Public Act 103-0795
 
HB1855 EnrolledLRB103 28119 RLC 54498 b

    AN ACT concerning conservation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Forestry Development Act is
amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (525 ILCS 15/5)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 9105)
    Sec. 5. A forest development cost share program is created
and shall be administered by the Department of Natural
Resources.
    A timber grower who desires to participate in the cost
share program shall devise a forest management plan. To be
eligible to submit a proposed forest management plan, a timber
grower must own or operate at least 10 contiguous acres of land
in this State on which timber is produced, except that, no acre
on which a permanent building is located shall be included in
calculations of acreage for the purpose of determining
eligibility. Timber growers with Department approved forest
management plans covering less than 10 acres in effect on or
before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th
General Assembly shall continue to be eligible under the
Illinois Forestry Development Act provisions. The proposed
forest management plan shall include a description of the land
to be managed under the plan, a description of the types of
timber to be grown, a projected harvest schedule, a
description of forest management practices to be applied to
the land, an estimation of the cost of such practices, plans
for afforestation, plans for regenerative harvest and
reforestation, and a description of soil and water
conservation goals and wildlife habitat enhancement which will
be served by implementation of the forest management plan.
    Upon receipt from a timber grower of a draft forest
management plan, the Department shall review the plan and, if
necessary, assist the timber grower to revise the plan. The
Department shall officially approve acceptable plans. Forest
management plans shall be revised as necessary and all
revisions must be approved by the Department. A plan shall be
evaluated every 2 years for reapproval.
    The eligible land shall be maintained in a forest
condition for a period of 10 years or until commercial
harvest, whichever last occurs, as required by the plan.
    The Department shall enter into agreements with timber
growers with approved forest management plans under which the
Department shall agree to pay a share of the total cost of
acceptable forest management plans and practices implemented
under the plan. The cost share amount is up to 80% of the total
cost of the forest management practices for such practices
approved to be funded from monies appropriated for this
purpose for subsequent fiscal years. Cost share funds shall be
paid from monies appropriated to the Department by the General
Assembly for that purpose from the Illinois Forestry
Development Fund or any other fund in the State Treasury.
    Starting in 2025, the Department shall file a report in
writing to the General Assembly on or before March 1 of each
year with the following information from the preceding year:
the total number of agreements entered into pursuant to this
Section, the total amount of payments made pursuant to this
Section from the Illinois Forestry Development Fund, and the
total number of acres that were affected by the payments.
    The Department, upon recommendations made to it by the
Council, may provide for the categorization of forest
management practices and determine an appropriate cost share
percentage for each such category. Forest management practices
submitted by timber growers on whose timber sales fees of 4% of
the sale amount were paid as provided in Section 9a of the
"Timber Buyers Licensing Act", approved September 1, 1969, may
be accorded a priority for approval within the assigned
category. Such timber growers may receive a cost share amount
which is increased above the amount for which they would
otherwise qualify by an amount equal to the fees paid by the
timber grower on sales occurring in the 2 fiscal years
immediately preceding the fiscal year in which the forest
management practices are approved and funded; provided,
however, that the total cost share amount shall not exceed the
total cost of the approved forest management practices.
    Upon transfer of his or her right and interest in the land
or a change in land use, the timber grower shall forfeit all
rights to future payments and other benefits resulting from an
approved plan and shall refund to the Department all payments
received therefrom during the previous 10 years unless the
transferee of any such land agrees with the Department to
assume all obligations under the plan.
(Source: P.A. 96-217, eff. 8-10-09; 96-545, eff. 8-17-09.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/9/2024