Environment

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that no person shall conduct a carbon sequestration activity within a sequestration facility that overlies, underlies, or passes through a sole-source aquifer. Defines "sole-source aquifer". Effective immediately.

Amends the Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Act. Provides that requests for grant assistance shall include, but not be limited to, those activities that will implement or enhance: (1) current Illinois Forest Action Plans objectives; (2) local Forestry Program management objectives as determined by an urban and community forestry management plan; (3) build tree canopy capacity in underserved and disadvantaged areas of communities or counties; or (4) improve urban and community forest canopy in Illinois communities and counties. Makes changes in provisions duties of the Department of Natural Resources; the concerning grants. amounts. Defines terms.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Defines "organic waste". Provides that no person shall conduct an organic waste composting operation, other than a landscape waste composting operation, without an Agency permit. Exempts from this permitting requirement: (1) persons conducting an organic waste composting operation that (i) has no more than 25 cubic yards of source-separated organic waste, composting additives, composting material, or end-product compost on-site at any one time and (ii) is not engaging in commercial activity and (2) persons conducting an organic waste composting operation that meets certain siting and operational requirements.

Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides gas collection and control system requirements for municipal solid waste landfills, including requirements for gas to be collected from each area in which solid waste has been in place for at least one year, for gas to be drawn toward the gas control devices, for a gas collection and control system to be installed within 12 months of reaching certain thresholds, for gas collection and control design plans to provide for alternative preliminary measures, and for the methane destruction efficiency of flared systems to reach 99%.

Creates the Household Hazardous Waste Stewardship Act. Requires manufacturers, beginning January 1, 2027, to implement a stewardship program for covered products. Details manufacturer obligations under the stewardship program, including in the context of a stewardship organization comprised of manufacturers. Requires registration by April 1, 2026, and annually, for each manufacturer who sells covered products in the State and each stewardship organization. Details the roles of retailers and collections sites. Outlines stewardship plan components. Provides requirements for the Environmental Protection Agency for stewardship plan approval. Details requirements for a stewardship organization implementing a stewardship plan, as well as other statewide collection requirements. Details reporting requirements. Requires a stewardship organization to pay to the Agency an annual fee of $200,000, split if there is more than one stewardship organization. Provides for responsibilities for the Agency. Provides for immunity from antitrust laws. Provides for rulemaking authority for the Agency. Provides for civil and criminal penalties. Allows collection of covered products by a premium collection service. Makes findings. Defines terms. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Agriculture Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Directs the Department of Agriculture to study: (1) the specific actions that can be taken and the practices that can be implemented to mitigate the impacts of drought and climate change on agriculture in the State; (2) the costs, benefits, and feasibility of establishing and implementing financial and technical assistance programs to mitigate the impacts of drought and climate change on agricultural producers in the State; (3) the costs, benefits, and feasibility of using agricultural land management to realize greenhouse gas reductions and maximize carbon sequestration opportunities in the State; (4) the costs, benefits, and feasibility of using floatovoltaics in State waterways; and (5) the costs, benefits, and feasibility of establishing within the Department an Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office for the purpose of providing agricultural producers with the voluntary technical assistance, nonregulatory programs, and incentives necessary to harden the State's agricultural sector to the coming impacts of drought and climate change. Allows the Department to enter into a contract or grant agreement with one or more organizations or institutions with expertise in environmental and agricultural issues for the purpose of completing the tasks delegated to the Department in these provisions. Authorizes the Department, in conducting the required cost-benefit analyses, to take into account the value of ecosystem services. Directs the Department to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly within 2 years after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Allows the board of a forest preserve district to establish a special forest preserve district retailers' occupation tax and service occupation tax after referendum of the voters. Allows the tax to used exclusively for general purposes, including education, outdoor recreation, maintenance, operations, public safety at the forest preserves, trails, acquiring and restoring land, and any other lawful purposes or programs determined by the board of that district. Includes referendum language and additional ballot informational language. Incorporates provisions from the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act to implement the tax. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Special Forest Preserve Retailers' and Service Occupation Tax Fund. Effective immediately.

Amends the Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act. Provides that penalty fees collected for violating the Act and application fees for permits shall be deposited into the Water Resources Fund (rather than the State Boating Act Fund).