As the dust settles from what turned out to be a long-winded and unproductive legislative session, the Illinois Environmental Council has been assessing the progress made (or damage done) on some 60 pieces of legislation it’s been tracking throughout the last six months. Unfortunately, only four environmental bills eventually got passed, and only one of those originated from the environmental community. It was a do-nothing session right down to the wire, and much important legislation got caught up in the political wrangling that has marked this legislature for the past two years.

The one bill IEC and others managed to push through the political inertia is HB 4407, sponsored by Rep. Beth Coulson and Sen. Heather Steans. The bill will reinstate the Structural Pest Control Act, which expired on Jan. 1 of this year after routine legislation to extend a sunset provision didn’t pass in 2007. The Act governs the indoor application of pesticides in Illinois and has significantly reduced this health threat in schools and childcare facilities.

The three other legislative successes this session were: HB 4159, which promotes recycling and the purchase of recycled products in schools; HB 4646, which clarifies that municipalities, counties and schools can own wind farms to generate their own renewable power; and HB 5930, which adds LED lights to the list of energy efficient lighting that is required in state buildings.

Meanwhile, several environmental bills stalled in various stages of the legislative process. We’re hopeful that the political bickering that idled this important legislation will be resolved before the end of the year and it can move forward in the November veto session.

When the 95th Illinois General Assembly adjourned May 31, it left much unfinished environmental business on the table. Below is a look at the bills that IEC and its partners worked on that stalled in the recent legislative session.

The Global Warming Response Act

This omnibus bill (SB 2220) was introduced at a press conference in April along with the unveiling of the Illinois Climate Action Network (Illinois CAN), a coalition or groups that advocates policies to reduce global warming pollution to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The Illinois Senate held a hearing on the bill that was attended by IEC representatives as well as industry lobbyists who complained about the costs the measure would create for them.

The Global Warming Response Act contains initiatives that build on the recommendations of Illinois’ Climate Change Advisory Group formed in 2006. They include a cap-and-trade with 100% auction provision, which would lower greenhouse gas emissions from power plants to 1990 levels by 2020; a low-carbon fuel standard, and an energy efficient furnace measure. There was some interest in but little movement on these initiatives, and most of IEC’s energy was spent on these two breakout bills from the Act:

Illinois Clean Cars Act (HB 3424/SB 2238)– This enacts standards already in place in 14 other states that would reduce by 40 percent carbon dioxide emissions from cars by 2020. IEC and its partner groups held three press conferences in April and May to highlight the health and economic benefits of this bill and were close to getting a vote on the bill in the House when the session ended May 31.

Energy Efficiency Building Act (HB 1842) – This legislation would set a statewide standard for residential building energy efficiency that would reduce Illinois’ contribution to global warming pollution while lowering the costs associated with owning a home. By the end of the session, it was an “agreed bill,” meaning there was no opposition to it. Still, it was held up by political wrangling.

For more information about global warming legislation, visit www.illinoisclimateactionnetwork.org or www.ilcleancars.org.

Mercury Bills

The IEC and its member groups have been so successful over the last five years in getting products containing mercury banned in Illinois that we’ve shifted our recent education and lobbying efforts to the next stage – the recycling of mercury-containing products. Two bills we shepherded in the House and Senate in 2008 made it part-way through the legislative process before stalling as the session ended:

Mercury Thermostat Collection Act (HB 5348) – Last year, Illinois banned the sale of new mercury thermostats, and this bill addressed the problem of those already installed in homes and other buildings. IEC focused most of its energy and resources on the House version of this bill, which eventually passed, but the Senate measure went nowhere. This is unfortunate, because each mercury thermostat contains as much as three grams of the heavy metal – enough to contaminate a 60-acre lake and all of its fish.

The Illinois EPA estimates that somewhere between 88,000 and 132,000 mercury thermostats are disposed of annually in Illinois, with only about five percent collected for recycling.

Mercury in Cosmetics Act (SB2860) – This bill to ban the sale of cosmetics containing mercury passed the Senate unanimously. It was amended in the House to include a limitation on lead in toys and passed the House overwhelmingly, but the Senate didn’t act to concur with the amendment before the General Assembly adjourned.

CFL Bulb Collection Resolution (HR 1316 and SR 724) – These two resolutions calling for retailers to implement a voluntary compact fluorescent light bulb collection program were introduced to lay the groundwork for support of legislation on this issue in 2009.

The Electronic Products Recycling Bill (SB 2313), which would create a program for the collection and recycling of e-waste such as computers, consumer electronics and other electrical appliances, had significant support in the Senate. Still, it failed to come to a vote.

