Comment Log Display

Greeting Board members!

I am writing to express my strong support for a strong diesel
truck rule.  This rule is a critical component of achieving the
emission reductions outlined in the 2007 8-hour ozone plan for the
San Joaquin Valley.

With one in five children in the San Joaquin Valley diagnosed with
asthma we are raising a generation of families that are chronically
ill with diseases that will cost them thousands of dollars over
their lifetime, or perhaps even their lives. 

As Valley residents, we worked hard last year to ensure that we
would breathe clean air before 2024 and when the Extreme SIP passed
we were reassured by our local APCO and a commitment made by your
board that we would achieve clean air standards faster - by 2017.

This rule gives us the hope that almost half of the NOx pollution
in the Valley along with deadly particulate matter might be cleaned
up within our lifetimes.  We are now at that pivotal moment where
this can become a reality or watch it all fall apart.

That hope is now in your hands.

We are looking to you now for courage, guidance, and leadership to
live up to those commitments and make California healthy for all of
us. 

Diesel pollution from agricultural vehicles is as toxic or more
toxic that emissions coming from vehicles passing through the
Valley that leave their pollution behind for all of us to breathe. 
A strong rule does not give an exemption to an industry that
impresses disproportionate burden on the most sensitive
populations.  Agricultural vehicles often operate during the
smoggiest time of year and also in close proximity to homes,
schools, and people.  Residents of the San Joaquin Valley deserve
to learn, live, play, and earn a living without worrying about
getting sick.

Please DON’T leave the San Joaquin Valley behind.  Please pass a
strong rule without exemptions to ensure that ALL CALIFORNIANS
breathe clean air.

Sincerely,

Mary-Michal Rawling
Program Manager
Merced/Mariposa County Asthma Coalition