Section 20 ILCS 801/1-20 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Real propertyThe Department has the power:
(a) To transfer jurisdiction of any realty under the control of the Department to any other Department of the State Government, or to any authority, commission or other agency of the State, and to acquire or accept federal lands, when such transfer, acquisition or acceptance is advantageous to the State and is approved in writing by the Governor.(b) To lease, from time to time, any land or property, with or without appurtenances, of which the Department has jurisdiction, and which are not immediately to be used or developed by the State; provided that no such lease be for a longer period of time than that in which it can reasonably be expected the State will not have use for such property, and further provided that no such lease be for a longer period of time than 10 years.(c) To lease any land or property over which the Department has jurisdiction for the purpose of creating, operating, or maintaining a commercial solar energy system, as defined in Section 10-720 of the Property Tax Code, or a clean energy project, as defined in the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. A lease under this subsection (c) shall not be for a period longer than 40 years. The Department shall competitively bid any project authorized pursuant to this subsection (c) pursuant to the requirements of Section 20-15 and subsections (c) and (f) of Section 20-10 of the Illinois Procurement Code. No person or business shall submit specifications to the Department pursuant to this subsection (c) unless requested to do so by an employee of the State. No person or business who contracts with a State agency to write specifications for any project pursuant to this subsection (c) shall submit a bid or proposal, review or evaluate any prospective proposals from the competitive bidding process, or receive a contract for any project issued pursuant to this subsection (c). If practical, the Department shall require that any land or property over which the Department has jurisdiction and that is used for the purpose of creating, operating, or maintaining a commercial solar energy system shall have implemented on it and maintained management practices that would qualify the land or property as a beneficial habitat under the Pollinator-Friendly Solar Site Act. The Department shall prioritize commercial solar energy system sites based on their suitability and economic feasibility for solar use. The Department shall then prioritize commercial solar energy system sites with a significant history of disturbance, such as former strip mines or previously developed sites. The Department may consider any land use that is lost from the installation of a commercial solar energy system in making a determination regarding the suitability of a site. At least 60 days before entering into a lease for a commercial solar energy system under this subsection (c), the Department shall post in the Illinois Register and on the Department's website notice of the Department's intent to enter into the lease and shall provide a copy of the notice to a municipality if the leased area is located within the borders of the municipality. The notice shall include the specific location and size of the proposed commercial solar energy system. The Department shall consider and respond to all public comments regarding the posting that are received by the Department within 30 days of the posting.Amended by P.A. 103-0865,§ 3-5, eff. 1/1/2025.P.A. 89-445, eff. 2/7/1996.This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.