comment; 26 (f) a statement that a public hearing will be held 27 within 60 days on the petition and on the recommendations 28 of the county committee and of the regional and county 29 planning commissions, if any, at a time and place to be 30 announced. 31 2. Within 5 days after the receipt of a petition for 32 withdrawal of land from an agricultural area, the county 33 board shall refer the petition to the county committee, which 34 shall, within 30 days of its receipt of the petition, report HB5727 Engrossed -10- LRB9214760REsb 1 to the county board its recommendations. 2 3. Within 5 days after the receipt of a petition for 3 withdrawal of land from an agricultural area, the county 4 board shall refer the petition to the regional and county 5 planning commissions, if any, which shall, within 30 days of 6 their receipt of the petition, report to the county board 7 their recommendations concerning the potential effect of the 8 withdrawal of land from an agricultural area upon the 9 development patterns and needs of the county and upon the 10 county's planning objectives. 11 (Source: P.A. 81-1173.) 12 (505 ILCS 5/16) (from Ch. 5, par. 1016) 13 Sec. 16. Review of agricultural areas by county board. 14 The county board shall review any agricultural area created 15 under this Act every 10 years after the date of its creation 16and every 8 years thereafter. In conducting thesuchreview, 17 the county board shall: 18 (1) Grant a preference to the recommendations of 19 the landowners in the agricultural area. 20 (2) Ask for the recommendations of the county 21 committee., and shall,22 (3) At least 120 days before the 10-yearprior to23suchdate, require the Agricultural Areas Committee to 24 hold a public hearing at a place within the area or other 25 readily accessible place. The Committee must give (i) 26uponnoticebeing givenin a newspaper having general 27 circulation within the area or if there is nosuch28 newspaper, then in a newspaper having general circulation 29 within the county, and (ii) individual notice in writing 30 to the persons owning land within the area, to the 31 persons owning land adjacent to the area, and to the 32 county or regional planning commission. 33 Included in the notice to the landowners owning land in HB5727 Engrossed -11- LRB9214760REsb 1 the agricultural area shall be a statement that, by 2 submitting a letter to the agricultural areas committee at or 3 prior to the public hearing, any landowner of land within the 4 agricultural area may request that his or her land be removed 5 from the agricultural area to be reviewed. The letter must 6 contain: 7 (1) a request to remove land from the agricultural 8 area; 9 (2) an affidavit that the author is the landowner 10 of the land proposed for removal from the agricultural 11 area; and 12 (3) a legal description, map, and acres proposed 13 for removal from the agricultural area. 14 The land described in the letter shall no longer be included 15 in the agricultural area. 16The county boardAfter receiving the landowners' 17 recommendations and the reports of the county committee and 18 after the public hearing, the county board may (i) terminate 19 the area at the end of a 10-year periodsuch 10 or 8 year20periodsby filing a notice of termination with the county 21 clerk, (ii) decide not to take any action, or (iii)the22county board maymodify the area in the same manner as is 23 provided in Section 6 of this Act. If the county board does 24 not act, the area shall continue as originally constituted. 25 The county board shall notify the Department of Agriculture 26 of any alterations to an agricultural area or the termination 27 of an agricultural area within 45 days of taking thesuch28 action. 29 (Source: P.A. 84-456.) 30 (505 ILCS 5/17) (from Ch. 5, par. 1017) 31 Sec. 17. Petition for dissolution. Ten years after the 32 date of creation of any agricultural area and every 10 years 33 thereafter, owners of land within thesucharea may petition HB5727 Engrossed -12- LRB9214760REsb 1 the county board to dissolve the area. TheSuchpetition must 2 be submitted in writing to the county board during the year 3120 day periodimmediately prior to the 10th anniversary of 4 the creation of the area. IfShouldthe petition contains 5containsignaturesof at least two-thirdsof the landowners,6their heirs, assigns or representatives,owning at least 7 two-thirds of the land within the area, the area shall be 8 dissolved. The county board shall notify the Department of 9 Agriculture of the dissolution of any agricultural area 10 within 45 days of taking thesuchaction. 11 (Source: P.A. 84-456.) 12 (505 ILCS 5/18) (from Ch. 5, par. 1018) 13 Sec. 18. Limitation on local regulations and on suits. 14 No local government shall exercise any of its powers to enact 15 local laws or ordinances within an agricultural area in a 16 manner thatwhichwould unreasonably restrict or regulate 17 farm structures or farming practices, including the 18 acquisition of land by annexation or eminent domain, in 19 contravention of the purposes of this Act. 20 The owners of land within the agricultural area may not 21 be subjected to a civil action for nuisance by a private 22 party. The Department of Agriculture shall give technical 23 assistance and provide other resources for owners of land 24 within an agricultural area if subjected to any other private 25 civil action. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a 26 limitation or preemption of any statutory or regulatory 27 authority arising under subsection (a) of Section 9 of the 28 Environmental Protection Act. 29 Theunless suchrestrictions or regulations may be 30 adopted and the nuisance suits may be allowed if bearingbear31 a direct relationship to the public health or safety. 