Illinois Administrative Code › Title 8 - AGRICULTURE AND ANIMALS › Part 700 - FARMLAND PRESERVATION ACT › Appendix E - Department of Commerce and Community Affairs' Farmland Preservation Policy and Cooperative Agreement

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
PREFACE
On July 22, 1980, Governor James R. Thompson signed an
				Executive Order entitled "Preservation of Illinois Farmland" which required the
				Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and other state agencies develop
				an agricultural land preservation policy. In response to that Order, the
				Department of Commerce and Community Affairs has prepared the following policy
				document.
POLICY
It is the policy of the Department of Commerce and Community
				Affairs to support and promote the preservation of Illinois farmland.
BACKGROUND
The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) was
				established in 1979 to promote community and economic development in Illinois.
				DCCA serves as the central source of information and assistance for businesses
				and local governments in order to:
Strengthen the state's economy
Strengthen local government leadership
Increase employment opportunities
The primary mission of the Department is to ensure economic
				stability, enhance business prosperity, increase employment and employment
				opportunities, and promote the increased capabilities of local governments and
				other public entities to achieve balanced development of economic, human and
				natural resources.
In fulfilling its goals, DCCA aids the public and private
				sectors. DCCA does not engage in capital development projects. The department
				assists communities and private companies engaged in development activities. By
				promoting economic and community development DCCA may indirectly contribute to
				the conversion problem. DCCA's farmland policy is intended to mitigate the
				department's indirect role in the conversion process, and make achievement of
				development goals compatible with established state policy regarding farmland
				preservation.
IMPACT OF AGENCY ACTIVITIES
A. Marketing
DCCA marketing programs are designed to encourage
				and promote the continuing internal economic development of Illinois, and to
				sell Illinois around the world to business leaders and tourists. Making
				business leaders in Illinois and throughout the world more aware of the state's
				business services and resources; increasing the visibility of the state's
				tourist attractions worldwide; and improving the self-image of Illinois and its
				communities are the primary objectives of DCCA marketing programs and services.
				Illinois' strengths as a major business state are communicated within the state
				and around the world through advertising campaigns; publications; films, video
				tapes and multi-image presentations; trade shows and missions; marketing
				alliances such as Illinois, Inc.; exhibits; telemarketing campaigns; and
				personal contact among business leaders and DCCA marketing representatives.
				Illinois tourist attractions are promoted through similar means with additional
				emphasis on consumer-oriented marketing activities targeted at business and
				pleasure travelers. Important components of the department's marketing programs
				and services help individual communities throughout Illinois improve and
				promote their business and community resources and tourist attractions. Making
				Illinois a more profitable and productive home for business, and providing
				specific location and expansion services to individual firms are the objectives
				of an array of DCCA activities.
In cooperation with municipal authorities and
				realtors, data on available industrial sites and buildings throughout Illinois
				are computerized for a quick and precise match-up to a firm's specific location
				requirements. Typical of information available is rail access, square feet,
				transportation and utility service. Approximately 300 community profiles
				provide industrial clients seeking to expand or relocate with essential
				information on a particular community.
No overall figures are available on the amount of
				farmland converted as a result of Marketing's development activities. However,
				since the majority of industrial prospects look for existing buildings, the
				loss of farmland due to development projects may be minimal.
B. Program Administration
To ensure employment for its citizens and to
				maintain an adequate tax base for the funding of local government services and
				operations, a community must strive to encourage the growth of its existing
				businesses and to attract new firms. Many DCCA programs are designed to help
				Illinois communities maintain and improve their business climates and services
				in both direct and indirect ways. For example, some DCCA community development
				programs provide direct grants to units of local government to finance the
				expansion or location of specific firms. Other programs help local government
				improve their general environment for the benefit of both business and
				residents and several programs subsidize individual households in a community.
				Whatever their specific purpose or direct beneficiary, all DCCA community
				development programs are designed to make Illinois cities and towns the best
				homes in America for both people and business.
DCCA provides several types of programs and services
				to help establish a balance between the demand and supply of skilled labor in
				Illinois communities. Some programs and services directly subsidize the
				employment training costs for specific businesses, while others provide funds
				to help finance community-wide employment training programs designed to provide
				income-eligible individuals with locally marketable job skills. Other special
				programs focus on the training and employment needs of targeted groups such as
				homemakers, youth and individuals who have recently lost their jobs as the
				result of business closures due to economic difficulties or technological
				advances.
