Since gaveling in on January 9, the Illinois General Assembly has been readying bills for committee hearings, and our legislative team at IEC has been working hard to equip our dozens of bill sponsors with the tools and the public support needed to advance our legislative agenda this session. Legislative committees have become especially busy the last few weeks, and many environmental bills on our agenda have moved forward.
Check out IEC’s Environmental Legislative Agenda for a comprehensive look at the legislation we’re most actively working on during this legislative session. Read on to learn more about the latest legislative movement on significant environmental bills:
BREAKING NEWS: Tackling Plastic Pollution in Illinois
We’re thrilled to report great news from the Capitol today—and on Plastic Reduction Lobby Day no less! The environmental community, through the Coalition for Plastic Reduction, made major strides today in policy that will drastically reduce plastic pollution in our state.
Cornerstone legislation phasing out the use of certain types of single-use plastics advanced out of the Illinois State Senate Environment and Conservation Committee today, an unprecedented milestone for legislation of this kind in Illinois. SB1531, a bill phasing out single-use foam foodware sponsored by Sen. Laura Fine, and SB1872, a bill phasing out single-use plastic shopping bags at large retailers sponsored by Sen. Cristina Castro, both passed out of committee today. Moving out of this Senate committee is a major hurdle cleared towards passage.
Additional plastics legislation, including HB3278 on plastic pellets, HB1370 on microfibers from washing machines, HB1600 on single-use plastic utensils, and HB2516 banning PFAS from consumer products, have been moving forward this week as well.
Environmental Justice
Illinois passed landmark coal ash protections a few years ago through SB9, but NRG has resisted the law and is delaying the removal of coal ash, including on the shores of Lake Michigan in Waukegan. In recent years, we’ve advocated for a bill that would require NRG to remove this toxic coal ash, and we’re taking up the fight yet again this spring. HB1175 will address this key environmental justice issue and protect the nearly 6 million Illinoisans who get their drinking water from Lake Michigan from coal ash pollution.
As the effects of climate change continue to increase historic droughts, floods, and forest fires across the country, Illinois needs to be prepared for the upcoming displacement of millions of people around the country and the world. SB1859, which was introduced by Sen. Graciela Guzmán, will create a task force to assess the resources and assets Illinois needs to develop to alleviate these risks.
Clean Energy
This week, we moved legislation forward that will support Illinois’ managed transition away from expensive, polluting methane gas, including: HB3609 (A. Williams), which pilots thermal energy networks, HB3650 (Lilly), which creates a hub for electrification resources, and HB3312 (Canty), which makes data on energy usage more accessible to help identify opportunities for improvement.
Discussions on the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (SB2473/HB3779) are ongoing. This legislation will help us deploy renewable energy onto our power grid more quickly and ensure our grid is reliable. Our current focus is on ensuring municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives are required to complete transparent energy planning and have full access to the benefits of solar energy.
Legislation to protect sole-source aquifers like the Mahomet Aquifer from contamination due to carbon sequestration also moved forward this week. Both HB3614 (Ammons) and SB1732 (Faraci) moved out of their respective committees.
Clean and Equitable Transportation
We are starting to see some positive movement in our work to expand electric vehicle adoption. This week, HB3349 (Tarver) moved forward, which will facilitate public utilities’ ability to shift loads for oncoming EVs. This afternoon, we’re also expecting HB2380 (LaPointe), which makes key changes to the EV rebate program, to pass out of the Energy and Environment Committee. Our work on public transit is ongoing – a subject matter hearing on HB1833 (Delgado) originally scheduled for this week was postponed until later on in session.
Conservation
Wetlands advanced out of Senate Judiciary for further discussion (SB2401). This critical bill is opposed by the Illinois Farm Bureau, whose national organization was a plaintiff in the US Supreme Court case that gutted the federal Clean Water Act. We also have advanced HB1605 (West), which will provide indigenous tribes the ability to enter into land protection agreements known as conservation easements to protect important natural spaces.
Sustainable Agriculture
A bill to require Illinois to serve more local food in its own state operations through a Good Food Purchasing Policy moved out of the House Agriculture committee. HB3701 (Harper) will be very important for our local food economy. We are also working on new ideas to reduce pollution from agriculture through the state budget, funding soil and water conservation districts and the cover crop insurance discount program.
Standing Up for Illinois Farmers and Rural Communities
IEC joined an Urbana roundtable discussion with Governor Pritzker, US Congresswoman Budzinski, Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Costello, Sola Gratia Farm, The Land Connection, Prairie Rivers Network, and Savanna Institute. The discussion focused on the impacts Trump and Elon Musks’ haphazard funding cuts and federal employee firings have had on rural farmers and small businesses in Illinois. Cuts to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and IL EATS program in particular are creating instability for farmers across Illinois. At the roundtable, advocates and elected officials uplifted the stories of those affected and called on all of us to use our voices to fight back against these unprecedented attacks on critical programs.
