Sen. Don Harmon

Filed: 4/4/2014

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3548

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3548 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Elmwood Park Grade Separation Authority Act
5is amended by changing Sections 5, 15, 20, 35, 50, and 100 as
6follows:
 
7    (70 ILCS 1935/5)
8    Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
9    "Authority" means the Elmwood Park Grade Separation
10Authority.
11    "Person" includes an individual, partnership, firm, public
12or private corporation, and government or unit of government.
13    "Railroad" or "Railroads" means the Northeast Illinois
14Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation, created under
15subsection (a) of Section 2.20 of the Regional Transportation
16Authority Act, Canadian Pacific Railway and other railroads

 

 

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1operating or owning trackage or right-of-way within the area of
2the Authority.
3    "Village" means the Village of Elmwood Park.
4(Source: P.A. 98-564, eff. 8-27-13.)
 
5    (70 ILCS 1935/15)
6    Sec. 15. Creation; duration; termination of the Authority.
7There is created a body politic and corporate, a unit of local
8government, named the Elmwood Park Grade Separation Authority
9that embraces that portion of Leyden Township within the
10Village of Elmwood Park, Cook County, Illinois. The Authority
11shall continue in existence until the accomplishment of its
12objectives or until the Authority officials resolve that it is
13impossible or economically unfeasible to fulfill its
14objectives. Objectives of the Authority include the grade
15separation of railroad tracks from the right-of-way of Grand
16Avenue in the Village of Elmwood Park, the relocation of
17railroad tracks and roadway to facilitate the grade separation,
18and other necessary, related improvements to the right-of-way
19and at-grade crossing closure within the Village of Elmwood
20Park. The Authority shall be dissolved upon its voluntary
21termination or 6 months after the first use of the railway on
22the grade separation structure by a Railroad. Upon termination
23or dissolution of the Authority after the construction of the
24grade separation project, the Department of Transportation
25shall own and maintain the grade separation structure and the

 

 

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1Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation
2Canadian Pacific Railway Company shall own and maintain the
3railway along the grade separation structure.
4(Source: P.A. 98-564, eff. 8-27-13.)
 
5    (70 ILCS 1935/20)
6    Sec. 20. Procedural capacity; seal; office. The Authority
7may sue and be sued in its corporate name, but execution shall
8not in any case issue against any property of the Authority.
9The grade separation project Authority shall be subject to the
10jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission. It may adopt
11a common seal and change the seal at pleasure. The principal
12office of the Authority shall be in the Village of Elmwood
13Park, Illinois.
14    The Authority may enter into contracts for the performance
15of its objectives, including agreements with other State
16entities and departments, as well as provide for the letting of
17construction contracts, consultant service agreements,
18professional and trade services, and other agreements
19consistent with the purposes and objectives of the Authority
20established by this Act. The Authority may accept
21jurisdictional transfer of public right-of-way for purposes of
22eliminating at-grade street and railroad crossings.
23(Source: P.A. 98-564, eff. 8-27-13.)
 
24    (70 ILCS 1935/35)

 

 

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1    Sec. 35. Acceptance of grants, loans, and appropriations.
2The Authority has the power to apply for and accept grants,
3loans, advances, and appropriations from the federal
4government and from the State of Illinois, or any agency or
5instrumentality thereof, to be used for the purposes of the
6Authority, and to enter into any agreement in relation to such
7grants, loans, advances, and appropriations. The Authority may
8also accept from the State, or any State agency, department, or
9commission, any county or other political subdivision, any
10municipal corporation, any Railroads, school authorities, or
11jointly therefrom, grants of funds or services for any of the
12purposes of this Act. The Authority shall be treated as a rail
13carrier, with only the grade separation project being subject
14to the Illinois Commerce Commission's jurisdiction, and
15eligible to receive money from the Grade Crossing Protection
16Fund, any fund of the State, or other source available for
17purposes of promoting safety and separation of at-grade
18railroad crossings or highway improvements.
19    The Illinois Commerce Commission Crossing Safety
20Improvement Program FY 2014-2018 Plan shall be revised to
21include this Authority's grade separation project as one of the
22bridge projects contemplated for FY 2015 through FY 2018, and
23funds from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund shall be
24allocated in the FY 2015 through FY 2018 Plan for said grade
25separation project. No Order of the Illinois Commerce
26Commission shall be effective or binding on the Authority to

 

 

