BENTON – State Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton) announced on Tuesday that legislation he chief co-sponsored has been signed into law. HB 3017 (now Public Act 103-0538) will help cut red tape and streamline the business permitting process in Illinois.
Severin joined the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Environmental Regulatory Group
in supporting the legislative effort.
HB 3017 amends the Business Assistance and Regulatory Reform Act by consolidating
status updates from state agencies for covered projects in an accessible online portal. With such a portal, businesses seeking certain new and existing environmental permits for industrial projects can access a website to better understand the timeline and process for agency approval.
“I am proud to have co-sponsored legislation that will ultimately help businesses save time and money by cutting back on regulations and expediting the permitting process. Illinois sometimes finds itself at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring states when it comes to the permitting process. This new law will help level the playing field for our state and attract and keep businesses that employ hard-working Illinoisans,” said House Chief Co-Sponsor Dave Severin (R-Benton).
The law makes Illinois more competitive with regional states that already offer this tool. While each is unique in its design, permit-tracking dashboards are in place at the federal level as well in nearby states such as Wisconsin, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
Kelly Thompson, Executive Director of IERG said the following. “This is a win-win for both permit applicants and the Agency tasked with issuing the permits. This allows the permit applicant to have timely and up-to-date permit application tracking information but also assists the Agency and Department, which both have limited resources, to streamline the process and provide timely customer service to businesses already established here and those looking to locate within the State of Illinois.”
“We appreciate the attentive work of the sponsors and the entire General Assembly for
empowering DCEO to utilize information technology to streamline interagency
coordination. We look forward to the implementation of this act.” Said Andrew
Cunningham, Executive Director of the Illinois Chamber Infrastructure Council.
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