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92_HR0924
LRB9216900RHrhA
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Expansion and improvement of the Northeastern
3 Illinois region's aviation capacity has been the subject of
4 debate for over 25 years; and
5 WHEREAS, On December 5, 2001, Mayor Richard M. Daley and
6 Governor George Ryan reached an agreement that will provide
7 for, among other items, the expansion of O'Hare International
8 Airport; and
9 WHEREAS, O'Hare was sited and built at a time when
10 concerns over environment and public health were far less
11 than they are today; and
12 WHEREAS, The existing airport has virtually no
13 environmental buffer between the airport and the densely
14 populated communities surrounding O'Hare; and
15 WHEREAS, A study that was conducted in August 2000, The
16 Preliminary Study and Analysis of Toxic Air Pollution
17 Emissions From O'Hare International Airport and the Resultant
18 Health Risk Caused By Those Emissions in Surrounding
19 Residential Communities, found that current operations at
20 O'Hare created levels of toxic air pollution in excess of
21 federal cancer risk guidelines in 98 downwind communities;
22 and
23 WHEREAS, The same study concluded that the levels of
24 toxic air pollution would only increase if O'Hare was
25 expanded; and
26 WHEREAS, Experts have said the mandated runway plan is
27 unsafe and also express concerns about communication and
28 airspace overload; and
29 WHEREAS, Constructing new runways at O'Hare will have
30 significantly harmful impacts on communities, including
-2- LRB9216900RHrhA
1 neighborhoods, schools, businesses and homes, because of the
2 airport and aircraft's extraordinary amounts and types of
3 noise, water, ground and toxic air pollution, property
4 takings, tax base losses and other quality of life issues;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, S.2039, the National Aviation Capacity Expansion
7 Act, which has been introduced in the United States Senate,
8 will codify the O'Hare Expansion plan agreed to by Mayor
9 Richard M. Daley and Governor George Ryan and will prevent
10 any future Illinois Governor from altering or halting this
11 expansion plan; and
12 WHEREAS, The passage of the National Aviation Capacity
13 Expansion Act would be a serious erosion of states rights and
14 will set a new precedent in the relationship between states
15 and the federal government; therefore, be it
16 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
17 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18 we urge the members of the United States Congress to vote
19 against S. 2039, the National Aviation Capacity Expansion
20 Act; and be it further
21 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
22 presented to each member of the Illinois congressional
23 delegation.