Illinois Administrative Code › Title 17 - CONSERVATION › Part 4020 - INVENTORIES, REGISTERS AND RECORDS › Subpart C - DATA USE AND LIMITATIONS › Section 4020.310 - Data Use and Limitations

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Natural
				heritage data is non-transferable and cannot be provided to third parties. Any
				and all requests for data access from third parties shall be directed to the
				NHD Program by the licensee. Licensees, such as consultants or subcontractors,
				may not provide natural heritage data to third parties, such as a client or
				contractor. If the third party needs the natural heritage data for a project,
				the third party must also pay the fee and sign a Data License
				Agreement.
b) The accuracy of this
				data is time-limited as the NHD is updated on a daily to quarterly basis.
				Licensees are encouraged to get data updates.
c) If the licensee is a governmental or
				private entity, the licensee shall ensure that access to the data is limited to
				those individuals within the entity who require access to the data for the
				stated project and purpose of the Data Licensing Agreement. The licensee is
				responsible for ensuring that all such individuals understand and adhere to the
				terms of the Data Licensing Agreement.
d) Release of precise species locations may
				threaten natural heritage resources. Licensees shall take reasonable
				precautions to ensure the confidentiality of T&E species locations. When
				precise locations need to be displayed in publicly-accessible documents or
				websites, species location should be generalized or displayed without species'
				names when possible.
e) Licensees
				must provide the NHD Program with any T&E species information that is
				collected during the term of the Data Licensing Agreement so as to keep the
				natural heritage database current. This information includes species location,
				date observed, names of observers, and number observed.
f) Licensees shall identify the "Illinois
				Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Illinois
				Endangered Species Protection Board, and Natural Heritage Database" as the data
				source on any map or publication and shall include the release date of the
				data.
g) Natural heritage data is
				provided for planning and assessment purposes only. Receipt of the data does
				not constitute Department, Commission or Board review or authorization of any
				proposed project and does not exempt the licensee from securing necessary
				permits and approvals from the Department, Commission, Board or other
				regulatory agency.
h) Data
				maintained by the NHD Program is gained from the best and most recent
				information available and undergoes quality control and quality assurance.
				Because environmental conditions change daily, the NHD Program cannot provide a
				conclusive statement on the presence, absence or condition of significant
				natural features identified in the NHD and can only summarize the information
				known at the time of each agreement. An executed Data Licensing Agreement shall
				not constitute Department, Commission or Board validation of the Licensee's
				interpretation of the data.
i) The
				natural heritage data being provided constitutes a representation of the more
				extensive information available in manual and electronic files.