Bill Text: IL HB2219 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Authorizes the corporate authorities of a sanitary district to issue bonds prior to December 31, 2034, for the development of distributed renewable energy generation devices. Also authorizes a district to construct, maintain, finance, and operate distributed renewable energy generation devices as necessary to sell or otherwise dispose of recovered resources or renewable energy resources resulting from the operation of district facilities. Defines "distributed renewable energy generation device".

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-07-28 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-0299 [HB2219 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB2219-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 103-0299
HB2219 Enrolled LRB103 03428 AWJ 48434 b
AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act
is amended by changing Sections 9.6a and 56 as follows:
(70 ILCS 2605/9.6a) (from Ch. 42, par. 328.6a)
Sec. 9.6a. Bonds for sewage treatment, and water quality,
and facility improvements. The corporate authorities of a
sanitary district, in order to provide funds required for the
replacing, remodeling, completing, altering, constructing and
enlarging of sewage treatment works, administrative buildings,
water quality improvement projects, distributed renewable
energy generation devices, or flood control facilities, and
additions therefor, pumping stations, tunnels, conduits,
intercepting sewers and outlet sewers, together with the
equipment, including air pollution equipment, and
appurtenances thereto, to acquire property, real, personal or
mixed, necessary for said purposes, for costs and expenses for
the acquisition of the sites and rights-of-way necessary
thereto, and for engineering expenses for designing and
supervising the construction of such works, may issue on or
before December 31, 2034, in addition to all other obligations
heretofore or herein authorized, bonds, notes or other

evidences of indebtedness for such purposes in an aggregate
amount at any one time outstanding not to exceed 3.35% of the
equalized assessed valuation of all taxable property within
the sanitary district, to be ascertained by the last
assessment for State and local taxes previous to the issuance
of any such obligations. Such obligations shall be issued
without submitting the question of such issuance to the legal
voters of such sanitary district for approval.
The corporate authorities may sell such obligations at
private or public sale and enter into any contract or
agreement necessary, appropriate or incidental to the exercise
of the powers granted by this Act, including, without
limitation, contracts or agreements for the sale and purchase
of such obligations and the payment of costs and expenses
incident thereto. The corporate authorities may pay such costs
and expenses, in whole or in part, from the corporate fund.
Such obligations shall be issued from time to time only in
amounts as may be required for such purposes but the amount of
such obligations issued during any one budget year shall not
exceed $150,000,000 plus the amount of any obligations
authorized by this Act to be issued during the 3 budget years
next preceding the year of issuance but which were not issued,
provided, however, that this limitation shall not be
applicable (i) to the issuance of obligations to refund bonds,
notes or other evidences of indebtedness, (ii) to obligations
issued to provide for the repayment of money received from the

Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund for the construction or
repair of wastewater treatment works, and (iii) to obligations
issued as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009, issued prior to January 1, 2011, that are commonly
known as "Build America Bonds" as authorized by Section 54AA
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Each
ordinance authorizing the issuance of the obligations shall
state the general purpose or purposes for which they are to be
issued, and the corporate authorities may at any time
thereafter pass supplemental appropriations ordinances
appropriating the proceeds from the sale of such obligations
for such purposes.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 9.6 or
this Section, and in addition to any other amount of bonds
authorized to be issued under this Act, the corporate
authorities are authorized to issue from time to time bonds of
the district in a principal amount not to exceed $600,000,000
for the purpose of making contributions to the pension fund
established under Article 13 of the Illinois Pension Code
without submitting the question of issuing bonds to the voters
of the District. Any bond issuances under this paragraph are
intended to decrease the unfunded liability of the pension
fund and shall not decrease the amount of the employer
contributions required in any given year under Section 13-503
of the Illinois Pension Code.
The corporate authorities may issue bonds, notes or other

evidences of indebtedness in an amount necessary to provide
funds to refund outstanding obligations issued pursuant to
this Section, including interest accrued or to accrue thereon.
(Source: P.A. 101-302, eff. 1-1-20; 102-707, eff. 4-22-22.)
(70 ILCS 2605/56)
Sec. 56. Resource recovery.
(a) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) technological advancements in wastewater treatment
have resulted in the ability to capture recovered
resources and produce renewable energy resources from
material previously discarded;
(2) the capture and beneficial reuse of recovered
resources and the production of renewable energy resources
serves a wide variety of environmental benefits including,
but not limited to, improved water quality, reduction of
greenhouse gases, reduction of carbon footprint, reduction
of landfill usage, reduced usage of hydrocarbon-based
fuels, return of nutrients to the food cycle, and reduced
water consumption;
(3) the district is a leader in the field of
wastewater treatment and possesses the expertise and
experience necessary to capture and beneficially reuse or
prepare for beneficial reuse recovered resources,
including renewable energy resources; and
(4) the district has the opportunity and ability to

change the approach to wastewater treatment from that of a
waste material to be disposed of to one of a collection of
resources to be recovered, reused, and sold, with the
opportunity to provide the district with additional
sources of revenue and reduce operating costs.
(b) As used in this Section:
"Distributed renewable energy generation device" has the
meaning given to that term in Section 1-10 of the Illinois
Power Agency Act.
"Recovered resources" means any material produced by or
extracted from the operation of district facilities,
including, but not limited to:
(1) solids, including solids from the digestion
process, semi-solids, or liquid materials;
(2) gases, including biogas, carbon dioxide, and
methane;
(3) nutrients;
(4) algae;
(5) treated effluent; and
(6) thermal energy or hydropower.
"Renewable energy facility" shall have the same meaning as
a facility defined under Section 5 of the Renewable Energy
Production District Act.
"Renewable energy resources" means resources as defined
under Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.
"Resource recovery" means the recovery of material or

energy from waste as defined under Section 3.435 of the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Act.
(c) The district may sell or otherwise dispose of
recovered resources or renewable energy resources resulting
from the operation of district facilities, and may construct,
maintain, finance, and operate such activities, facilities,
distributed renewable energy generation devices, and other
works as are necessary for that purpose.
(d) The district may take in materials which are used in
the generation of usable products from recovered resources, or
which increase the production of renewable energy resources,
including, but not limited to food waste, organic fraction of
solid waste, commercial or industrial organic wastes, fats,
oils, and greases, and vegetable debris.
(e) The authorizations granted to the district under this
Section shall not be construed as modifying or limiting any
other law or regulation. Any actions taken pursuant to the
authorities granted in this Section must be in compliance with
all applicable laws and regulations, including, but not
limited to, the Environmental Protection Act, and rules
adopted under that Act.
(Source: P.A. 98-731, eff. 7-16-14.)