HJ0078 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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 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

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

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.