Open Space Funding

Early in the 2008 legislative session, it appeared that long-standing funding for open space in the form of OSLAD (Open Space Land Acquisition and Development) and NAAF (Natural Areas Acquisition Fund) funding was in danger of being cut in FY2009. In late February, Gov. Rod Blagojevich proposed a state budget that reflected a 41 percent drop in funding for OSLAD (from $34 million to $20 million) and a 60 percent cut in support for NAAF (from $15 million to $6 million).

Partners for Parks and Wildlife, a coalition environmental, conservation, recreation and sportsmen’s organizations including IEC, immediately went to work, rallying supporters and lobbying hard to get the funding restored, which the General Assembly did in its budget submitted to the governor in June. With that threat averted, we shifted into high gear to get open space supporters mobilized to attend a series of hearings regarding a capital construction plan that would create a budget for infrastructure improvements such as new roads and schools. PPW folks made statements at all of the meetings around the state, which were held by the Illinois Works Coalition task force led by Glen Poshard and Denny Hastert. Ultimately, it looked like $200 million had been allocated for open space in the final proposal, but the entire capital plan died a dramatic death in the House late on May 31, the last night of the session.

No matter the result, the environmental community owes a big thanks to House Republicans Tom Cross and Beth Coulson and House Democrats Julie Hamos, Karen May and Elaine Nekritz, all of whom championed open space funding in the capital budget.

House Bill 5348, sponsored by Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, passed the House unanimously today. The bill creates a program to collect and recycle mercury containing thermostats. Last year Illinois banned the sale of new mercury thermostats, and this bills addresses the problem of thermostats that are currently installed in homes and other buildings.

Each mercury thermostat contains as much as 3 grams of mercury, enough to contaminate a 60 acre lake and all of its fish. The Illinois EPA estimates that somewhere between 88,000 and 132,000 mercury thermostats are disposed of annually in Illinois, with only about 5 percent being collected for recycling.

Below is a video clip from the House Environmental Health Committee hearing on March 11, 2008 when HB 5348 was debated by the committee.

The House Public Utilities Committee on Wednesday night endorsed a push to remove a standing moratorium on permitting a new nuclear plant until such time as the federal government has created a long-term solution to deal with the problem of radioactive waste disposal.

The Committee voted 10-2 in support of HB 2971, with only Reps. Al Riley and Monique Davis voting against the bill. This was another instance of a major substantive bill being unveiled with little notice. IEC learned about the bill 15 minutes before the hearing, but Legislative Director John Gaudette attended the hearing and was the only person to testify in opposition.

IEC is working with the Nuclear Energy Information Service and other groups such as Sierra Club, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Environment Illinois to try to keep this bill from moving further.

A bill passed the Senate on Thursday that would give the Governor virtually unfettered authority to transfer money out of dedicated funds. This power could be used to transfer money out of dedicated funds such as Partners for Conservation, NAAF and OSLAD. The language showed up on Wednesday as an amendment to HB 473 that was approved by the Senate Executive Committee on a party line vote. At this point in the session amendments can be heard in committee with only a one hour notice, but fortunately IEC heard about it in time to oppose the amendment, although to no avail.

Before passing, the bill was amended to exempt about 20 funds from being raided. In a recognition of the level of opposition to taking money away from funds dedicated to conservation, one of the funds exempted was OSLAD, although the other related funds were left unprotected. While the bill did pass the full Senate, also on a party line vote, most political observers feel that the bill will be killed in the House.

On March 14th the General Assembly wrapped up the first half of the legislative session before beginning a two week Spring Break. At this point, any bill that did not pass committee in its chamber of origin is considered dead (although they can be resurrected later as an amendment to another bill). Less than half of the bills IEC has been tracking are still alive in the legislative process. All of the bills that IEC opposed were killed, and while many of our priority bills did not survive, there are several still active.

A bill to require recycling of electronic waste (SB 2313) is pending in the Senate along with SB 2303, which would create a program to retrofit diesel vehicles. Also in the Senate is SB 1992, to allow Counties to set up farmland protection programs. Over in the House, HB 5348 would require the collection and recycling of mercury thermostats, while HB 5519 would restore liability protection for property owners who open up their land to the public for recreational purposes.

One of the highlights was the introduction of the Global Warming Response Act (HB 5254 & SB 2220). These bills lay out a comprehensive vision for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Illinois. The bills will be the subject of hearings and discussions moving forward.

Check back for updates, and keep track of specific bills on the IEC bill tracker page.