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Illinois Stewardship Alliance and Illinois Farmers Union initiated this bill, and have collaborated with the Illinois Environmental Council and Illinois Farm Bureau in a coalition of farm and environmental interests to bring hemp back to Illinois. Read the full article here.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago first proposed the Location-based Video Game Protection Act in August following reports of gamers searching for virtual Pokemon at places like the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland and Japan’s Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Read the full article here.

Illinois Environmental Council Executive Director Jen Walling said the study proved the tax was working. Read the full article here.

“We’ve all seen where disposable bags often end up – wrapped around trees and bushes, in Lake Michigan or the Chicago River, blowing around on windy days,” said Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, in a press release. “Hopefully the reduction we’ve seen so far is a first step in getting all

“It is great news that disposable bag use has declined since the Checkout Bag Tax went into effect,” said Jen Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council, in a statement. “We’ve all seen where disposable bags often end up – wrapped around trees and bushes, in Lake Michigan or the Chicago River, blowing around

While the Illinois Department of Natural Resources declared it first bobcat hunting season a success after 141 animals were taken from the lower third of the state last fall, groups that oppose the hunt plan to keep the pressure on. Read the full article here.

After the news conference, Jennifer Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, an advocacy group, said Koehler is working with a coalition of rural legislators to get the agricultural interests to negotiate. She called the bills a solid first step. “There’s more we’d like to do, but these are reforms we want to see

The zones would work similarly to Tax Increment Financing districts, which receive subsidies to encourage redevelopment and community-improvement projects in areas in need of revitalization, said Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, which supports the legislation. Read the full article here.

Despite significant efforts to reduce lead exposure from water, paint and other sources, the release of toxic lead into the environment in the form of ammunition is mostly unregulated, according to the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC). Read the full article here.

More than a thousand people visited, volunteered, exhibited and otherwise experienced the 2017 Going Green Matters environmental fair on Sunday, undeterred by cold weather and lured by the possibility of seeing their world from the inside, a fair organizer said Monday. Read the full article here.

by IEC Executive Director Jen WallingIt is no secret that the change in administrations in Washington has brought a major shift in federal environmental policies. President Donald Trump has made clear his intention to roll back key initiatives enacted during the Obama Administration that tackled climate change and promoted clean energy. Fortunately, in Illinois, we

Working alongside the Illinois Environmental Council and the Sierra Club, Moeller has introduced House Bill 685, which would prohibit local governments from fining residents who have milkweed on their property. Read the full article here.

“This is the first step in our final goal of a lead-free water system in Illinois,” said Jennifer Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, which has been pushing a testing bill for months. “The standardization of testing protocols and parental notification of results put Illinois at the forefront of the country in protecting

Representatives from the nonpartisan Illinois Environmental Council will help distribute the free bags this week. The organization started giving out the bags last week during a networking event. Read the full article here.

For environmental advocates, Illinois ended 2016 with two major victories: the passing of a landmark energy bill and an act requiring schools to test drinking water sources for lead. But the state saw a number of other environmental initiatives last year, many of which are highlighted in the Illinois Environmental Council’s 2016 Environmental Scorecard. Read the

Schools built in 2001 and thereafter do not have to be tested at this time. Though, the law allows the Illinois Department of Public Health to write rules for further testing of newer schools, if warranted, based on the test results of the older facilities, said Jennifer Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council.

“Despite what you might be feeling about things at the federal level, things are going in our favor here in Illinois,” said Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, which organized the meeting. Read the full article here.

It follows a crisis in Flint, Michigan, which showed the dangers of lead contamination. And Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan last year called for lead testing in schools after the Illinois Environmental Council found levels of lead in some Chicago and suburban school districts. Read the full article here.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office and the Illinois Environmental Council pushed for lead testing for months, but Rauner’s administration wasn’t on board until recent negotiations. Earlier versions of the bill required water suppliers to pay for the testing, which experts estimate could run from $500 to $5,000 per facility. Read the full article here.

Though lead testing cost local school districts thousands of dollars each, superintendents say the efforts were well worth the price — and some schools might already be compliant under the new law. The Illinois Department of Public Health will accept results from tests conducted after 2013, according to Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois