Bill Text: IL HR0244 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the United States Army Corps of Engineers to seek alternatives to the closure of the Chicago Area Waterway System of locks and canals that would not impede commerce.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-05-03 - Resolution Adopted 112-000-000 [HR0244 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2011-HR0244-Introduced.html
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The flow of the Chicago River into Lake Michigan | ||||||
3 | was reversed one hundred years ago to protect the safety of | ||||||
4 | drinking water for the Chicago region and to facilitate | ||||||
5 | navigation and commerce through a series of locks and canals; | ||||||
6 | and
| ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, In 2008, the Port of Chicago in the Chicago Area | ||||||
8 | Waterway System was ranked 6th in the United States for exports | ||||||
9 | to other countries by the United States Commerce Department; | ||||||
10 | and
| ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The Chicago region's five biggest exports were | ||||||
12 | chemicals ($6.1 billion), computers and electronic products | ||||||
13 | ($5.2 billion), non-electrical machinery ($3.4 billion), | ||||||
14 | transportation equipment ($3.2 billion), and electrical | ||||||
15 | equipment, appliances, and components ($1.7 billion); and
| ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, A 2007 study commissioned by the Illinois Chamber | ||||||
17 | of Commerce estimated that $29 billion worth of petroleum, | ||||||
18 | chemicals, building materials, farm products, coal, and other | ||||||
19 | products and raw materials travel through the Chicago area | ||||||
20 | locks and canals annually; and
| ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, The continued operation of Chicago's system of |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | locks and canals is vital to ensure its continued status as the | ||||||
2 | strategic transportation hub of the Midwest; and
| ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | ||||||
4 | and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have enacted | ||||||
5 | several steps to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake | ||||||
6 | Michigan, including creating three electronic barriers, eDNA | ||||||
7 | testing, and two fish kills in December of 2009 and June of | ||||||
8 | 2010; and
| ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, Litigation has been pursued by Great Lakes states | ||||||
10 | to order the closure of the locks and canals to try and prevent | ||||||
11 | Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes; and
| ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has rejected the | ||||||
13 | preliminary injunction to close the Chicago Area Waterway | ||||||
14 | System's locks and canals; and
| ||||||
15 | WHEREAS, In December of 2010, a United States District | ||||||
16 | Court rejected several Great Lakes states' request to shut down | ||||||
17 | the Chicago Area Waterway System; and
| ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, On February 17, 2011, a measure by the United | ||||||
19 | States House of Representatives to close some of the Chicago | ||||||
20 | area locks failed by a vote of 293 "No" to 139 "Yes" votes; and
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | WHEREAS, Closing the locks would overwhelm the Chicago | ||||||
2 | Metropolitan Water Reclamation District tunnel system and | ||||||
3 | cause massive flooding, affecting more than 3 million people | ||||||
4 | and 1.4 million structures in Chicago and 51 surrounding | ||||||
5 | suburbs; and
| ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, It is estimated that closing the locks would also | ||||||
7 | increase shipping costs for the Illinois agricultural | ||||||
8 | community by more than a half-billion dollars a year; and
| ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, There is no viable alternative to re-routing | ||||||
10 | commerce that travels by barge through the Chicago Area | ||||||
11 | Waterway System; according to the American Waterways | ||||||
12 | Operators, a single barge can carry an amount of liquid cargo, | ||||||
13 | such as asphalt, that would fill 144 semi-trailer trucks or 46 | ||||||
14 | rail cars; the State's rail and highway routes are simply not | ||||||
15 | equipped to make up that difference; and
| ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, With one barge's capacity equal to about 60 | ||||||
17 | trucks, the equivalent of about 571,000 truckloads of cargo | ||||||
18 | entered or left the region by barge last year, enough to go | ||||||
19 | from New York to Los Angeles and back again; and
| ||||||
20 | WHEREAS, According to United States Department of | ||||||
21 | Transportation modeling, truck transportation in the Chicago | ||||||
22 | area accounts for 60% of the commodity flow; the annual |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | addition of 300,000 trucks would result in an additional 848 of | ||||||
2 | nitrogen oxides alone to the air emissions to the Chicago metro | ||||||
3 | area, which is equivalent to at least one natural gas peaker | ||||||
4 | plant in Illinois or about 20,600 residential natural gas | ||||||
5 | furnaces for the year; and
| ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, At a White House "Carp Summit" of the Great Lakes | ||||||
7 | states, the United States Army Corps of Engineers presented a | ||||||
8 | plan to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, | ||||||
9 | outlining several scenarios including opening the locks less | ||||||
10 | frequently, testing, and more electronic barriers; and
| ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The White House is allocating $78.5 million to | ||||||
12 | prevent the Asian carp from gaining access to the Great Lakes; | ||||||
13 | the strategy will call for modifying the lock operations in the | ||||||
14 | Chicago Area Waterway System; and
| ||||||
15 | WHEREAS, Even the temporary interruption of lock traffic | ||||||
16 | would be absolutely devastating to our local, State, and | ||||||
17 | national economy; therefore, be it
| ||||||
18 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
19 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
20 | we urge the United States Army Corps of Engineers to seek | ||||||
21 | alternatives to the closure of the Chicago Area Waterway System | ||||||
22 | of locks and canals that would not impede commerce; and be it |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | further
| ||||||
2 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent | ||||||
3 | to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States | ||||||
4 | Coast Guard, the United States Environmental Protection | ||||||
5 | Agency, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the | ||||||
6 | Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the White House, and | ||||||
7 | the members of the Illinois congressional delegation.
|