HJ0083 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0083 LRB099 12685 GRL 36437 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State has the duty to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of its residents; and

WHEREAS, The 2003 O'Hare Modernization Act included a finding that O'Hare International Airport cannot efficiently perform its role in the State and national air transportation systems unless it is reconfigured with multiple parallel runways; and

WHEREAS, Under the O'Hare Modernization Program, parallel runway 10C-28C was commissioned on October 17, 2013, dramatically increasing air traffic over northwest Chicago and the near northwest suburbs; and

WHEREAS, Previously unaffected residents living as far as 12 miles from the airport have complained of near constant aircraft noise, beginning as early at 4:30 AM and ending as late as 1:00 AM; and

WHEREAS, The O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission reported over 350,000 noise complaints filed in March of 2015; and

WHEREAS, Fair Allocation in Runways represents a growing coalition of over 26 communities, including the City of Chicago and suburbs that are negatively affected by the changes in flight patterns and runway usage resulting from implementation of the O'Hare Modernization Plan; and

WHEREAS, The City of Chicago Department of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration plan to decommission diagonal runway 14L/32R prior to the commissioning of a new parallel runway 10R/28L in October of 2015; and

WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make decisions regarding the runways at O'Hare, including whether to delay projects at the airport; and

WHEREAS, Members of the General Assembly, representing the impacted areas, met with representatives of the City of Chicago on numerous occasions and demanded the City respond to the concerns of the residents, and requested that the FAA delay the project at O'Hare for so long as necessary in order to review and comment on the concerns of the residents of the impacted areas; and

WHEREAS, Several members of the General Assembly and the City of Chicago agreed, in writing, that the City would do the following:

(1) request that the FAA delay any action on the impacted runways that would lead to irreparable damage to the runways for so long as necessary to complete the agreed to Open House meetings and the 3 separate meetings referenced in the next section;

(2) hold at least three meetings with representatives of the FAiR coalition to better understand FAiR's proposal to preserve and utilize the intersecting runways at O'Hare International Airport in order to alleviate aircraft noise impacts from communities located east and west of O'Hare;

(3) request and encourage the FAA to hold its 4 planned Open House meetings in areas and communities that are impacted by aircraft noise caused by new O'Hare Modernization Program runways; and

(4) meet with the members and their constituents to discuss these issues; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the City of Chicago to work with the members of the General Assembly to ensure the terms of the agreement are fully implemented and all residents impacted by aircraft noise at O'Hare International Airport have accurate and up-to-date information; and be it further

RESOLVED, That any public hearings held regarding aircraft noise at O'Hare should allow residents of the impacted areas to express their grievances and concerns.