Full Text of HR0906 100th General Assembly
HR0906 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Volkswagen American Group has entered into a | 3 | | multi-billion-dollar settlement with the U.S. Department of | 4 | | Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for | 5 | | violations of the federal Clean Air Act for installing "defeat | 6 | | devices" software in 590,000 diesel engine vehicles of model | 7 | | years between 2009 and 2016; this caused the vehicles to | 8 | | operate differently during emission testing compared to normal | 9 | | operation, circumventing federal vehicle emissions standards | 10 | | resulting in excess NOx emissions from the illegal vehicles; | 11 | | and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, According to the American Lung Association's | 13 | | Estimated Prevalence of Lung Disease Report, there are | 14 | | 1,709,000 people impacted by Pediatric Asthma, Adult Asthma, | 15 | | COPD, and Lung Cancer throughout Illinois; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, A Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund | 17 | | of $2.7 billion has been established by a federal judge to | 18 | | mitigate the total lifetime excess nitrogen oxide (NOx) | 19 | | emissions from all identified Volkswagen diesel vehicles in | 20 | | violation of the Clean Air Act; this fund is to be administered | 21 | | by an independent trustee, Wilmington Trust, N.A, for the | 22 | | purpose of dispersing funds to beneficiary states for projects | 23 | | to reduce NOx emissions as mitigation for Volkswagen's unlawful |
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| 1 | | emissions; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Based upon the total number of 2.0 L and 3.0 L | 3 | | Volkswagen diesel engines in violation of the Clean Air Act | 4 | | sold in each state, Illinois has been allocated $108.7 million | 5 | | through the Volkswagen Settlement Mitigation Trust; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Volkswagen Mitigation Trust presents a rare | 7 | | opportunity for the State of Illinois to significantly reduce | 8 | | harmful NOx emissions through the replacement of older engine | 9 | | technology with cleaner emissions vehicles and infrastructure; | 10 | | and | 11 | | WHEREAS, On January 30, 2018, the Trustee provided notice | 12 | | that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has been | 13 | | listed as the Lead Agency for the State and has been charged | 14 | | with the development of the State's Beneficiary Mitigation | 15 | | Plan; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Illinois may use its Volkswagen Environmental | 17 | | Mitigation Trust Fund allocation for the following categories | 18 | | of projects, as defined by the settlement: Class 8 Local | 19 | | Freight Trucks and Port Drayage Trucks (Eligible Large Trucks), | 20 | | Class 4-8 School Bus, Shuttle Bus, or Transit Bus (Eligible | 21 | | Buses), Railroad Freight Switchers, Ferries/Tugs, Ocean Going | 22 | | Vessels (OGV) Shorepower, Class 4-7 Local Freight Trucks |
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| 1 | | (Eligible Medium Trucks), Airport Ground Support Equipment, | 2 | | Forklifts and Port Cargo Handling Equipment, Light Duty Zero | 3 | | Emission Vehicle Supply Equipment, and the Diesel Emission | 4 | | Reduction Act (DERA) Option; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The ultimate and primary objective of the State's | 6 | | Volkswagen Beneficial Mitigation Trust Plan shall be to reduce | 7 | | NOx emissions equitably throughout the State of Illinois | 8 | | through investments in all applicable, eligible infrastructure | 9 | | and fleet vehicle options that are the most cost-effective, | 10 | | currently commercially available, viable and reasonably | 11 | | affordable to end users; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, All beneficiary states have 10 years to spend | 13 | | allocated trust funds; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Each state's Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allows | 15 | | for up to 15% of total funds to be used by state lead agencies | 16 | | for applicable administrative services, including conducting | 17 | | public hearings; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Well in advance of posting draft Beneficiary | 19 | | Mitigation Plans, the vast majority of designated | 20 | | administrative agencies of other states have conducted and have | 21 | | already completed comprehensive, transparent public hearings | 22 | | involving all stakeholders - a critical component in the |
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| 1 | | drafting process of each state's Beneficiary Mitigation Plan - | 2 | | months in advance of posting their state's respective draft | 3 | | Beneficiary Mitigation Plans; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In complete contrast to the open and transparent | 5 | | public hearings conducted by the vast majority of other states, | 6 | | on February 28, 2018, the Illinois Environmental Protection | 7 | | Agency posted its draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan on its | 8 | | official agency website; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's | 10 | | draft Beneficial Mitigation Plan includes a state map, clearly | 11 | | highlighting that only 16 counties, not every county in the | 12 | | State of Illinois, will be eligible for Volkswagen Mitigation | 13 | | Trust money; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency | 15 | | cited in its draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan that it has | 16 | | conducted private meetings with select stakeholders; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency also | 18 | | posted notice on February 27, 2018 that limited online public | 19 | | comments and an Agency-created online focused survey would be | 20 | | accepted by the Agency for a limited period, expiring April 13, | 21 | | 2018, at which time, per the Illinois Environmental Protection | 22 | | Agency, the period for submission online surveys and online |
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| 1 | | public comments will be closed, representing the first and only | 2 | | form of official public input the Illinois Environmental | 3 | | Protection Agency will allow - a time period after, not before | 4 | | the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency posted its draft | 5 | | Beneficiary Mitigation Plan; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Consequently the Illinois Environmental | 7 | | Protection Agency's draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan has not | 8 | | been properly vetted by all eligible stakeholders, both | 9 | | applicable industries and end-users, or the general public; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, in | 11 | | its draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan timeline, indicated the | 12 | | state's final plan would be submitted to the Trustee by the end | 13 | | of May, 2018, and that the first round of applications would be | 14 | | accepted in June, 2018; therefore, be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 16 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 17 | | recommend the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency | 18 | | withdraw its draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan; and be it | 19 | | further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That we recommend the Illinois Environmental | 21 | | Protection Agency, prior to submitting the final Beneficiary | 22 | | Mitigation Plant for the State to the Trustee, extend its |
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| 1 | | arbitrary public comment period through June 30, 2018, to allow | 2 | | sufficient time for transparent and open public hearings; and | 3 | | be it further | 4 | | RESOLVED, That we recommend the establishment of the | 5 | | Illinois Volkswagen Environmental Beneficiary Mitigation Plan | 6 | | Task Force to be comprised of stakeholders from all eligible | 7 | | vehicle classifications included in the Volkswagen | 8 | | Environmental Mitigation Trust; and be it further | 9 | | RESOLVED, That we recommend the Illinois Environmental | 10 | | Protection Agency provide staff and administrative support for | 11 | | the operation of the Task Force, with all Trustee authorized | 12 | | Agency administrative expenses being reimbursed through the | 13 | | Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That we recommend the Task Force assist the | 15 | | Agency in conducting a minimum of four regional public hearings | 16 | | across the State of Illinois, seeking public input from all | 17 | | stakeholders representing interests in each eligible vehicle | 18 | | classification cited in the Volkswagen Environmental | 19 | | Mitigation Trust Fund, with specific merit given to proposals | 20 | | that achieve the intended Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund | 21 | | goal of cost-effectively reducing NOx emission through the | 22 | | replacement of older vehicles with viable, trustee-approved | 23 | | vehicles and infrastructure.
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