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1construct the grade separation project unless the federal
2government, the State of Illinois, or any agency or
3instrumentality thereof has granted or appropriated sufficient
4funds for the construction of the grade separation project and
5the Authority is in receipt of those funds. Notwithstanding,
6the Illinois Commerce Commission shall not withhold approval of
7the construction of the Authority's grade separation project or
8the issuance of any Orders that authorize the construction of
9the Authority's grade separation project.
10    Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
11Illinois Commerce Commission's jurisdiction under this Act
12includes the authority to use funds from the Grade Crossing
13Protection Fund to reimburse the Elmwood Park Grade Separation
14Authority, in an amount not to exceed $12,000,000, for the
15construction of a grade separation to replace the existing
16Grand Avenue highway-rail grade crossing of tracks owned by the
17Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation,
18without regard to whether all or part of the crossing is within
19the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation, the
20Regional Transportation Authority or any subdivision or unit
21thereof, or any other State agency or unit of local government.
22    The Elmwood Park Grade Separation Authority shall conduct a
23preliminary engineering study for the construction of a grade
24separation to replace the existing Grand Avenue highway-rail
25grade crossing, which shall result in the preparation of
26preliminary engineering plans and an estimate of cost. The

 

 

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1Elmwood Park Grade Separation Authority shall also prepare a
2funding plan for the grade separation project. The Elmwood Park
3Grade Separation Authority shall submit a copy of the
4preliminary engineering study, estimate of cost, and funding
5plan for the construction of a grade separation to replace the
6existing Grand Avenue highway-rail grade crossing to the
7Illinois Commerce Commission for its review.
8    Following receipt of the preliminary engineering study,
9estimate of cost, and funding plan for the Grand Avenue grade
10separation project, the Illinois Commerce Commission shall
11consider that project as one of the bridge projects included in
12the Illinois Commerce Commission's Crossing Safety Improvement
13Program during the earliest 5-year programming cycle, and funds
14from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund shall be programmed for
15that grade separation project.
16    No funds from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund programmed
17for the Grand Avenue grade separation project shall be provided
18unless authorized by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Funds
19from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund programmed for the
20Grand Avenue grade separation project may not exceed
21$12,000,000, and shall only be provided to the Elmwood Park
22Grade Separation Authority as reimbursement for expenses
23already incurred.
24(Source: P.A. 98-564, eff. 8-27-13.)
 
25    (70 ILCS 1935/50)

 

 

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1    Sec. 50. Board; composition; qualification; compensation
2and expenses. The Authority shall be governed by a 7 9-member
3board consisting of members appointed by the Governor with the
4advice and consent of the Senate. Five members shall be voting
5members and 2 4 members shall be non-voting members. The voting
6members shall consist of the following:
7        (1) two former public officials who served within the
8    Township of Leyden or the Village of Elmwood Park and are
9    recommended to the Governor by the Village President of the
10    Village of Elmwood Park;
11        (2) one current employee two prior employees of the
12    Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation
13    Canadian Pacific Railway with management experience; and
14        (3) one current employee of Canadian Pacific Railway;
15    and
16        (4) (3) one resident of the Township of Leyden or the
17    Village of Elmwood Park.
18    The non-voting members shall consist of the following:
19        (1) the Village President of the Village of Elmwood
20    Park; and
21        (2) one current employee of Canadian Pacific Railway
22    with management experience;
23        (3) one current employee of Northeast Illinois
24    Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation with management
25    experience; and
26        (2) (4) one current employee of the Department of

 

 

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1    Transportation with management experience.
2    The members of the board shall serve without compensation,
3but may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred by them in
4the performance of their duties prescribed by the Authority.
5However, any member of the board who serves as secretary or
6treasurer may receive compensation for services as that
7officer.
8(Source: P.A. 98-564, eff. 8-27-13; revised 10-17-13.)
 
9    (70 ILCS 1935/100)
10    Sec. 100. Construction. Nothing in this Act shall be
11construed to confer upon the Authority the right, power, or
12duty to order or enforce the abandonment of any present
13property of the railroads or the use in substitution therefor
14of any property acquired for the railroads in the absence of a
15contract duly executed by the railroads and the Authority
16setting forth the terms and conditions upon which relocation of
17the right-of-way and physical facilities of the railroads is to
18be accomplished. No such contract shall be or become
19enforceable until the provisions of the contract have been
20approved or authorized by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
21    Any construction improvements to signaling or any other
22aspect of the grade separation project dictated by the Railroad
23or the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad
24Corporation shall be paid for respectively by the Railroad or
25the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation.

 

 

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1     The Railroad or the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter
2Railroad Corporation, or both, shall specifically pay any and
3all costs associated with any upgrades to the railway.
4(Source: P.A. 98-564, eff. 8-27-13.)
 
5    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6becoming law.".