32 (Source: P.A. 81-1173.) HB5727 Engrossed -13- LRB9214760REsb 1 (505 ILCS 5/20.2) (from Ch. 5, par. 1020.2) 2 Sec. 20.2. Adding land to designated agricultural areas. 3 Any petitionproposalfor adding land to a designated 4 agricultural area shall be submitted to the county board 5 which shall forward the proposal to the county committee 6 within 10 days. Within 45 days from the date the petition 7proposalwas submitted to it, the county committee shall 8 review the proposed addition and shall recommend the 9 approval, disapproval or modification of the petition 10proposal. The county committee shall submit a report of its 11 recommendations to the county board which shall act on the 12 recommendations within 30 days. The county board shall 13 notify the Department of Agriculture of any addition of land 14 to a designated agricultural area within 45 days of taking 15 such action. Any land added to a designated agricultural area 16 under this Section shall be subject to review under Section 17 16 at the same times as the original area is subject to such 18 review. The dates for such review and the period during 19 which a petition may be filed under Section 17 shall not be 20 affected by the addition of land under this Section. 21 (Source: P.A. 84-456.) 22 (505 ILCS 5/20.4 new) 23 Sec. 20.4. Eminent domain. Except as otherwise provided 24 in this Section, no entity possessing the power of eminent 25 domain under the laws of this State may acquire any land or 26 easements having a gross area greater than 10 acres in size 27 that is located within an agricultural area. Except as 28 otherwise provided in this Section, no governmental unit may 29 advance public funds, whether by grant, loan, interest, 30 subsidy, or otherwise, within an agricultural area for the 31 construction of nonfarm housing or commercial or industrial 32 facilities to serve nonagricultural uses of land. 33 At least 60 days before an acquisition or advance, a HB5727 Engrossed -14- LRB9214760REsb 1 notice of intent must be filed with the Director of 2 Agriculture containing any information and in the manner and 3 form required by the Director. The notice of intent must 4 contain a report explaining the proposed action, including an 5 evaluation of alternatives that would not require acquisition 6 or advance within the agricultural area. 7 The Director of Agriculture, in consultation with 8 affected units of local government, must review the proposed 9 action to determine its effect on the preservation and 10 enhancement of agriculture and agricultural resources within 11 the agricultural area and the relationship of the action to 12 local and regional comprehensive plans. 13 If the Director of Agriculture finds that the proposed 14 action might have an unreasonable effect on an agricultural 15 area, he or she must issue an order, within the 60-day 16 period, for the party to desist from the action for another 17 60-day period. 18 During the additional 60-day period, the Director must 19 hold a public hearing concerning the proposed action at a 20 place within the affected agricultural area or otherwise 21 easily accessible to the agricultural area. The Director 22 must provide notice of the hearing not more than 30 but not 23 less than 15 days before the hearing: 24 (1) in a newspaper of general circulation within 25 the agricultural area; 26 (2) in writing, delivered by mail, to the entity 27 proposing to take the action; 28 (3) in writing, delivered by mail, to the units of 29 local government whose territory encompasses the 30 agricultural area; and 31 (4) in writing, delivered by mail, to any 32 governmental unit having the power of review or approval 33 of the action. 34 The review process required by this Section may be conducted HB5727 Engrossed -15- LRB9214760REsb 1 jointly with any other environmental impact review required 2 by law. 3 The Director of Agriculture may suspend for up to one 4 year any eminent domain action that he or she determines to 5 be contrary to the purposes of this Act and for which he or 6 she determines there are feasible and prudent alternatives 7 that have less negative impact on agricultural areas. 8 The Director of Agriculture may request the Attorney 9 General to bring a civil action to enjoin any entity from 10 violating the provisions of this Section. 11 This Section does not apply to (i) any utility 12 facilities, including, but not limited to, electric 13 transmission or distribution facilities or lines, facilities 14 used for exploration, production, storage, transmission, or 15 distribution of natural gas, synthetic gas, or oil, or 16 telephone lines and telecommunications facilities or (ii) any 17 emergency project that is immediately necessary for the 18 protection of life and property. 19 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 20 becoming law. HB5727 Engrossed -16- LRB9214760REsb 1 INDEX 2 Statutes amended in order of appearance 3 505 ILCS 5/4 from Ch. 5, par. 1004 4 505 ILCS 5/5 from Ch. 5, par. 1005 5 505 ILCS 5/6 from Ch. 5, par. 1006 6 505 ILCS 5/7 from Ch. 5, par. 1007 7 505 ILCS 5/8 from Ch. 5, par. 1008 8 505 ILCS 5/9 from Ch. 5, par. 1009 9 505 ILCS 5/10 from Ch. 5, par. 1010 10 505 ILCS 5/11 from Ch. 5, par. 1011 11 505 ILCS 5/11.5 new 12 505 ILCS 5/12 from Ch. 5, par. 1012 13 505 ILCS 5/13 from Ch. 5, par. 1013 14 505 ILCS 5/16 from Ch. 5, par. 1016 15 505 ILCS 5/17 from Ch. 5, par. 1017 16 505 ILCS 5/18 from Ch. 5, par. 1018 17 505 ILCS 5/20.2 from Ch. 5, par. 1020.2