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91_SR0262
SRS91SR0035AKcb
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The federal government plans to introduce new
3 train whistle-blowing regulations requiring locomotives to
4 sound warnings at all railroad crossings, dramatically
5 increasing the number of locations where whistles would have
6 to be sounded in Illinois; and
7 WHEREAS, These high-decibel train whistles will not only
8 disturb the sleep patterns of our citizens and diminish the
9 quality of life, but they will also devalue real estate
10 located near grade crossings; and
11 WHEREAS, These whistle-blowing regulations will apply to
12 all grade-crossings except those where extraordinary safety
13 devices have been installed such as: median walls to keep
14 motorists from driving around lowered gates, four-quadrant
15 gates that block all traffic lanes, grade-crossing
16 surveillance cameras, and vehicle-arresting nets; and
17 WHEREAS, Grade-crossings with automatic grade-crossing
18 devices such as warning lights, bells, and gates, which are
19 already in place at the majority of railroad crossings in
20 Illinois (of 9,150 public grade-crossings in the State, about
21 55% have automatic devices), would not be sufficient to
22 prohibit train whistles from being sounded at these
23 crossings; and
24 WHEREAS, In order to obtain exemptions from the sounding
25 of these high-decibel train whistles, the State and local
26 governments will be forced to spend substantial sums of money
27 that could be better spent on other safety-related projects
28 and it is unfair of the federal government to impose costly,
29 unfunded mandates of this type; and
30 WHEREAS, While even a single grade-crossing accident or
31 death is unacceptable, substantial progress in the area of
-2- SRS91SR0035AKcb
1 grade-crossing safety has been made; grade-crossing accidents
2 in Illinois have fallen dramatically from 827 in 1978 to 168
3 in 1998; therefore, be it
4 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIRST GENERAL
5 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the federal
6 government to cease and desist in imposing these
7 sleep-disturbing, costly, and unwarranted regulations on the
8 states; and be it further
9 RESOLVED, That if grade-crossing safety is a substantial
10 problem in other areas of the country that these types of
11 regulations are needed, that a suitable opt-out provision be
12 included which would allow individual states which have made
13 great strides in the area of grade-crossing safety to not
14 enforce these new regulations and avoid any possible federal
15 sanctions. This opt-out provision should require the
16 Governor to sign and submit a written certification stating
17 that he is opposed to the enforcement of the regulations and
18 that the legislature has adopted a resolution expressing its
19 opposition to the regulations; and be it further
20 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent
21 to the Secretary of the Federal Railroad Administration and
22 the members of the Illinois congressional delegation.