Bill Text: IL HJR0078 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Supports the United States Department of Transportation's designation of the M-35 from St. Louis, Missouri to St. Paul, Minnesota and the M-55 from Chicago via St. Louis, Missouri to New Orleans, Louisiana as Marine Highway Corridors. Encourages support for the local drainage sponsors and the United States Army Corps of Engineers' Upper Mississippi River Comprehensive Plan, as approved by the Mississippi River Commission, for systemic flood control planning and implementation. States the General Assembly's willingness to take steps to streamline the State Levee Permitting process to encourage and facilitate both flood control and navigation improvements to Illinois levee systems.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-04-07 - Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. JoAnn D. Osmond [HJR0078 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HJR0078-Introduced.html

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HJ0078 LRB098 19905 GRL 55124 r
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Use of the most efficient and environmentally
friendly means of transportation lends to economic growth and
positions the State of Illinois to successfully compete in a
global marketplace; and
WHEREAS, Practical, science-based solutions that preserve
waterborne commerce between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi
River system is critical to our State; and
WHEREAS, The United States saves an estimated $200 million
in air pollution abatements by moving bulk commodities by barge
on the Upper Mississippi River System; and
WHEREAS, Commodity transportation diversions away from
these river systems can increase delays at railroad crossings,
amplify congestion on highways, and deteriorate State
roadways; and
WHEREAS, Opening the expanded locks in the Panama Canal by
2016 will dramatically affect the United States and global
trade patterns; and
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is one of our nation's key
agricultural states; one acre of corn can produce enough

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kilocalories to feed 10 people for an entire year and our Upper
Mississippi and Illinois River levees protect over 750,000
acres of prime farm land; and
WHEREAS, Sixty percent of the grain exported from the
United States travels part of its journey by barge on inland
waterways; trade growth on the Mississippi River is projected
to increase by 40% over the next 20 years; and
WHEREAS, One 15-barge tow can move 787,500 bushels of
grain, equal to 870 semi-truck loads or two 100-unit trains,
barges can also accommodate product that is too heavy or too
large to be handled by other modes of transport; and
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois encompasses more miles of
rivers and levee systems than any other state; in its
Comprehensive Plan, the Illinois Department of Transportation
has recognized the importance of barge transportation on inland
waterways as a critical part of the Illinois freight
transportation system; and
WHEREAS, The Governor has recognized the importance of
Illinois' waterways as a critical part of the freight
transportation system by the formation of a multi-department
Illinois Interagency Port Working Group; and

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WHEREAS, The majority of levees along the Upper Mississippi
and Illinois River are classified as federal levees with
operation and maintenance provided by the local drainage and
levee district sponsors as political subdivisions of the State;
these levees provide the sideboard for our navigation channel
that helps create our waterway system; and
WHEREAS, The federal levees in this State are seeing
changes to both safety and performance standards under the
discretion of the United States Army Corps of Engineers' new
Levee Safety Classification, which is causing increased costs
to the local sponsors; and
WHEREAS, Illinois levees along the Upper Mississippi and
Illinois River protect many acres of prime farmland, 13
Illinois river ports, 18 Mississippi river ports, 139 miles of
United States Highways and Interstates, 770 miles of railroads,
7,300 acres of State Conservation Areas, 4,100 acres of State
Parks, and 4,000 acres of State Fish and Wildlife areas; and
WHEREAS, According to the Upper Mississippi River
Comprehensive Plan, the United States Army Corps of Engineers,
and a Tennessee Valley Authority study, improving our flood
control system in Illinois can return 5 dollars for every one
dollar invested in Regional Economic Development; and

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WHEREAS, Effective flood control infrastructure and
management are critical to commercial navigation on these
inland waterways; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we support the United States
Department of Transportation's designation of the M-35 from St.
Louis, Missouri to St. Paul, Minnesota and the M-55 from
Chicago via St. Louis, Missouri to New Orleans, Louisiana as
Marine Highway Corridors; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we encourage support for the local drainage
sponsors and the United States Army Corps of Engineers' Upper
Mississippi River Comprehensive Plan, as approved by the
Mississippi River Commission, for systemic flood control
planning and implementation; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the members of this body pledge to take
steps to streamline the State Levee Permitting process to
encourage and facilitate both flood control and navigation
improvements to Illinois levee systems.