The company which operates the Industry Coal mine recently was found to have committed over six hundred water pollution violations. Springfield Coal also wanted to renew the mining permit for it’s mine near Industry.
The same day a press conference was to be held protesting the renewal of it’s mining permit, the company withdrew the application.
It will probably cost Illinois residents an extra two-dollars to renew their license plates next year.
The money will help fund the Department of Natural Resources, which has seen its budget cut in half during the past decade. The DNR said that has left it with roads, sewage treatment plants, and roofs that "absolutely" need maintenance work.
The license plate sticker will also serve as a pass for Illinois residents to all of the state parks and recreation areas in Illinois.
A project five years in the making is finally finished in western Illinois. A brief ribbon cutting ceremony was held Monday afternoon to celebrate the reopening of the road around Argyle Lake State Park near Colchester.
Portions of the road were washed out by a flash flood in late June 2007, which forced the state to close half the park.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Marc Miller participated in the ceremony and he drove the road earlier in the day.
A plan to raise funding for the agency that oversees state parks and conservation of wildlife failed to win approval in the Illinois Senate during the waning hours of the 2012 session.
That agency -- the Department of Natural Resources -- has seen its budget cut in recent years. The DNR said state parks are deteriorating due to the funding decrease and its need for more employees.
Vehicle registration in Illinois would go up a couple of bucks under a measure accepted by a House panel.
It's one of various fee hikes intended to help the Department of Natural Resources.
Director Marc Miller says DNR has seen its budget reduced by more than half since 2002 and he expects more cuts ahead.
"We're looking at finding ways to replace money that isn't currently there. So what we see is that we have roughly a $22 million short-fall that we need to make up somehow," Miller said.
The Illinois House approved a measure that would allow the Department of Natural Resources to charge an annual fee for admission to state parks.
Representative JoAnn Osmond (R-Antioch) said the legislation does not spell out how much should be charged, but she expected the annual fee will be about $25.
