Illinois House Passes Bill for Mercury Thermostat Collection
April 8, 2008
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.
Push to Allow New Nuclear Plants in Illinois
April 7, 2008
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.
Bill Would Allow Governor to Raid Funds
April 4, 2008
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.
Halftime in the Legislative Session
March 31, 2008
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.
