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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

“The environmental defense fund estimates that a quarter of all lead pipes in the nation are in Illinois. This is just the first step towards identifying what that risk is,” said Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. 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.

“With this legislation, Illinois will now be able to compete head-to-head for clean energy jobs with any other state in the nation — and win,” said Jennifer Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), who added “The Future Energy Jobs bill fixes and improves the broken Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), leading to $12

“With this legislation, Illinois will now be able to compete head-to-head for clean energy jobs with any other state in the nation — and win,” said Jennifer Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), who added “The Future Energy Jobs bill fixes and improves the broken Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), leading to $12

At a bill-signing ceremony Wednesday at Clinton High School, Jennifer Walling, the executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, which represents more than 80 organizations across the state, hailed the new law as “the most significant piece of climate and clean energy policy in Illinois’ history.” Read full article here.

Since last year, her office has called for mandated lead testing in schools with the Illinois Environmental Council, which says there is a lack of information available to parents about water supplies. Read the full article here.