Section 225 ILCS 745/5 - [Section scheduled to be repealed 1/1/2026] FindingsThe General Assembly finds that:
(a) In recent years, governmental bodies have increasingly come to rely upon advice from geologists when formulating laws and policies to protect the environment and the safety, property, and well-being of the citizens of this State.(b) Some federal and State regulations require that geological investigations be performed and the geological conditions be interpreted.(c) Expert opinions regarding the geological conditions of an area provided to regulatory bodies, State or local governmental agencies, and the public can have significant impacts on the environmental quality of this State and on the safety, property, and well-being of its citizens.(d) On a worldwide basis, natural geological events such as earthquakes, floods, and landslides annually cause billions of dollars in property losses and the deaths of thousands of persons. This loss of life and property, in many instances, has been reduced or largely avoided when advice provided by geologists has been accepted and appropriately acted upon in time by governmental bodies and citizens.(e) The environment and the safety, property, and well-being of the citizens of this State are significantly threatened by natural geological hazards such as earthquakes within the New Madrid and Wabash Valley Seismic Zones, flooding, landslides, karst collapse, and coastal erosion.(f) The environment and the safety, property, and well-being of the citizens of this State also are significantly threatened by geological hazards related to the acts of humans such as contamination of groundwater resources and mine subsidence.(g) The advice of geologists is needed to guide the governmental bodies and the citizens of this State toward an appropriate level of preparedness for a future major earthquake within the New Madrid or Wabash Valley Seismic Zones and to assist the citizens and governmental bodies of this State in reducing their exposure to risks to the environment and to their safety, property, and well-being from other geological hazards, both natural and human-caused.(h) As in the case with other professions that directly affect their safety, property, and well-being, the citizens of this State need assurance that persons offering the services of professional geologists are adequately trained and experienced and are practicing their profession in an ethical manner. Statutes and rules in this State indicate that certification through peer review by national professional organizations is not regarded as sufficient proof of competence and ethical practice for professions that affect the safety, property, and well-being of the citizens of this State. Therefore, certification by national professional organizations also should not be considered sufficient to protect the citizens of this State from possible harm from the practice of professional geology by inadequately trained and experienced, or unethical persons.P.A. 89-366, eff. 7/1/1996.