Full Text of HR0068 96th General Assembly
HR0068enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION 68
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| WHEREAS, On December 24, 2008, the purchase of the Elgin, | 3 |
| Joliet and Eastern (EJ&E) rail line by Canadian National (CN) | 4 |
| was approved by the Surface Transportation Board (STB); the | 5 |
| EJ&E is a stretch of train tracks from Waukegan to Gary, | 6 |
| Indiana; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, While many communities in the metro area of | 8 |
| Chicago benefited by the shift in train traffic created by the | 9 |
| merger, many other communities experienced a negative increase | 10 |
| in train traffic; this increase is expected to have an impact | 11 |
| on the day-to-day lives of working families along sections of | 12 |
| the EJ&E, such as traffic congestion and grade crossing safety | 13 |
| concerns, emergency vehicle access, interruption of commuter | 14 |
| rail service, hazardous materials transportation safety, noise | 15 |
| pollution, decreased property values, and increased taxes to | 16 |
| pay for mitigation expenses associated with infrastructure | 17 |
| impact from the purchase of the EJ&E rail line; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, The RTA has expressed concern about possible | 19 |
| negative effects that the proposed EJ&E merger could have on | 20 |
| construction of the proposed STAR Line, a mass-transit line | 21 |
| which had hoped to use part of the EJ&E's right-of-way; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, Railroad transport is one of the fastest growing |
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| means of fuel-efficient freight transport in the nation and is | 2 |
| expected to continue to grow; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, Significant growth is expected in rail freight | 4 |
| traffic in the near and distant future creating environmental | 5 |
| and safety concerns for those communities surrounding freight | 6 |
| rail lines; therefore, be it | 7 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 9 |
| encourage and support action by the 111th Congress of the | 10 |
| United States to enact legislation to review the Surface | 11 |
| Transportation Board to ensure adequate federal support to | 12 |
| compensate impacted local communities for infrastructure | 13 |
| upgrades due to shifts in track usage; and be it further | 14 |
| RESOLVED, That we believe that the federal government | 15 |
| should help fund infrastructure upgrades for communities | 16 |
| impacted by mergers, such as the CN and EJ&E merger, that cause | 17 |
| significant fluctuation in rail traffic for the health and | 18 |
| safety of both the employees of the rail carrier and the local | 19 |
| communities such as improvements to State, municipal, and | 20 |
| county streets, grade crossings, and commuter rail; and be it | 21 |
| further | 22 |
| RESOLVED, That we encourage Congress and President Barack |
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| Obama to support H.R. 693, the Reaching the Star Act, creating | 2 |
| a Suburban Transit Access Route or STAR line inter-suburban | 3 |
| commuter rail to ease road traffic congestion in 100 | 4 |
| communities from Joliet to O'Hare International Airport, | 5 |
| providing safe and reliable transportation options for the more | 6 |
| than 1.6 million area residents living in high-congestion | 7 |
| areas; and be it further | 8 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be sent | 9 |
| to President Barack Obama, the Speaker and Minority Leader of | 10 |
| the United States House of Representatives, the President Pro | 11 |
| Tempore and the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, | 12 |
| and to each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.
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