---
type: "Bill"
title: "CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITY AREA"
description: "Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that before land is designated as a Conservation Opportunity Area, the Department of Natural Resources shall hold 2 public hearings on the proposed designation and provide notification by certified mail to landowners affected by the designation. Defines \"Conservation Opportunity Area\"."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "103rd"
identifier: "SB 2226"
citation: "Illinois SB 2226 (103rd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lawrence \"Larry\" Walsh, Jr.", "Patrick J. Joyce"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 37
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2023-02-10"
last_action: "2023-06-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/37c51e99-64c2-4a9d-820c-b89093a7f28c"
source_url: "https://beta.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=2226&GAID=17&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=147110&SessionID=112"
source_hash: "0ccfd9dc281978f7e86d9d27dc2a0f6fb64cbacc7d6cdef54f19f6cf4d6dc8bc"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois SB 2226 (103rd) — CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITY AREA

Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that before land is designated as a Conservation Opportunity Area, the Department of Natural Resources shall hold 2 public hearings on the proposed designation and provide notification by certified mail to landowners affected by the designation. Defines "Conservation Opportunity Area".

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/SB/PDF/10300SB2226.pdf)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/SB/PDF/10300SB2226eng.pdf)
3. **Senate Amendment 001** (committee substitute) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/SB/PDF/10300SB2226sam001.pdf)
4. **Senate Amendment 002** (committee substitute) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/SB/PDF/10300SB2226sam002.pdf)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://beta.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/103/SB/PDF/10300SB2226enr.pdf)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **57–0** (pass) · lower
- Environment and Conservation, Amendment 1 — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **111–0** (pass) · lower
- Environment and Conservation — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Energy & Environment — **27–0** (pass) · lower
- Environment and Conservation, Amendment 2 — **6–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr. — primary (person)
- Patrick J. Joyce — primary (person)
- Andrew S. Chesney — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-10** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Patrick J. Joyce `filing`
- **2023-02-10** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-10** Referred to Assignments
- **2023-02-28** Assigned to Environment and Conservation `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-09** Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Andrew S. Chesney
- **2023-03-09** Do Pass Environment and Conservation; 008-000-000
- **2023-03-09** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 10, 2023 `reading-2`
- **2023-03-16** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Patrick J. Joyce `amendment-introduction`
- **2023-03-16** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments
- **2023-03-21** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Environment and Conservation
- **2023-03-23** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommend Do Adopt Environment and Conservation; 009-000-000
- **2023-03-24** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-24** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted; Joyce `amendment-passage`
- **2023-03-24** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 28, 2023
- **2023-03-27** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Patrick J. Joyce `amendment-introduction`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Assignments
- **2023-03-28** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Assignments Refers to Environment and Conservation
- **2023-03-30** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Recommend Do Adopt Environment and Conservation; 006-000-000
- **2023-03-30** Recalled to Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-30** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Adopted; Joyce `amendment-passage`
- **2023-03-30** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading
- **2023-03-30** Third Reading - Passed; 057-000-000 `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-31** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2023-03-31** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr.
- **2023-04-11** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-04-11** Referred to Rules Committee
- **2023-04-18** Assigned to Energy & Environment Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-25** Do Pass / Short Debate Energy & Environment Committee; 027-000-000
- **2023-04-26** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2023-05-02** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2023-05-02** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2023-05-11** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 111-000-000 `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-05-11** Passed Both Houses
- **2023-06-09** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-30** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2023-06-30** Effective Date January 1, 2024
- **2023-06-30** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-0255 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/37c51e99-64c2-4a9d-820c-b89093a7f28c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).