20 ILCS 205/205-115

The Department has the power: to develop data used in the Agricultural Lands Productivity Formula that is used in determining the success of revegetation of post-mining land for row-crop agricultural purposes in accordance with the Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act; to cooperate with the Department of Natural Resources in determining the success of the cropland revegetation under the Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act; and to publish annually a Soil Master and County Cropped Acreage Manual, which is data derived from and used in the formula. The manual is exempt from the rule-making requirements of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.