§ 825-110

Implementation of ARRA provisions regarding qualified energy conservation bonds. (a) Definitions. (i) "Affected local government" means any county or municipality within the State if the county or municipality has a population of 100,000 or more, as defined in Section 54D(e)(2)(C) of the Code. (ii) "Allocation amount" means the $133,846,000 amount of qualified energy conservation bonds authorized under ARRA for the financing of qualifying projects located within the State and the sub-allocation of those amounts among each affected local government. (iii) "ARRA" means, collectively, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, including, without limitation, Section 54D of the Code; the guidance provided by the Internal Revenue Service applicable to qualified energy conservation bonds; and any legislation subsequently adopted by the United States Congress to extend or expand the economic development bond financing incentives authorized by ARRA. (iv) "ARRA implementing regulations" means the regulations promulgated by the Authority as further described in subdivision (c)(iv) of this Section to implement the provisions of this Section. (v) "Code" means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. (vi) "Qualified energy conservation bond" means any qualified energy conservation bond issued pursuant to Section 54D of the Code. (vii) "Qualified energy conservation bond allocation" means an allocation of authority to issue qualified energy conservation bonds granted pursuant to Section 54D of the Code. (viii) "Regional authority" means the Central Illinois Economic Development Authority, Eastern Illinois Economic Development Authority, Joliet Arsenal Development Authority, Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority, Riverdale Development Authority, Southeastern Illinois Economic Development Authority, Southern Illinois Development Authority, Southwestern Illinois Development Authority, Tri-County River Valley Development Authority, Upper Illinois River Valley Development Authority, Illinois Urban Development Authority, Western Illinois Economic Development Authority, or Will-Kankakee Regional Development Authority. (ix) "Sub-allocation" means the portion of the allocation amount allocated to each affected local government. (x) "Waived qualified energy conservation bond allocation" means the amount of the qualified energy conservation bond allocation that an affected local government elects to reallocate to the State pursuant to Section 54D(e)(2)(B) of the Code. (xi) "Waiver agreement" means an agreement between the Authority and an affected local government providing for the reallocation, in whole or in part, of that affected local government's sub-allocation to the Authority. The waiver agreement may provide for the payment of an affected local government's reasonable fees and costs as determined by the Authority in connection with the affected local government's reallocation of its sub-allocation. (b) Findings. It is found and declared that: (i) it is in the public interest and for the benefit of the State to maximize the use of economic development incentives authorized by ARRA; (ii) those incentives include the maximum use of the allocation amount for the issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds to promote energy conservation under the applicable provisions of ARRA; and (iii) those incentives also include the issuance by the Authority of qualified energy conservation bonds for the purposes of financing qualifying projects to be financed with proceeds of qualified energy conservation bonds. (c) Powers of Authority. (i) In order to carry out the provisions of ARRA and further the purposes of this Section, the Authority has: (A) the power to receive from any affected local government its sub-allocation that it voluntarily waives to the Authority, in whole or in part, for allocation by the Authority to a regional authority specifically designated by that affected local government, and the Authority shall reallocate that waived qualified energy conservation bond allocation to the regional authority specifically designated by that affected local government; provided that (1) the affected local government must take official action by resolution or ordinance, as applicable, to waive the sub-allocation to the Authority and specifically designate that its waived qualified energy conservation bond allocation should be reallocated to a regional authority; (2) the regional authority must use the sub-allocation to issue qualified energy conservation bonds on or before August 16, 2010 and, if qualified energy conservation bonds are not issued on or before August 16, 2010, the sub-allocation shall be deemed waived to the Authority for reallocation by the Authority to qualifying projects; and (3) the proceeds of the qualified energy conservation bonds must be used for qualified projects within the jurisdiction of the applicable regional authority; (B) at the Authority's sole discretion, the power to reallocate any sub-allocation deemed waived to the Authority pursuant to subsection (c)(i)(A)(2) back to the Regional Authority that had the sub-allocation; (C) the power to enter into waiver agreements with affected local governments to provide for the reallocation, in whole or in part, of their sub-allocations, to receive waived qualified energy conservation bond allocations from those affected local governments, and to use those waived qualified energy conservation bond allocations, in whole or in part, to issue qualified energy conservation bonds of the Authority for qualifying projects or to reallocate those qualified energy conservation bond allocations, in whole or in part, to a county or municipality to issue its own energy conservation bonds for qualifying projects; and (D) the power to issue qualified energy conservation bonds for any project authorized to be financed with proceeds thereof under the applicable provisions of ARRA. (ii) In addition to the powers set forth in item (i), the Authority shall be the sole recipient, on behalf of the State, of any waived qualified energy conservation bond allocations. Qualified energy conservation bond allocations can be reallocated to the Authority only by voluntary waiver as provided in this Section. (iii) In addition to the powers set forth in items (i) and (ii), the Authority has any powers otherwise enjoyed by the Authority in connection with the issuance of its bonds if those powers are not in conflict with any provisions with respect to qualified energy conservation bonds set forth in ARRA. (iv) The Authority has the power to adopt regulations providing for the implementation of any of the provisions contained in this Section, including the provisions regarding waiver agreements and reallocation of all or any portion of the allocation amount and sub-allocations and the issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds; except that those regulations shall not (1) provide any waiver or reallocation of an affected local government's sub-allocation other than a voluntary waiver as described in subsection (c) or (2) be inconsistent with the provisions of subsection (c)(i). Regulations adopted by the Authority for determining reallocation of all or any portion of a waived qualified energy conservation allocation may include, but are not limited to, (1) the ability of the county or municipality to issue qualified energy conservation bonds by the end of a given calendar year, (2) the amount of jobs that will be retained or created, or both, by the qualifying project to be financed by qualified energy conservation bonds, and (3) the geographical proximity of the qualifying project to be financed by qualified energy conservation bonds to a municipality or county that reallocated its sub-allocation to the Authority. (d) Established dates for notice. Any affected local government or regional authority that has issued qualified energy conservation bonds on or before the effective date of this Section must report its issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds to the Authority within 30 days after the effective date of this Section. After the effective date of this Section, any affected local government or any regional authority must report its issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds to the Authority not less than 30 days after those bonds are issued. (e) Reports to the General Assembly. Starting 60 days after the effective date of this Section and ending when there is no longer any allocation amount, the Authority shall file a report before the end of each fiscal year with the General Assembly detailing its implementation of this Section, including but not limited to the dollar amount of the allocation amount that has been reallocated by the Authority pursuant to this Section, the qualified energy conservation bonds issued in the State as of the date of the report, and descriptions of the qualifying projects financed by those qualified energy conservation bonds.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 98-90, eff. 7-15-13.)