News and Events Involving Environmental Law, Published by Chicago Environmental Attorney Dave Scriven-Young
of Peckar & Abramson, P.C. -- (312) 881-6309

New Law Countdown #3: Amendments to Illinois Environmental Justice Act

Counting down new Illinois environmental laws that took effect on January 1, 2017 is Public Act 99-0541, which makes changes to the composition of the Illinois Commission on Environmental Justice.  The function of the Commission is to “advise State entities on environmental justice and related community issues, review and analyze the impact of current State laws and policies on the issue of environmental justice and sustainable communities, assess the adequacy of State and local laws to address the issue of environmental justice and sustainable communities, develop criteria to assess whether communities in the State may be experiencing environmental justice issues, and recommend options to the Governor for addressing issues, concerns, or problems related to environmental justice that surface after reviewing State laws and policies, including prioritizing areas of the State that need immediate attention.”

1%2f1%2f16-campaign-1The new law amends Section 10 of the Environmental Justice Act, 415 ILCS 155/10, that establishes and organizes the Commission.  The amendments provide that a representative of the housing office of the Department of Human Services shall replace the Director of Aging or his or her designee as an ex officio voting member of the Commission.  The amendments also increase (to 14) the number of members the Governor shall appoint (rather than 10) representing specified interests and adds specified business organizations and specified labor organizations to the list of interests.  Specifically:

— At least 4 members must be from “affected communities concerned with environmental justice”,

–At least 2 members must be from “business organizations including one member representing a statewide organization representing manufacturers and one member representing an organization representing the energy sector”,

–At least 2 members must be from “labor organizations including one member from a statewide labor federation representing more than one international union and one member from an organization representing workers in the energy sector.”

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Stay tuned to the Illinois Environmental Law Blog for more news and developments. To subscribe to this blog and sign up for a free newsletter, please type in your e-mail address in the box located above. To set up a free initial consultation to discuss your legal matter, please contact Chicago environmental attorney Dave Scriven-Young at (312) 239-9722 or dscriven-young@pecklaw.com.  Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat.





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