Sierra Club’s Bluestem Action Alert for May, 2003

River Prairie Group

 

Please call your ILLINOIS State Representative THIS WEEK and urge them to VOTE FOR

 

HB 422: The Illinois Wetland Protection Act

 

HOW YOU CAN CONTACT YOUR IL STATE REPRESENTATIVE:

 

You can find your IL State Representative on the web at:

 

http://www.elections.state.il.us/dls/pages/DLSAddresscrit.asp

 

Just type in your 9 digit zip code or your complete address, then click on "Search".  Click on the name of your State Representative to find his/her telephone number.  You may also call your Public Library, Town Hall , or the Board of Elections (DuPage County 630-682-7442, Cook County 312-443-5150) to find out this information. 

 

To speak with your ILLINOIS State Representative call the IL State Capitol switchboard (217-782-2000) and ask for your State Representative by name.

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HB 422 would establish a wetland permitting program that would have the following features:

 

*A permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will be required to destroy any wetland not protected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  This ensures that wetlands abandoned by the federal

government will have some level of protection, but will avoid any duplication by automatically exempting from the state program anything requiring federal approval.

 

*Specific exemptions apply for all agricultural activities, utility corridors, mining and quarry activities, farm ponds, artificially created waters, and many others.  All farming activities are exempt.

 

*Classify wetlands so that the highest quality areas receive the greatest protection, and degraded wetlands receive less protection.

 

*Counties with existing wetland protection authority (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties) retain existing authority - local control is not compromised.  Again, duplication is avoided by  having the county program, rather than the state, apply in these areas.  Counties would work together to seek uniform wetland protection standards over time.

 

*A Wetlands Advisory Committee will advise the State in implementing the program.  Business interests are the largest component of the Committee.  The Committee will advise the IDNR on implementation rules,

assist counties in coordinating and ultimately unifying their wetland protection regulations.  After 2007, the Committee may advise the State to seek full delegation of the federal wetland protection program in Illinois.

 

*Fees will be established by rule.  The IDNR will revisit the fee structure on an annual basis to ensure that fee levels are in line with the costs of implementing the program.

 

The Illinois Wetland Protection Act represents a fair compromise that will provide an adequate level of protection for wetlands that have recently lost all federal protection.  We have lost approximately 90% of our state's original wetland acres. In Illinois‚ the few remaining wetland areas are critical for flood control, water quality, and wildlife.

 

SUPPORT HB 422 -

PROTECT FAMILIES FROM FLOODS, KEEP OUR WATER CLEAN!