Illinois § 9

§ 9.

The Illinois Industrial Coal Utilization Program. The Department shall administer the Illinois Industrial Coal Utilization Program, referred to as the "program". The purpose of the program is to increase the environmentally sound use of Illinois coal by qualified applicants. To that end, the Department shall operate a revolving loan program to partially finance new coal burning facilities sited in Illinois or conversion of existing boilers located in Illinois to coal use, referred to as "industrial coal projects". The Department, with the advice and recommendation of the Illinois Coal Development Board, shall make below market rate loans available to fund a portion of each qualifying industrial coal project. The applicant must demonstrate that it is able to obtain additional financing from other sources to fund the remainder of the project and that the project would not occur without the Department's participation. The Department may, in part, rely on the financial evaluation completed by the provider of the additional funding, as well as its own evaluation. The Department shall have the following powers: (1) To accept grants, loans, or appropriations from the federal government or the State, or any agency or instrumentality of either, to be used for any purposes of the program, including operating and administrative expenses associated with the program and the making of direct loans of those funds with respect to projects. The Department may enter into any agreement with the federal government or the State, or any agency or instrumentality of either, in connection with those grants, loans, or appropriations. (2) To make loans from appropriations from the Build Illinois Bond Fund and to accept guarantees from individuals, partnerships, joint ventures, corporations, and governmental agencies. Any loan or series of loans shall be limited to an amount not to exceed the lesser of $4,000,000 or 60% of the total project cost. (3) To establish interest rates, terms of repayment, and other terms and conditions regarding loans made under this Act as the Department shall determine necessary or appropriate to protect the public interest and carry out the purposes of this Act. (4) To receive, evaluate, and establish time schedules for the determination of, and determine applications for financial aid for the development, construction, acquisition, or improvement of, an industrial coal project from any qualifying applicant and negotiate terms and conditions on which the coal project may be developed, constructed, improved, owned, or used by or leased to the applicant or its successor in interest. The Department shall prescribe the form of application. The form shall contain, without being limited to, the following: (i) a general description of the industrial coal project and of the developer, user, or tenant for which the industrial project is to be established; (ii) plans, equipment lists, and other documents that may be required to show the type, structure, and general character of the project; (iii) a general description of the expected use of Illinois coal resulting from the project; (iv) cost estimates of developing, constructing, acquiring, or improving the industrial project; (v) a general description of the financing plan for the industrial coal project; and (vi) a general description and statement of value of any property and its improvements provided or to be provided for the project by other sources. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to preclude the Department, before the filing of any formal application, from conducting preliminary discussions and investigations with respect to the subject matter of any prospective applications. (Source: P.A. 94-91, eff. 7-1-05.)