Full Text of SR0951 96th General Assembly
SR0951 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Litter is a problem that affects every community's | 3 | | health, safety, aesthetics, environment, and economy; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Over the last half century, the amount of litter | 5 | | in our communities and across our nation has decreased by 61%, | 6 | | thanks to national public awareness campaigns and cleanup | 7 | | programs; despite these steps forward, the nation's litter | 8 | | problem still persists; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Cleanup costs for litter are placed on business | 10 | | owners, property owners, and taxpayers; according to a study | 11 | | conducted by the American Chemical Society's Industrial & | 12 | | Engineering Chemistry Research Journal, litter cleanup costs | 13 | | our nation $11.5 billion a year; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, According to the Illinois Department of | 15 | | Transportation, cleanup of litter has cost the State $9.1 | 16 | | million over the past year; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Increased cigarette litter has become a vast | 18 | | problem for the people, wildlife, and environment of the State, | 19 | | and has worsened since the Smoke Free Illinois Act went into | 20 | | effect on January 1, 2008; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Approximately 10% of cigarette butts are properly | 2 | | disposed of in ash receptacles, resulting in 4.5 trillion | 3 | | cigarette butts being littered into the environment each year; | 4 | | and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Nearly all cigarette filters are composed of | 6 | | slowly-decomposing cellulose acetate and can linger in the | 7 | | environment for years; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Increased awareness by labeling cigarette butts | 9 | | as litter, a fire hazard, an environmental hazard, and an | 10 | | economic burden is an important step toward reducing cigarette | 11 | | litter in communities; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The control of litter and litter prevention is | 13 | | vitally important to the quality of life in Illinois; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Keep America Beautiful, Inc., a national | 15 | | nonprofit organization with a history of addressing litter for | 16 | | over 50 years by encouraging individual responsibility, | 17 | | community partnerships, and advocating volunteerism, is | 18 | | addressing the emerging cigarette butt litter problem; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and many communities in the | 20 | | State have formed partnerships with Keep America Beautiful, | 21 | | including Carbondale, Centralia, Chicago, Evanston, Moline, |
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| 1 | | Peoria, Oak Park, Rock Island, Salem, Vermilion County, West | 2 | | Cook County, and Northern Illinois; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Keep America Beautiful has created a Cigarette | 4 | | Litter Prevention Program that has successfully reduced | 5 | | cigarette butt litter in communities by an average of 55%; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program has | 7 | | achieved its success by implementing cigarette litter | 8 | | awareness campaigns, encouraging the enforcement of litter | 9 | | laws, and distributing cigarette receptacles and pocket | 10 | | ashtrays; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 12 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the citizens of | 13 | | Illinois to preserve the natural beauty of the State by | 14 | | implementing litter control programs in their communities; and | 15 | | be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the citizens of Illinois to pursue | 17 | | federal and private grants to implement community based litter | 18 | | control and prevention programs, like the Cigarette Litter | 19 | | Prevention Program sponsored by Keep America Beautiful; and be | 20 | | it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That we recognize Keep Illinois Beautiful for |
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| 1 | | their commitment to improving communities and environments in | 2 | | Illinois and across the nation; and be it further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 4 | | presented to Keep Illinois Beautiful.
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