HR0437LRB100 12892 MST 27025 r


  
1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, On May 1, 2017, Great Lakes Basin Transportation,

3Inc. (GLBT) filed a formal application with the Federal Surface

4Transportation Board (STB) to construct and operate a private 
5rail line
running through Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin; and
  
 
6    WHEREAS, This application calls for a 260 mile privately

7owned and operated railway that would cut through many

8individuals homes and farmland; and
  
 
9    WHEREAS, The use of eminent domain in our State and our

10nation is to provide land for public use in appropriate

11instances, it is not for private gain; and
  
 
12    WHEREAS, If the plan were imposed in its current form,

13Grundy County and Kankakee County would lose an estimated $70

14million and $90 million per year respectively in agricultural

15revenue that could never be replaced; and
  
 
16    WHEREAS, The GLBT railway is facing bipartisan opposition

17from elected officials across three states as well as by

18certain public railroads; and
  
 
19    WHEREAS, The GLBT railway improperly damages the rights of

20property owners who rightfully own the land in its path,

 
 
HR0437- 2 -LRB100 12892 MST 27025 r

1endangers the Kankakee River and local wildlife and habitats,

2and tears apart the communities who depend on that land; 
3therefore, be it
  
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE 
5HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
6strongly urge against the Great Lakes Basin Transportation, 
7Inc. (GLBT) railway due to the fiscal, ethical, and 
8environmental strain it would put on the counties this railway 
9goes through; and be it further
  
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
11delivered to the Federal Surface Transportation Board.