GreenLatinos welcomes EPA waiver that will protect communities of color from fatal diesel pollution

WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced that the agency is granting Clean Air Act waiver for California’s Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) rule, which will enable other states to adopt and enforce these same standards, and better protect their communities from heavy-duty truck pollution.

In response to this announcement, GreenLatinos Sustainable Communities Program Director, Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, issued the following statement:

“Heavy-duty vehicles spew harmful diesel pollution, degrading air quality and contribute to the climatecrisis. For Latino/e communities, the implementation of the California standards is particularly urgent. Latino/e communities are disproportionately pollution burdened and more likely to live in ‘diesel death zones’ where truck emissions create greater risk of lung disease, asthma, and cancer. Findings from a study funded by the EPA show that Latino/es are disproportionately exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which can cause fatal lung and heart problems. Nearly one third of Latino/e children nationwide live in counties where hazardous air pollutant concentrations exceed a 1 in 10,000 cancer risk level.

We are appreciative that EPA has recognized state authority under the Clean Air Act to curb tailpipe emissions from trucks and buses. Strong clean truck standards like ACT are necessary to mitigate impacts of environmental racism and provide relief to frontline communities living in freight corridors and adjacent to major roadways.”

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GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.