2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 520 - WILDLIFE › 520 ILCS 25/ - Habitat Endowment Act.

(520 ILCS 25/1)
Sec. 1. 
		Short title. 
		This Act may be cited as the Habitat Endowment Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-1015.)
(520 ILCS 25/5)
Sec. 5. 
		Definitions. 
		As used in this Act:
"Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.
"Director" means the Director of Natural Resources.
"Illinois Habitat Fund" means a special fund in the State Treasury
entitled the Illinois Habitat Fund created in Section 15 of this Act.
"Trust Fund" means the Illinois Habitat Endowment Trust Fund created in
Section 15 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)
(520 ILCS 25/10)
Sec. 10. 
		Purpose. 
		It is the purpose of this Act to provide a stable and supplemental source
of money to support activities and programs undertaken by the Department
or other managers of land to preserve, protect, acquire, and manage habitat
for future generations. Habitat quality is measured by such parameters as
type, native diversity, size, structure, scarcity, and location. Linkage
with neighboring habitat, whether existing or potential, is another
important consideration.
Illinois' habitat includes all wetlands, woodlands,
grasslands, and agricultural lands, natural or altered, that support or have
the potential to support populations of wild animals in any or
all phases of their life cycles.
(Source: P.A. 87-1015.)
(520 ILCS 25/15)
Sec. 15. 
		
		The Illinois Habitat Fund and the Illinois Habitat Endowment
Trust Fund.
(a) There is established in the State treasury a special fund entitled the
Illinois Habitat Fund. The moneys in this fund shall be used, pursuant to
appropriation, exclusively by the Department for the preservation and
maintenance of high quality habitat lands. The Illinois Habitat Fund shall be
financed through transfers of investment income earned by the Illinois Habitat
Endowment Trust Fund created in this Section, deposits of fees from
the sale of State Habitat Stamps and artwork as provided for in the Wildlife
Code, and  revenue derived from the sale of Sportsmen Series license
plates.  All interest earned and accrued from moneys deposited into the
Illinois Habitat Fund shall be deposited monthly by the State Treasurer into
the Illinois Habitat Fund.
(b) The Illinois Habitat Endowment Trust Fund is created as a trust
fund in the State treasury.  The Trust Fund shall be financed by a combination
of private donations and transfers or deposits from the Park and Conservation
Fund or any other fund authorized by law. The Department may accept, from all
sources, contributions, grants, gifts, bequests, legacies of money, and
securities to be deposited into the Trust Fund. All deposits shall become part
of the Trust Fund corpus. Moneys in the Trust Fund are not subject to
appropriation and shall be used solely to provide financing to the Illinois
Habitat Fund.  All gifts, grants, assets, funds, or moneys received by the
Department under this Act shall be deposited and held by the State Treasurer as
ex officio custodian thereof, separate and apart from all public moneys or
funds of this State in a trust fund established in accordance with State law,
and shall be administered by the Director exclusively for the purposes set
forth in this Act.  All moneys in the Trust Fund are to be invested and
reinvested by the State Treasurer.  All interest accruing from these
investments shall be deposited in the Trust Fund.
(Source: P.A. 89-611, eff. 1-1-97.)
(520 ILCS 25/20)
Sec. 20. 
		Interest proceeds. 
		The General Assembly may annually appropriate
from the Illinois Habitat Fund an amount equal to the annual investment income
earned by the Trust Fund, any portion of the investment income earned in
preceding years which was not transferred, and any additional amounts deposited
into the Illinois Habitat Fund including the interest earned on the deposits,
to the Department for the purposes set forth in Section 15.  Upon request of
the Director, the Comptroller and State Treasurer shall transfer amounts not to
exceed the actual investment income earned from the Trust Fund to the Illinois
Habitat Fund from time to time as needed for expenditures from the Illinois
Habitat Fund in accordance with appropriations.
(Source: P.A. 87-1015; 87-1197.)
(520 ILCS 25/25)
Sec. 25. 
		Rules. 
		The Department shall have the
authority to promulgate any rules necessary to carry out
the purposes of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-1015.)
(520 ILCS 25/30)
Sec. 30. 
		Advisory Committee. 
		The Illinois Habitat Fund Advisory
Committee is created. The
purpose of the Committee is to advise the Director on the use of funds
from the Illinois Habitat Fund and on other matters pertaining to the
purposes of this Act.  The Committee shall consist of: (1) the Chief of
Wildlife Resources Division or his designee, (2) the Chief of the Land
Management Division or his designee, (3) 3 or more representatives from
statewide conservation organizations appointed by the Director, (4) one person
who is a landowner in the State of Illinois and who is not affiliated with any
other group or organization with representation on the Committee, and (5) 3 or
more representatives appointed by the Director who are from nonprofit
institutions, corporations, or universities within the State and actively
involved in habitat conservation,
enhancement, or restoration.  The Committee shall review and recommend all
allocation of funds from the State Habitat Fund, with the exception of
revenue derived from the sale of Sportsmen Series license plates. Members of
the Committee
shall serve without compensation, but expenses incurred in the performance
of their duties shall be reimbursed by the Department. The Committee shall
initiate the performance of its duties at the time the corpus of the
Habitat Endowment Trust Fund attains a level of $10 million.
(Source: P.A. 89-611, eff. 1-1-97.)
(520 ILCS 25/35)
Sec. 35. 
		Eminent domain. 
		The Department is not authorized to and shall
not use eminent domain proceedings to acquire property under this Act
unless the landowner agrees to submit to eminent domain proceedings.
(Source: P.A. 87-1015.)
(520 ILCS 25/37)
Sec. 37. Eminent domain. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any power granted under this Act to acquire property by condemnation or eminent domain is subject to, and shall be exercised in accordance with, the Eminent Domain Act.
(Source: P.A. 94-1055, eff. 1-1-07.)
(520 ILCS 25/49)
Sec. 49. 
		This Act takes effect upon becoming law, except that Sec. 
		45 takes effect April 1, 1993.
(Source: P.A. 87-1015.)