Illinois Rep. Williams’s environmental standards bill passes House and Senate

Newly passed bill authored by State Rep. Ann M. Williams aims to prevent the Illinois Pollution Control Board from adopting environmental standards less stringent than current state protections, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 68 Democrats and one Republican voted in favor of the bill, while 28 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 38 Democrats and seven Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 11 Republicans voted against it.

Williams introduced the bill in the Illinois House on Feb. 4, 2026 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as HB5070, was passed on May 14, 2026 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill’s official text as follows: “Amends the Environmental Protection Act. In provisions concerning the regulation of air pollution, water pollution, drinking water, hazardous waste, and landfills, provides that the Illinois Pollution Control Board shall not adopt any standards that are less stringent than those existing in Board regulations. Provides that various provisions of the Act shall not be construed to limit the right of a person to submit to the Board, or for the Board to adopt, regulations more stringent than the regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.”

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill bars the Illinois Pollution Control Board from adopting any new air, water, drinking water, hazardous waste or municipal solid waste landfill standards that are less stringent than the protections already in its regulations. It amends multiple sections of the Environmental Protection Act to state that where the board is required to adopt rules “identical in substance” to federal environmental regulations, those rules may not weaken existing Illinois standards. The bill also clarifies throughout that nothing in these sections limits any person’s ability to propose, or the board’s authority to adopt, regulations that are more stringent than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Adriane Johnson (Democrat-30th District), Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (Democrat-41st District), and Sen. Laura Ellman (Democrat-21st District), along with two other sponsors.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Williams graduated from the University of Iowa in 1991 with a BA and again in 1994 from Drake University Law School with a JD.

Williams, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State House in 2021 to represent the state’s 11th House District, replacing previous state representative Kathleen C. Moore.

Some lawmakers were in the chamber but did not cast any vote, listed as “Not Voting”. Others were not present—either marked “Absent” without explanation or noted as having an “Excused Absence” due to personal or medical reasons.