SJ0060 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0060 LRB101 20420 MST 69973 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois seeks to support development that enhances public safety, agriculture, and industry and promotes economic and environmental security for communities across Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Protecting and restoring floodplains helps reduce flooding and avoids damages in flood-prone areas; it provides improved habitat for fish and wildlife, improved water quality, groundwater recharge, and opportunities for tourism and recreation; it also provides more room for rivers during flood events, reducing pressure on structures like dams and levees; and

WHEREAS, Floods are the most common natural disaster in the State and caused $3 billion in property damage to Illinois residents between 2000 and 2018; and

WHEREAS, Scientific evidence demonstrates that floods are happening more frequently, and our current definitions of flood frequencies underestimate the recurrence of flood events; and

WHEREAS, Levees are built with the intention of protecting against recurring flood damage; although the State has regulations to ensure levees are designed and built as to not exacerbate the potential for flooding, they can contribute to real and residual flood risks; and

WHEREAS, Levees, floodwalls, and other types of flood control infrastructure are expensive to build and maintain, and lack of adequate maintenance of flood control structures can put people and property at risk; and

WHEREAS, Non-structural and nature-based flood risk management options, such as floodplain restoration, can provide more cost-effective long-term solutions for at-risk communities; and

WHEREAS, Poor and marginalized communities are frequently concentrated in flood-prone neighborhoods or areas of high real or residual flood risk due to historic and/or ongoing discriminatory housing policies; and

WHEREAS, Illinois floodplain development regulations protect public safety and should be maintained; and

WHEREAS, Restoration programs that correct past development actions lack adequate funding to correct the ongoing floodplain degradation; and

WHEREAS, Mitigation and practices that reconnect rivers to their floodplains do not restore the ecosystem functions, and the sites are frequently paved or turfed; and

WHEREAS, The ecosystem restoration programs in Illinois rarely reconnect rivers to their floodplains and often require the maintenance of levees to prohibit floods from damaging restoration project investments; and

WHEREAS, State agencies should consider how to integrate floodplain activities to promote projects and development that achieve co-equal benefits of flood risk reduction and ecosystem restoration; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Department of Natural Resources shall maintain existing regulations in Part 3700 of Title 17 of the Illinois Administrative Code that preserve the Department's authority to regulate levees to protective standards; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Department of Natural Resources is directed to:

(1) Conduct a comprehensive review of floodplains and determine meaningful trends in how floodplain use impacts public safety, marginalized and poor communities, farm economics, fish and wildlife populations, natural resources, and water quality: in conducting this review, the Department of Natural Resources should consult with the following:

(a) the Illinois Emergency Management Agency;

(b) the Department of Agriculture;

(c) the Association of State Floodplain Managers;

(d) Environmental and conservation organizations;

(e) City managers and mayors;

(f) Organizations that represent minority populations;

(g) Levee managers;

(h) the Illinois Farm Bureau; and

(i) Agricultural associations; and

(2) Make recommendations to the General Assembly as to how Illinois can better integrate floodplain programs to promote development and restoration activities that protect public safety, especially for our most vulnerable citizens, enhance the quality of the natural environment of Illinois, and support flood-compatible economies; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to the General Assembly and the Director of the Department of Natural Resources.