Upon the adoption of guidelines described in Section 22.03b, each soil and water conservation district shall develop annually its own soil health assessment to guide voluntary and incentive-based strategies to improve soil health. The soil health assessment shall be technically feasible and economically reasonable.
The Department shall provide a template to the districts for the local soil health assessment, including the required information listed in this Section as well as information regarding available data and support materials collected as the guidance information listed in Section 25.
Each district is encouraged to collaborate with other local governmental entities and local stakeholders in developing and implementing its soil health assessment. Each district shall use the guidelines provided by the Department in developing its soil health assessment.
Upon the request of a district, the Department may assist in the preparation of the district's soil health assessment. Districts may also work collaboratively to establish joint plans to leverage existing capacity and resources most effectively.
To carry out its assessment, a district shall identify soil health practices. The soil health assessment must consider opportunities to access, leverage, and use State and federal resources within a specific soil and water conservation district service area.
Soil and water conservation districts may also convene producer-led dialogues to identify special initiatives or pilot projects to leverage additional resources and implement soil health practices at scale across multiple operations and land ownerships.
In developing a soil health assessment, the soil and water conservation district shall:
The Department shall identify shared goals and priorities between districts and shall assist in developing partnerships and shared funding approaches to maximize capacity and resources. Initial soil health assessments shall be submitted to the Department by September 1, 2024.
70 ILCS 405/22.03c