HR0068 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0068 LRB096 10659 GRL 20832 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Surface Transportation Board (STB) was created in the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 and is the successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission, which was established in 1887; and

WHEREAS, The STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress charged with the fundamental missions of resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers; and

WHEREAS, Under current law, the STB has the power to approve all mergers and consolidations between a Class I railroad and a Class II railroad unless it finds that the merger is likely to cause a substantial lessening of competition, create a monopoly, or restrain trade in freight surface transportation in any region of the United States; the anti-competitive effects of the transaction outweigh the public interest in meeting significant transportation needs; and

WHEREAS, In October of 2007, the Canadian National Railway (CN) filed a merger application with the STB to acquire control of the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway Company (EJ & E), which runs from Waukegan to Gary, Indiana; and

WHEREAS, If the merger is approved, the CN plans to use this line as a bypass route for its Intermodal freight traffic that currently runs through central Chicago onto the EJ & E mainline; and

WHEREAS, The CN's application stated that the line would increase freight traffic in 50 communities by 400% to 600%; and

WHEREAS, The CN purchase of the EJ & E rail line will have a serious impact on the day-to-day lives of working families across the region, such as traffic congestion and grade crossing safety concerns, emergency vehicle access, interruption of commuter rail service, hazardous materials transportation safety, noise pollution, decreased property values, economic job loss, and increased taxes to pay for mitigation expenses associated with infrastructure impact from the purchase of the EJ & E rail line; and

WHEREAS, The STB's criteria and standards for approval of merger applications are antiquated and need modernization as railway mergers no longer impact sparsely populated areas of the United States, instead occurring in highly populated and congested areas; and

WHEREAS, The STB's questionable analysis that the merger of the CN and EJ & E would have a minor impact on the region, and the CN's unrealistic estimate of the financial and socioeconomic ramifications to the affected communities illustrate the need for congressional intervention on this issue; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois delegation members of Congress have worked with the Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee to draft legislation to require the public interest of residents and communities threatened by negative environment and safety impacts of large railroad mergers and acquisitions transactions be considered on an equal basis with the industry's shipping and transportation competition benefits as a result of the transactions; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 6707 was introduced in Congress on July 1, 2008 to require that the safety and environmental effects of proposed mergers must have equal weighting to the benefits to commerce, including the effects on local communities, such as public safety, grade crossing safety, hazardous materials transportation safety, emergency response time, noise, and socioeconomic impacts, as well as the effect of the proposed transaction on intercity rail passenger transportation and commuter rail passenger transportation; and

WHEREAS, Although H.R. 6707 did not receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass the House of Representatives in the 110th Congress, continued congressional intervention in the 111th Congress is needed to protect the public interest of community residents impacted by the proposed CN and EJ & E merger; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we encourage and support action by the 111th Congress of the United States to enact legislation to update STB standards and criteria for approval of railroad merger applications to equally weigh the public interest of residents and communities with the benefits to commerce; and to require approved mergers to include adequate federal and private support to compensate impacted local communities for, but not limited to, road improvements to municipal and county roads and commuter rails; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we believe that the federal government and the CN should compensate the communities impacted by the CN and EJ & E merger for all infrastructure needs associated with the merger, including but not limited to, improvements to municipal and county streets, grade crossings, and commuter rail; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage Congress and President Barack Obama to support H.R. 693, the Reaching the Star Act creating a Suburban Transit Access Route, or STAR line inter-suburban commuter rail to ease road traffic congestion in 100 communities from Joliet to O'Hare International Airport, providing safe and reliable transportation options for the more than 1.6 million area residents living in high-congestion areas; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be sent to President Barack Obama, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United State House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore and the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, and to each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.