Section 70 ILCS 1842/20 - Rights and powers The Port District has the following rights and powers:
(1) To investigate conditions within the Port District and to prepare and adopt priorities for the development of port facilities for the Port District. In preparing and recommending changes and modifications in existing port facilities, or priorities for the development of those facilities, the Port District may set aside and allocate an area or areas within the lands owned by it to be leased to private parties for industrial, manufacturing, commercial, recreational, or harbor purposes where the area or areas, in the opinion of the governing and administrative body, are not required for primary purposes in the development of harbor and port facilities for the use of public water and land transportation or will not be needed immediately for these purposes, and where the leasing, in the opinion of the governing and administrative body, will aid and promote the development of terminal and port facilities.(2) To issue permits for the construction of all wharves, piers, dolphins, booms, weirs, breakwaters, bulkheads, jetties, bridges, basins, slips, harbors, or other structures of any kind, over, under, in, or near navigable waters within the Port District and permits for the deposit of rock, earth, sand, or other material, or any matter of any kind or description in the navigable waters; except nothing contained in this paragraph shall be construed so that it will be deemed necessary to obtain a permit from a city council of a participating municipality for the erection, operation, or maintenance of a bridge crossing a waterway that serves as a boundary between the State of Illinois and Iowa when the erection, operation, or maintenance of the bridge is performed by the participating municipality.(3) To locate and establish dock lines and shore or harbor lines.(4) To regulate the anchorage, moorage, and speed of waterborne vessels and to establish and enforce ordinances for the operation of bridges, except nothing contained in this paragraph shall be construed to give the Port District authority to regulate the operation of a bridge crossing a waterway that serves as a boundary between the State of Illinois and Iowa when operation of the bridge is performed by a participating municipality.(5) To acquire, own, construct, lease, operate, and maintain terminals, terminal facilities, and port facilities, including, but not limited to, the widening and deepening of slips, harbors, and navigable waters, and to fix and collect reasonable and nondiscriminatory charges for the use of the terminals and facilities. The charges collected shall be used to defray the reasonable expenses of the Port District and to pay the principal of and interest on any revenue bonds issued by the Port District.(6) To police its physical property and all waterways and to exercise police powers regarding the property and waterways or regarding the enforcement of an ordinance of a participating municipality within that municipality's boundaries, and to employ and commission police officers and other qualified persons to enforce the same. An ordinance of the participating municipality adopted under this paragraph may provide for a suspension or revocation, within the participating municipality, of any rights or privileges within the control of the participating municipality for a violation of the ordinance.(7) To establish, organize, own, acquire, participate in, operate, sell, and transfer export trading companies, whether as shareholder, partner, or co-venturer, alone or in cooperation with federal, state, or local governmental authorities, federal, state, or national banking associations, or any other public or private corporation or person or persons. An export trading company organized or operated under this paragraph and all the property of the export trading company shall have the same privileges and immunities as accorded to the participating municipality and may borrow money or obtain financial assistance from private lenders or federal and state governmental authorities or issue general obligation and revenue bonds with the same kinds of security in accordance with the same procedures, restrictions, and privileges applicable when a participating municipality obtains financial assistance or issues bonds for any of its other authorized purposes. An export trading company organized or operated under this paragraph may apply for certification under Title II or Title III of the federal Export Trading Company Act of 1982. As used in this paragraph (7), "export trading company" means a person, partnership, association, public or private corporation, or similar organization, whether operated for profit or not-for-profit, which is organized and operated principally for purposes of exporting goods or services produced in the United States, importing goods or services produced in foreign countries, conducting third-country trading, or facilitating trade by providing one or more services in support of trade.
(8) To enter into agreements with the corporate authorities or governing body of any other unit of local government or any political subdivision of the State to pay the reasonable expense of services furnished by the unit of local government or political subdivision for or on account of income-producing properties of the Port District.(9) To enter into contracts dealing in any manner with the objects and purposes of this Act.(10) To acquire, own, lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of interests in real property and improvements to the real property and in personal property necessary to fulfill the purposes of the Port District for a participating municipality.(11) To designate the fiscal year for the Port District, which shall be the same fiscal year of a municipality that is annexed into the Port District either at the time of annexation or within 6 months after the annexation.(12) To engage in any activity or operation within a participating municipality which is incidental to and in furtherance of efficient operation of the Port District.(13) To apply to the proper authorities of the United States of America under the appropriate law for the right to establish, operate, maintain, and lease foreign trade zones and sub-zones within the jurisdiction of the United States Customs and Border Protection and to establish, operate, maintain, and lease the foreign trade zones and sub-zones.Added by P.A. 103-0242,§ 20, eff. 1/1/2024.