Section 20 ILCS 3515/2 - Declaration of necessity and purpose-Liberal construction(a) The General Assembly finds: (i) that environmental damage seriously endangers the public health and welfare;(ii) that such environmental damage results from air, water, and other resource pollution and from public water supply, solid waste disposal, noise, surface mining and other environmental problems;(iii) that to reduce, control and prevent such pollution and problems, quality and land reclamation standards have been established necessitating the employment of anti-pollution and reclamation devices, equipment and facilities and stringent time schedules have been and will be imposed for compliance with such standards;(iv) that it is desirable to provide additional and alternative methods of financing the costs of the acquisition and installation of the devices, equipment and facilities required to comply with the quality and land reclamation standards;(v) that the alternative method of financing provided in this Act is therefore in the public interest and serves a public purpose in protecting and promoting the health and welfare of the citizens of this state by reducing, controlling and preventing environmental damage;(vi) that it is desirable to promote the use of Illinois coal in a manner that is consistent with air quality and land reclamation standards; (vii) that it is desirable to promote the use of alternative methods for managing hazardous wastes and to provide additional and alternative methods of financing the costs of establishing the recycling, incineration, physical, chemical and biological treatment, and other facilities necessary to meet the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act; and(viii) that the environmental damage and pollution that occurs within this State often results from sources in other states, and that providing financing alternatives for environmental facilities that are located outside the State that are owned, operated, leased, managed by, or otherwise affiliated with, institutions located within the State can reduce, control, or prevent environmental damage and pollution within this State.(b) It is the purpose of this Act, as more specifically described in later sections, to authorize the State authority to acquire, construct, reconstruct, repair, alter, improve, extend, own, finance, lease, sell and otherwise dispose of pollution control and surface mined land reclamation facilities to the end that the State authority may be able to promote the health and welfare of the people of this State and to vest such State authority with all powers to enable such State authority to accomplish such purpose; it is not intended by this Act that the State authority shall itself be authorized to operate any such pollution control, hazardous waste treatment or surface mined land reclamation facilities; nor shall any such facilities be geographically located outside the State of Illinois, except as otherwise provided in this Act. It is the intent of the General Assembly that access to the benefits of the financing herein provided for shall be equally available to all persons.(c) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the State authority shall give special consideration to small businesses as defined in paragraph (i) of Section 3 of this Act in authorizing the issuance of bonds for the financing of pollution control or hazardous waste treatment facilities in order to assist small businesses in surviving the economic burdens imposed by the required financing of such facilities.(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this Section, it is the intent of the General Assembly that with respect to applications involving environmental facilities for new coal-fired electric steam generating plants and new coal-fired industrial boilers as defined in paragraph (j) of Section 3 of this Act, the State authority shall only finance such facilities where Illinois coal will be used as the primary source of fuel. The Authority shall impose appropriate financial penalties on any person who receives financing from the State Authority for environmental facilities based on a commitment to use Illinois coal as the primary source of fuel at a new coal-fired electric utility steam generating plant or new coal-fired industrial boiler and later uses a non-Illinois coal as the primary source of fuel.(e) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Authority give special consideration to projects which involve a reduction in volume of hazardous waste products generated, or the recycling, re-use, reclamation, or treatment of hazardous waste.(f) This Act shall be liberally construed to accomplish the intentions expressed herein.Amended by P.A. 098-0090,§ 10, eff. 7/15/2013.