Bill Text: IL HB4708 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act. Provides that the public right to access and use navigable waters includes all rights recognized by State or federal law, including the rights set forth in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the federal navigational servitude, and all rights arising under the public trust doctrine, which shall be understood and applied in a manner consistent with the spirit of the Act to maximize the full and free enjoyment of State waters by the public. Provides that any segment of a lake, river, or stream that is capable of supporting use by commercial or recreational watercraft for a substantial part of the year, or that is actually so used, shall be deemed navigable, and shall be open to public access and use, unless the contrary is proven in litigation by a preponderance of the evidence. Provides that public uses in such waters shall include boating, tubing, fishing, swimming, and wading. Requires the Department of Natural Resources to protect such public uses against interference or encroachment as provided in the Act. Provides that no action or inaction by the Department of Natural Resources shall create a presumption, in any civil or criminal litigation, against the navigability of any waterway segment. Provides that the public right to access and use navigable waters shall be subject to specified protections and limitations, a violation of which shall be punished as otherwise provided by law, and, if likely to continue, enjoined by a court of competent jurisdiction. Provides that nothing in the Act shall limit the right of any person to challenge the legality of alleged interference with the public right to access or use navigable waters in any appropriate civil or criminal litigation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4708 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4708-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4708 Introduced , by Rep. Janet Yang Rohr SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
615 ILCS 5/5 from Ch. 19, par. 52
615 ILCS 5/5a new
615 ILCS 5/25 from Ch. 19, par. 72
Amends the Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act. Provides that the public right to access and use navigable waters includes all rights recognized by State or federal law, including the rights set forth in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the federal navigational servitude, and all rights arising under the public trust doctrine, which shall be understood and applied in a manner consistent with the spirit of the Act to maximize the full and free enjoyment of State waters by the public. Provides that any segment of a lake, river, or stream that is capable of supporting use by commercial or recreational watercraft for a substantial part of the year, or that is actually so used, shall be deemed navigable, and shall be open to public access and use, unless the contrary is proven in litigation by a preponderance of the evidence. Provides that public uses in such waters shall include boating, tubing, fishing, swimming, and wading. Requires the Department of Natural Resources to protect such public uses against interference or encroachment as provided in the Act. Provides that no action or inaction by the Department of Natural Resources shall create a presumption, in any civil or criminal litigation, against the navigability of any waterway segment. Provides that the public right to access and use navigable waters shall be subject to specified protections and limitations, a violation of which shall be punished as otherwise provided by law, and, if likely to continue, enjoined by a court of competent jurisdiction. Provides that nothing in the Act shall limit the right of any person to challenge the legality of alleged interference with the public right to access or use navigable waters in any appropriate civil or criminal litigation.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning transportation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Rivers, Lakes, and Streams Act is amended
by changing Sections 5 and 25 and by adding Section 5a as
follows:
(615 ILCS 5/5) (from Ch. 19, par. 52)
Sec. 5. The Department of Natural Resources shall upon
behalf of the State of Illinois, have jurisdiction and
supervision over all of the rivers and lakes of the State of
Illinois, wherein the State of Illinois or the people of the
State have any rights or interests, and shall make a list by
counties of all the waters of Illinois, showing the waters,
both navigable and non-navigable, that are found in each
county of the State, and if the same are lakes, the extent of
the shore lines and the amount, extent and area of the water
surface; and in a like way, if the same are rivers, and
specifying whether the same are navigable or non-navigable,
and whether they have or have not been meandered.
(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)
(615 ILCS 5/5a new)
Sec. 5a. Public right to access and use navigable waters.

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(a) The public right to access and use navigable waters
includes all rights recognized by State or federal law,
including the rights set forth in the Northwest Ordinance of
1787 and the federal navigational servitude and all rights
arising under the public trust doctrine, which shall be
understood and applied in a manner consistent with the spirit
of section 26 to maximize the full and free enjoyment of State
waters by the public. Any segment of a lake, river, or stream
that is capable of supporting use by commercial or
recreational watercraft for any substantial part of the year,
or that is actually so used, shall be deemed navigable under
such laws for purposes of public access and use, unless the
contrary is proven in litigation by a preponderance of the
evidence. Public uses in such waters shall include boating,
tubing, fishing, swimming, and wading. The Department of
Natural Resources shall protect such public uses against
interference or encroachment as hereinafter provided in this
Act. No action or inaction by the Department of Natural
Resources shall create a presumption, in any civil or criminal
litigation, against the navigability of any waterway segment.
(b) The public right to access and use navigable waters
shall be subject to the following protections and limitations,
a violation of which shall be punished as otherwise provided
by law, and, if likely to continue, enjoined by a court of
competent jurisdiction:
(1) no person shall interfere with or obstruct public

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access to and use of navigable waters for any lawful
purpose;
(2) any person lawfully using navigable waters may
touch the beds of bodies of water and adjacent riparian
lands as reasonably needed for the person's lawful
activities, but any portage on dry land shall be made in a
safe manner that is (i) most direct, (ii) least invasive,
and (iii) closest to the water;
(3) any person lawfully using navigable waters shall
refrain from littering or otherwise creating a public or
private nuisance; and
(4) any person using navigable waters shall not enter
or exit from a point that is not public property or a
public roadway without the express or implied permission
of the occupant or owner of the property.
(c) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit or
supersede the power or authority of any unit of local
government to regulate or police public property under the
ownership or control of the unit of local government,
including, but not limited to, any segment of a lake, river,
stream, or any other navigable waters, and the ingress or
egress thereto, or to otherwise alter the power or authority
granted to that unit of local government under any State law.
(d) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to alter
the permit requirements and programs set forth in this Act or
to expand the responsibilities of the Department of Natural

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Resources under Sections 11, 22, and 23b of this Act