June 25, 2001
For Immediate Release

Congressman Kirk Meets With FRA Nominee - Raises Noise Pollution Issue And Gets Commitment From Nominee To Wait On New Regulations Requiring Train Whistles To Sound At All Railroad Crossings In Illinois

Washington, D.C. – During a meeting held in the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), U.S. Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and William Lipinski (D-IL), were joined by the Bush administration's nominee to head the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Allan Rutter. The Illinois lawmakers presented a map of Illinois to nominee Rutter which clearly marked the hundreds of railroad crossings that would be impacted by the federal regulation requiring trains to sound their whistle at all grade crossings.

"There were sections of the map where the markings indicating railroad crossings were so close together that they overlapped," said Congressman Kirk. "If the FRA regulation is instituted, it would mean a train traveling through that series of intersections would be continuously blowing its' horn."

The law currently in place, but set to expire on June 30, bars the use of federal funds to implement the draft FRA regulation requiring trains to blow their whistles at all crossings. FRA nominee Rutter committed that he would not move forward or issue the regulation before visiting Chicago to access the situation first hand. Rutter also noted that the FRA had received nearly 8,000 comments on the train whistle rule which still needed to be reviewed. Congressman Kirk suggested that nearly 10 percent of those comments were from one community alone in his district, Wilmette.

"Our suburban mayors and city presidents have joined the effort to prevent this train whistle mandate from destroying our quality of life and diminishing our property values," said Kirk. "Train whistles blaring at deafening levels of 144-decibels will create noise pollution in many of our communities. And it's ironic that as we move to reduce O'Hare noise pollution to the target 65-decibels, we are considering instituting a federal mandate to blow train whistles creating noise pollution at nearly double that target rate. "

Kirk highlighted a recent study by the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University which warned that northeastern Illinois could lose $1 billion in property value if the FRA regulation to blow train whistles at all crossings is enforced.

At the present time, localities may impose a ban on the sounding of train whistles during nighttime hours to ensure a quiet environment for those living within earshot of each crossing. The new regulations, if instituted, would supersede local authority and require that trains blow their whistles at every crossing nationwide.

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