Illinois Environmental Bills Face Uphill Battle as Spring Session Winds Down

Hundreds of environmental advocates rallied at the Illinois State Capitol on April 8 to push three key bills before the spring legislative session ends on May 31, but only the polystyrene foam ban has cleared either chamber while the POWER Act and Wetlands Protection Act remain stuck in committee.

Organizers with the Illinois Environmental Council gathered in the rotunda to pressure lawmakers on three measures: the POWER Act regulating data centers, the Wetlands Protection Act creating permits for construction projects affecting wetlands, and the Polystyrene Foam Foodware Ban phasing out single-use plastic containers.

We are living under a Trump administration that's rolling back environmental protections and stalling clean energy progress, Hannah Flath told reporters. We are fighting for legislation on the state level that helps essentially fill the gap.

Flath is the climate communications manager at the Illinois Environmental Council, which organized Wednesday's lobby day.

Data Centers and the POWER Act

The POWER Act, which is backed by Gov. JB Pritzker, would impose new environmental and energy regulations on large data centers. Among other measures, the bill would require large data centers to generate their own renewable energy rather than drawing from the state's power grid, which advocates say raises electricity costs for consumers.

We can't trust local governments to do this, said state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanville, who introduced the POWER Act this session. We need to make sure there are statewide rules because these data centers affect everyone in the state.

The bill would also require data centers to pay for upgrades to the grid and be transparent about their water usage. It would put limits on diesel generators for these centers and create community benefit agreements with these data centers.

Illinois hosts at least 222 data centers with more than a hundred planned or under construction. In 2023, data centers consumed 4.4% of the nation's energy, a number expected to jump to 12% by 2028, according to the Department of Energy.

Wetlands Protection Act Fills Federal Gap

In response to a Supreme Court ruling that stripped federal protections from a majority of Illinois wetlands, the Wetlands Protection Act would create a permitting system for construction projects affecting wetlands.

Part of why we are introducing some of these bills, that we've been talking about, that strive for those state level protections, the Wetlands Protection Act is a great example I think because it is literally filling the gap that was left by a decision made by Trump's Supreme Court, Flath said.

The ruling invalidated federal wetlands protections, leaving Illinois to fill the gap with state-level legislation.

Polystyrene Ban Faces Industry Pushback

The Polystyrene Foam Foodware Ban would gradually phase out the sale and distribution of polystyrene foam foodware, extending a 2023 partial ban that only applied to state facilities and agencies. Supporters of the bill point to the plastic pollution and potential negative health effects caused by polystyrene, such as increased risk of cancer and Parkinson's disease.

A National Institutes of Health finding that styrene, a key ingredient in polystyrene, is likely carcinogenic informed the bill's drafting.

It's time to make sure we keep every Illinoisan safe from having these carcinogens and toxins ingested into our bodies through foam, which is not safe for food, said state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, the bill's chief sponsor in the House.

Passage Challenges Loom

Of the three bills, only the polystyrene ban has passed in either chamber. All three face an uphill battle to passage before the end of the spring session on May 31.

After that deadline, any environmental bills would have to wait until the fall veto session, which Illinois legislators have previously used to pass major environmental legislation. Flath said she is optimistic but still trying to be realistic about the likelihood of the bills passing before May 31.

Sometimes, it really is just that time isn't on our side, unfortunately, Flath said. We are fully prepared to come back in a veto session later this year to make sure this happens in 2026 on all three of these bills.

Flath attributed the lack of progress in the General Assembly to the fact that 2026 is an election year, meaning many state legislators have had to focus on their primary races.

The Illinois Environmental Council expects to return in the veto session to push for passage of all three bills.