Full Text of SR0565 93rd General Assembly
SR0565 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Mercury is a highly toxic pollutant that can cause | 3 |
| long lasting health problems; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Mercury is especially harmful for unborn babies; | 5 |
| and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, High levels of mercury deposited in our State's | 7 |
| waterways have accumulated in fish tissue and forced the | 8 |
| issuance of advisories to restrict consumption of predator fish | 9 |
| caught from Illinois lakes and streams; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, Illinois is required to develop | 11 |
| watershed-specific clean up plans for waters that are impaired | 12 |
| for fish consumption; because a significant portion of | 13 |
| deposited mercury can come from outside a particular watershed | 14 |
| or even from outside State boundaries, the State is counting on | 15 |
| a strong federal mercury reduction program as the most | 16 |
| effective tool to restore these impaired waters; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, A large percentage of the mercury that is emitted | 18 |
| as an air-born pollutant from coal-fired power plants is | 19 |
| carried by the wind and deposited into Illinois lakes and | 20 |
| streams; and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, Coal fired power plants can be equipped with | 22 |
| controls to reduce the levels of mercury emissions; and | 23 |
| WHEREAS, The mercury reduction options proposed for coal | 24 |
| fired power plants by the United States Environmental | 25 |
| Protection Agency in the January 30, 2004, Federal Register are | 26 |
| insufficient to adequately protect the State's air and water | 27 |
| quality and are skewed to benefit coal mined in western states; | 28 |
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| WHEREAS, A United States Environmental Protection Agency | 2 |
| contractor has estimated that, under the United States | 3 |
| Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules, 78% of the | 4 |
| electric generating units using Illinois and other eastern | 5 |
| coals would be required to reduce emissions while only 29% of | 6 |
| the units using western coal would be affected; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, No consideration was given to different coal types | 8 |
| in previous United States Environmental Protection Agency | 9 |
| rulemaking, such as the Acid Rain program; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, As a consequence of these new rules, the federal | 11 |
| government will encourage utilities to burn western coal rather | 12 |
| than Illinois coal; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, These new rules will trigger a loss of jobs in the | 14 |
| Illinois coal industry, where many working families depend upon | 15 |
| the industry for their livelihood;
and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, As part of its rulemaking proposal, the United | 17 |
| States Environmental Protection Agency intends to allow the | 18 |
| trading of mercury emission credits between electric | 19 |
| generating units that may cause local mercury hot spots; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, There are currently available control | 21 |
| technologies to reduce mercury from all coal types; therefore, | 22 |
| be it | 23 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL | 24 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United | 25 |
| States Environmental Protection Agency to adopt a responsible | 26 |
| program to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power | 27 |
| plants to the greatest possible extent; that, once adopted, the | 28 |
| programs be effective in achieving the reduction needed to | 29 |
| protect and improve our environment; and be it further |
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| RESOLVED, That the United States Environmental Protection | 2 |
| Agency should provide for regulations that establish a national | 3 |
| mercury reduction program for coal-fired power plants that is | 4 |
| fuel neutral and that achieves environmental gains without | 5 |
| creating economic distortions in the coal market; and be it | 6 |
| further | 7 |
| RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois does not support the | 8 |
| trading of mercury emissions credits between electric | 9 |
| generating units, but, if the United States Environmental | 10 |
| Protection Agency ultimately considers such trading, | 11 |
| allowances should be given to the State to distribute and | 12 |
| limits should be sufficiently restrictive so as to prevent | 13 |
| local mercury hot spots; and be it further | 14 |
| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 15 |
| delivered to the Administrator of the United States | 16 |
| Environmental Protection Agency, the members of the Illinois | 17 |
| Congressional delegation, the Director of the Illinois | 18 |
| Environmental Protection Agency, and the Director of the | 19 |
| Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
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