Since gaveling in on January 13th, the Illinois General Assembly has been slowly 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.
Though the ongoing election has captivated the attention of most folks in and around the Capitol, we’re anticipating a significant uptick in legislative business starting next week, including some movement on our legislative priorities. While a majority of the action on big bills, like the POWER Act and other priorities, will likely take place later on and through the end of May, we’ve been working with our Senate sponsors to either advance important discussions or request extensions for key priorities that need further development.
Yesterday marked the Senate Committee deadline, and we were pleased to see EJ Permitting, PFAS Wastewater Monitoring, and Plug-in Solar bills move out of committee. Generally, bills that didn’t pass out of committee in that chamber will need a deadline extension, or they will be unable to move forward.
After the primary on the 17th, the House is coming back with a lot of work on their plates as they approach their own committee deadline on March 27th. The committees during those two weeks will be packed with legislation, and we will be tracking the conversation in each committee.
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:
Save Illinois Wetlands
IEC and our partners have been working to pass legislation reinstating legal protections for some of Illinois’ most vulnerable wetlands after the U.S. Supreme Court and Trump administration have made moves to strip most wetlands in the United States of federal Clean Water Act protections. It’s time for the state to step up and protect the remaining 10% of Illinois’ historic wetlands. Languishing in the legislature for the last two regular legislative sessions, it’s time to turn the pressure up on this top priority bill.
We are expecting the first major step forward on that legislation to come next Thursday during the House Energy and Environment Committee hearing, but we need your help. If at least 50 Illinoisans show up to the Capitol that day, we can make a strong visual impact with legislators that day and significantly increase our odds of moving the bill forward!
All participants joining us that day will get a free Save Illinois Wetlands t-shirt! Can’t make it? You can still help. Click here to send a message to Gov. Pritzker asking him to back protections for vulnerable wetlands.
Environmental Justice Air Permitting (SB3772)
This was voted out of the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday, March 11, and has the support of IEPA and the governor. The bill will reform air permitting and ensure that IEPA accurately defines Environmental Justice communities based on current and past pollution and demographics. This information will be used to evaluate the IEPA’s air permitting program for the biggest polluters and could include additional pollution reduction measures or permit denial in EJ communities.
Expanding Access to Plug-In Solar (SB3104)
Plug-in solar typically consists of one to four small solar panels designed for simple self-installation by homeowners or renters. The system connects to the home’s electrical system via a plug into a standard wall outlet. The panels usually rest propped up in yards and on balconies – no roof access required. Unfortunately, outdated local permitting red tape is shutting families out of access to plug-in solar, an approachable way to keep energy affordable, reliable, and clean. SB3104 allows families to plug small solar systems (i.e. one panel) into an outlet without needing to make changes to the home’s wiring. This provision is essential to keeping costs down and enabling renters to use plug-in solar. SB3104 passed out of committee this morning with a vote of 8–4.
Federal Roll Backstop (SB3556)
With the federal administration rolling back key environmental protections, our state legislators are working with Illinois state agencies to ensure we keep in place our strong regulations against air, water, and hazardous waste pollution. This bill keeps current pollution limits in place even if the federal government rolls them back. The bill was voted out of the Senate Environment and Conservation Committee on Tuesday, March 12.
Tackling Toxic Plastic Waste in our Communities
We started the year off on a strong foot in the House, where we passed the Plastic Pellet-Free Water Act out of committee. The bill directs IEPA to develop and implement stormwater pollution controls for plastic pellets. Our next challenge will be to get the necessary votes to pass it out of the House Floor.
Additionally, IEC and our affiliates have been hard at work raising awareness of the effects of plastic pollution on our communities for years, and we are hopeful the hard work will pay off in the coming weeks. Our policies to phase out polystyrene foam foodware containers at restaurants and reduce the amount of plastic silverware we receive from carry-out orders cleared the first chamber last year, so we’re eagerly awaiting to advance them into the opposite chamber this spring.
Additionally, a couple of high school students from Pontiac, Illinois, have been working with us to develop a Vape Stewardship Program Bill after they noticed how many vapes were being improperly thrown out in their community. Vapes have been on the rise in recent years, and awareness of proper disposal has not kept up with their ascent. Vapes are made of hard-to-recycle materials and contain contaminants, toxins, and filaments that, if not properly disposed of, can cause fires and harm our ecosystem. We’ve been working with the state agencies to properly develop this program and hold producers responsible for the long-term stewardship of these devices.
Groundwater Governance Subject Matter Hearing
Data Centers are consuming a lot of energy (pun intended) in the legislature right now, which has helped us raise awareness about the power and water consumption rates of these facilities. Many of our advocates have worked to bring water protection provisions into the POWER Act and raise awareness that there is an issue of groundwater governance across the state. Senator Ellman held a Subject Matter Hearing this month, bringing IEPA, IDNR, IDOA, CMAP, IDPH, and advocates to discuss current water governance structures and uncover a gap in communication across the agencies. This is the beginning of a longer opportunity for advocacy, and we welcome your voice as it develops.
Developing Policies
With the slow start to the session, we’ve taken the opportunity to dive into bill development with several of our sponsors. We’ve had in-depth discussions with agencies and stakeholders on our Pesticide Notification, Agrovoltaics, and Clean Vehicle Infrastructure bills. In the coming weeks, we will be working hard to advance these bills out of committee.
So much more to come. Please stay tuned for our time-sensitive action alerts and be ready to submit them quickly. There will be plenty of opportunities to move great environmental bills forward and we’ll be counting on your help.