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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION 620

2     AMENDMENT NO. ___. Amend House Resolution 620, AS AMENDED,
3 by replacing the entire text of the resolution with the
4 following:
5
"HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
6     WHEREAS, The British Petroleum oil refinery in Whiting,
7 Indiana is planning an expansion that would increase the
8 refinery's discharges into Lake Michigan significantly,
9 including 54% more ammonia (for a total discharge of 1,584
10 pounds of ammonia per day) and 35% more total suspended solids
11 (for a total discharge of 4,925 pounds of total suspended
12 solids per day) on a daily basis, running contrary to years of
13 efforts to clean up the Great Lakes; and
 
14     WHEREAS, The beaches of Lake Michigan provide a significant
15 source of recreation, tourism, and drinking water for the State
16 of Illinois and other states bordering the Lake; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Last year, 81% of Illinois beaches were declared
2 unsafe due to algae and other pollution problems; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish
4 in the Lake; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The increased discharge into the Lake runs counter
6 to a provision of the federal Clean Water Act that prohibits
7 any downgrade in water quality near a pollution source, such as
8 the British Petroleum refinery; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Indiana State regulators are allowing British
10 Petroleum to install equipment that mixes its toxic waste with
11 clean lake water about 200 feet offshore, and actively diluting
12 pollution in Lake Michigan in this way is banned under Indiana
13 law; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Environmental regulators remain unsure about the
15 ecological effects of the relatively new refining process that
16 British Petroleum plans to use and the increased discharge into
17 Lake Michigan; and
 
18     WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency
19 has not objected to the State of Indiana's decision to allow
20 the increased discharge by British Petroleum; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, States rely on the federal government to enforce
2 interstate water quality, the federal Clean Water Act has
3 assisted states in cleaning up polluted waters and protecting
4 unpolluted waters, and states need new tools in addition to the
5 existing Clean Water Act to help protect ground and surface
6 waters from out-of-state pollution sources; and
 
7     WHEREAS, The federal Clean Air Act requires states to take
8 certain actions when permitting new sources of air pollution
9 that may increase pollution in nearby states and provides
10 remedies for states to address air pollution coming from
11 out-of-state sources; therefore, be it
 
12     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
14 urge British Petroleum to review and reconsider the wastewater
15 treatment facilities proposed to serve the expansion and
16 reconfiguration of its Whiting Refinery with the specific
17 intent to supplement or enhance treatment efficiencies to
18 eliminate or reduce the projected increases of ammonia nitrogen
19 and total suspended solids discharged into Lake Michigan; and
20 be it further
 
21     RESOLVED, That we strongly urge the United States
22 Environmental Protection Agency to follow a strict

 

 

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1 interpretation of the federal Clean Water Act to minimize any
2 additional pollution into Lake Michigan; and be it further
 
3     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
4 Protection Agency to prohibit the Whiting, Indiana British
5 Petroleum refinery from increasing the refinery's current
6 discharges of ammonia and total suspended solids into Lake
7 Michigan until the ecological and environmental impact of the
8 increased discharges is fully understood by federal and state
9 environmental regulators; and be it further
 
10     RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois delegation to the
11 United States Congress to take legislative action against any
12 planned increase in the discharge of pollution into Lake
13 Michigan that is contrary to the federal Clean Water Act and
14 threatens the health of the environment of this State; and be
15 it further
 
16     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Congress to enact
17 Clean Water Act legislation requiring states to take certain
18 actions when permitting new sources of water pollution that may
19 increase pollution in nearby states and providing remedies for
20 states to address water pollution coming from out-of-state
21 sources; and be it further
 
22     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental

 

 

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1 Protection Agency to strengthen federal regulations to require
2 each state that permits a new source of water pollution to
3 provide written notice to all nearby states whose water quality
4 may be degraded by the new source at least 60 days before the
5 new source begins discharging pollution; and be it further
 
6     RESOLVED, That we encourage the federal government to take
7 action to give one state the right to bring an action in
8 federal court against another state that is causing or
9 contributing to water pollution that exceeds water quality
10 standards or otherwise adversely impacts the drinking water or
11 recreational uses of water in the first state; and be it
12 further
 
13     RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Environmental
14 Protection Agency to increase enforcement of existing clean
15 water laws to protect state waters from out-of-state pollution
16 sources, especially the Clean Water Act provision that
17 prohibits any decline in water quality even if limits on
18 pollution discharges are met; and be it further
 
19     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20 delivered to the administrator of the United States
21 Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen L. Johnson, and to the
22 Great Lakes National Program Manager for the United States
23 Environmental Protection Agency, Mary A. Gade, to each member

 

 

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1 of the Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin delegations
2 to the United States Congress, and to the governors and state
3 legislative leaders of Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.".