Businesses, units of local government, community
				organizations and individuals receive financial assistance directly from DCCA
				to promote the overall economic development of Illinois. Financial assistance
				for business goes directly to firms from DCCA or may be passed through units of
				local government. Financial assistance to units of local government may be used
				to fund the expansion and location of specific firms, or may be used to improve
				the overall community environment for the benefit of both business and people,
				and to finance business-related services. Financial assistance to
				not-for-profit community organizations is passed through to eligible
				individuals and households, or may be used by the organizations to directly
				fund activities and projects of general benefits to the community or a targeted
				population. Financial assistance programs to individuals and households are
				designed to improve and maintain the immediate living environment of citizens
				while reducing the demand for such assistance on units of local
				government.
Through its planning and technical assistance
				activities, the Program Administration promotes orderly and efficient community
				growth, an important element in farmland preservation. Program Administration
				typically does not promote farmland conversions, and staff can often alert
				communities and local governments to the problems associated with farmland
				conversion.
IMPACT MITIGATION
The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs can best
				promote farmland preservation by serving in an educational and informational
				role. The Department can build a concern for farmland preservation into its
				programs by:
1. DCCA's industrial location programs will provide information
				to prospective firms on the state policy regarding farmland preservation, and
				its relationship to federal aid. DCCA will encourage location near existing
				development or development consistent with an overall community growth strategy
				or plan.
2. To facilitate the early identification of projects with
				potential agricultural impacts, indication of soil quality will be made in
				DCCA's industrial site location information. The Illinois Department of
				Agriculture (DOA) will assist with this soil assessment.
3. DCCA will consult with DOA regarding private agricultural
				conversion. Within the constraints of prospect confidentiality, DCCA will
				notify DOA of the locating decisions of businesses and industries and will
				request an Agricultural Impact Statement be compiled for locations further than
				1½ miles from the authority of a municipality.
4. DCCA will educate communities on the benefits of farmland
				preservation. When practical, grantors will use the state policy of farmland
				preservation among the grant selection criteria.
(1981; revised)
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
This Cooperative Agreement between the Department of Commerce
				and Community Affairs and the Department of Agriculture is part of the
				Department of Commerce and Community Affairs' Farmland Preservation Policy,
				adopted to reduce the conversion of Illinois' agricultural lands. The
				Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and the Department of Agriculture
				agree to the following:
I. The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs will inform
				the prospective firm of the State of Illinois' commitment to the preservation
				of prime agricultural land and encourage the firm to seek a location that
				conforms with existing land use practices and plans by providing copies of the
				Farmland Preservation Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 5, pars. 1301 et
				seq.).
II. The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs will
				provide the Department of Agriculture with all information concerning
				industrial sites currently held in the Department of Commerce and Community
				Affairs' data base. The Department of Agriculture will identify those sites
				which are classified as "prime agricultural." The Department of Commerce and
				Community Affairs will make adjustments in its data base to indicate those
				sites as identified. The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs will
				provide a copy of Executive Order 80-4 to the prospective firm in all instances
				where a "prime agricultural" site is under consideration by the firm.
III. In instances where a prospective firm identifies a "prime
				agricultural" site as the future location of its facility and the site is
				greater than 10 acres and is not within the 1½ mile planning
				jurisdiction of a community, or properly zoned and controlled or inconsistent
				with local plans, the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs will contact
				the Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture will decide
				whether the preparation of an Agricultural Impact Statement is appropriate.
				During the preparation of the A.I.S. and related D.O.A. comments on the use of
				state inducements for business expansion on that site DCCA will delay its firm
				offers of assistance in order to allow time for any needed conflict resolution
				to occur as referred in paragraph VII.
IV. The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs' housing
				technical assistance staff will provide information to housing authorities and
				developers concerning Executive Order 80-4.
Department of Agriculture
				Responsibilities
V. The Department of Agriculture will complete the Agricultural
				Impact Statement in the time specified by the Department of Commerce and
				Community Affairs. Such time will be not less than 15 days and not longer than
				45 days.
VI. The Department of Agriculture will take all possible
				measures in accordance with The Freedom of Information Act (Supp. to Ill. Rev.
				Stat. 1983, ch. 116, pars. 201 et seq.) to insure that private sector and/or
				individual matters relating to the implementation of this Agreement will remain
				confidential.
VII. The Department of Agriculture shall follow the conflict
				resolution process when disputes arise between the the two Departments. This
				process shall require the Department of Agriculture to advise the Director of
				the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, of the conflict as seen by
				D.O.A. If resolution is not obtained within 14 business days each agency shall
				present its position to its Program Liaison in the Governor's Office.
VIII. This Cooperative Agreement and the associated Farmland
				Preservation Policy shall be the governing document for the Department of
				Commerce and Community Affairs and shall not be preempted in whole or in part
				by any other agency's agreement.
(February, 1982; revised)