Full Text of SJR0054 98th General Assembly
SJ0054 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Use of the most efficient and environmentally | 3 | | friendly means of transportation lends to economic growth and | 4 | | positions the State of Illinois to successfully compete in a | 5 | | global marketplace; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Practical, science-based solutions that preserve | 7 | | waterborne commerce between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi | 8 | | River system is critical to our State; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The United States saves an estimated $200 million | 10 | | in air pollution abatements by moving bulk commodities by barge | 11 | | on the Upper Mississippi River System; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Commodity transportation diversions away from | 13 | | these river systems can increase delays at railroad crossings, | 14 | | amplify congestion on highways, and deteriorate State | 15 | | roadways; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Opening the expanded locks in the Panama Canal by | 17 | | 2016 will dramatically affect the United States and global | 18 | | trade patterns; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is one of our nation's key | 20 | | agricultural states; one acre of corn can produce enough |
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| 1 | | kilocalories to feed 10 people for an entire year and our Upper | 2 | | Mississippi and Illinois River levees protect over 750,000 | 3 | | acres of prime farm land; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Sixty percent of the grain exported from the | 5 | | United States travels part of its journey by barge on inland | 6 | | waterways; trade growth on the Mississippi River is projected | 7 | | to increase by 40% over the next 20 years; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, One 15-barge tow can move 787,500 bushels of | 9 | | grain, equal to 870 semi-trailer loads or two 100-unit trains, | 10 | | barges can also accommodate product that is too heavy or too | 11 | | large to be handled by other modes of transport; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois encompasses more miles of | 13 | | rivers and levee systems than any other state; in its | 14 | | Comprehensive Plan, the Illinois Department of Transportation | 15 | | has recognized the importance of barge transportation on inland | 16 | | waterways as a critical part of the Illinois freight | 17 | | transportation system; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The Governor has recognized the importance of | 19 | | Illinois' waterways as a critical part of the freight | 20 | | transportation system by the formation of a multi-department | 21 | | Illinois Interagency Port Working Group; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The majority of levees along the Upper Mississippi | 2 | | and Illinois River are classified as federal levees with | 3 | | operation and maintenance provided by the local drainage and | 4 | | levee district sponsors as political subdivisions of the State; | 5 | | these levees provide the sideboard for our navigation channel | 6 | | that helps create our waterway system; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The federal levees in this State are seeing | 8 | | changes to both safety and performance standards under the | 9 | | discretion of the United States Army Corps of Engineers' new | 10 | | Levee Safety Classification, which is causing increased costs | 11 | | to the local sponsors; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Illinois levees along the Upper Mississippi and | 13 | | Illinois River protect many acres of prime farmland, 13 | 14 | | Illinois river ports, 18 Mississippi river ports, 139 miles of | 15 | | United States Highways and Interstates, 770 miles of railroads, | 16 | | 7,300 acres of State Conservation Areas, 4,100 acres of State | 17 | | Parks, and 4,000 acres of State Fish and Wildlife areas; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, According to the Upper Mississippi River | 19 | | Comprehensive Plan, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, | 20 | | and a Tennessee Valley Authority study, improving our flood | 21 | | control system in Illinois can return 5 dollars for every one | 22 | | dollar invested in Regional Economic Development; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Effective flood control infrastructure and | 2 | | management are critical to commercial navigation on these | 3 | | inland waterways; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 5 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 6 | | CONCURRING HEREIN, that we support the United States Department | 7 | | of Transportation's designation of the M-35 from St. Louis, | 8 | | Missouri to St. Paul, Minnesota and the M-55 from Chicago via | 9 | | St. Louis, Missouri to New Orleans, Louisiana as Marine Highway | 10 | | Corridors; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That we encourage support for the local drainage | 12 | | sponsors and the United States Army Corps of Engineers' Upper | 13 | | Mississippi River Comprehensive Plan, as approved by the | 14 | | Mississippi River Commission, for systemic flood control | 15 | | planning and implementation; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That we support the streamlining of the State | 17 | | Levee Permitting process to encourage and facilitate both flood | 18 | | control and navigation improvements to Illinois levee systems.
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