Bill Text: IL SR1088 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress to enact tax incentives that would encourage rail carriers to utilize natural gas powered locomotives and grow LNG infrastructure.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-05-22 - Resolution Adopted [SR1088 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SR1088-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is the freight rail hub of | ||||||
3 | the nation and its rail network represents a
significant | ||||||
4 | portion of the State's transportation infrastructure; and
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5 | WHEREAS, The seven major U.S. freight railroads consumed | ||||||
6 | more than 3.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel in 2012, or 7% of
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7 | all diesel fuel consumed in the United States; the fuel cost | ||||||
8 | more than $11 billion in 2012 and accounted
for 23% of total | ||||||
9 | operating expenses; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel | ||||||
11 | and is being used throughout the world to reduce harmful
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12 | emissions; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is natural gas cooled | ||||||
14 | to -162°C and converted to liquid, which takes up
1/600th the | ||||||
15 | volume of gas in the gaseous state; and
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16 | WHEREAS, Railroads are considering the use of LNG in | ||||||
17 | locomotives because of the potential for significant fuel cost
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18 | savings and the resulting reductions in fuel operating costs; | ||||||
19 | given the expected price difference
between LNG and diesel | ||||||
20 | fuel, future fuel savings are expected to more than offset the | ||||||
21 | approximately $1
million incremental cost associated with an |
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1 | LNG locomotive and its tender; and
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2 | WHEREAS, The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) | ||||||
3 | projects that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) will play an
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4 | increasing role in powering freight locomotives in coming | ||||||
5 | years; continued growth in domestic natural
gas production and | ||||||
6 | substantially lower natural gas prices compared to crude oil | ||||||
7 | prices could result in
significant cost savings for locomotives | ||||||
8 | that use LNG as a fuel source; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Canadian National (CN) tested a Liquefied Natural | ||||||
10 | Gas (LNG)-fueled train on a 300-mile portion of its
mainline | ||||||
11 | between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta, from September | ||||||
12 | 2012 to September 2013; the 3,000-horsepower locomotives, | ||||||
13 | which operated 90% on natural gas and 10% on diesel,
were | ||||||
14 | estimated to have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about 30% | ||||||
15 | and nitrogen oxide
emissions by about 70%; and
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16 | WHEREAS, In June 2016, Russian Railways struck an agreement | ||||||
17 | with Russian gas supplier Gazprom to develop LNG
fueling | ||||||
18 | infrastructure at locations approved by Russian Railways to | ||||||
19 | test 40 gas turbine-powered
locomotives; and
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20 | WHEREAS, In December 2016, it was announced that Indian | ||||||
21 | Railways will move forward with converting all of its
existing | ||||||
22 | locomotives to dual-fuel LNG engines, which will cut diesel |
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1 | consumption by 20%; therefore, be it
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2 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
3 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress to | ||||||
4 | enact tax incentives that would encourage rail carriers to | ||||||
5 | utilize
natural gas powered locomotives and grow LNG | ||||||
6 | infrastructure; and be it further
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7 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
8 | delivered to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. | ||||||
9 | Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. Speaker of the House | ||||||
10 | Paul Ryan, U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy | ||||||
11 | Pelosi, and all members of the Illinois Congressional | ||||||
12 | Delegation.
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