WASHINGTON - The U.S. EPA granted the state of California’s requests for Clean Air Act preemption waivers for the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) Standards and the Heavy-Duty Low NOx Omnibus (HDO) Standards. These standards have the potential to protect millions of people from dangerous pollution emitted by new passenger cars, trucks and SUVs, and from new heavy-duty trucks, which are the biggest emissions emitters.
In response, GreenLatinos Policy, Research + Data Analytics Advisor Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, PhD., issued the following statement:
“We celebrate EPA taking this crucial step to protect millions of people from the harmful impacts of vehicle pollution, albeit at the Administration’s 11th hour, after less inspiring federal rulemakings were finalized earlier this year. This is an important win for the most pollution burdened populations; Latino/e communities are more likely to live in ‘diesel death zones’ where truck emissions create greater risk of lung disease, asthma, and cancer. Latino/e children visit the ER due to asthma at twice the rate of non-Hispanic white children and are 40% more likely to die from asthma.
Now that EPA has approved these key waivers, California and the other states that have adopted ACCII and HDO rules can pursue their goals to reduce air pollution from vehicles and protect communities from harm; saving lives, improving health outcomes, and protecting the future of this planet.”
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About GreenLatinos
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.