Developments in State Policy
Illinois
Citation: Illinois Comp. Statutes Chap. 105, §140
Effective: August 2007
Available: HERE
Summary: This law requires the state to establish and amend annually guidelines for environmentally-sensitive cleaning and maintenance products for schools. It requires schools to develop a green cleaning policy and to purchase and use such products.
Key Provisions:
- Requirements for Using Green Cleaning Products. The law requires all elementary and secondary schools to establish a green cleaning policy and to purchase and use environmentally-sensitive cleaning products, pursuant to guidelines and specifications established under the law. The requirement applies to all elementary and secondary public schools and to all elementary and secondary non-public schools with 50 or more students. Schools may deplete existing cleaning and maintenance supplies.
- Exceptions. The law provides an exception if it would not be economically feasible for the school district to implement the green cleaning requirements. According to the law, it would not be economically feasible to implement the requirements if that would result in an increase in the school's cleaning costs. If adopting a green cleaning policy is not economically feasible, the school must provide annual written notification of this determination to the state, on a designated form.
- Guidelines and Specifications. The Illinois Green Government Coordinating Council (IGGCC), in consultation with other state agencies and non-governmental stakeholders, must establish and amend annually guidelines and specifications for environmentally-sensitive cleaning and maintenance products for use in school facilities. The law directs the IGGCC to provide multiple avenues by which cleaning products may be determined to be environmentally sensitive under the guidelines. The IGGCC released its guidelines in May 2008 which require that products meet the criteria of the Green Seal or EcoLogo programs or (for chemicals) EPA's Design for the Environment Formulator program. The guidelines also provide a process for alternative qualifications of products.
- Training/Technical Assistance. Regional offices of education and the IGGCC are required to distribute the state's green cleaning guidelines to schools and to provide assistance to schools to carry out the law's requirements.
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