By: Ashley Hillard, North Carolina Field Organizer
Date: July 29, 2026
About: Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2026-0728-0114
To: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Ashley Hillard and I am based in Durham, North Carolina. I am an Organizer and Advocate with Moms Clean Air Force, representing nearly 80,000 members in our state, and 1.6 million members around the country who support clean air and care about children’s health.
I am here today to urge the EPA to maintain the strongest possible pollution protections for heavy-duty vehicles. These standards are not just numbers on paper, they are protections that directly affect the health of families like mine.
Air pollution is personal to me. In my own family, we live with a range of breathing-related conditions, from severe allergies to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Toxic emissions make these conditions worse, making it harder for my loved ones to breathe and live healthy lives.
And my family is not alone. According to the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air report, 44% of Americans, over 150 million people, live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution. That includes nearly half of American children. That means millions of families across the country are experiencing what mine experiences every day.
The trucking industry is a leading source of deadly air pollution. Heavy-duty trucks that support the shipping, freight, and delivery industries are a major source of smog-forming pollution, particulate matter, and air toxics. These emissions disproportionately impact the low-income communities and communities of color that are often located near major trucking corridors, ports, and distribution hubs.
Tailpipe pollution is linked to asthma attacks, cognitive problems, lung cancer, and even premature death. In North Carolina, the two biggest air quality challenges are ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, and particle pollution. Both are driven largely by emissions from cars and trucks, alongside coal plants.
Heavy-duty vehicles emit nitrogen oxides (NOx), which form ground-level ozone and particle pollution, or soot. These particles can lodge deep in the lungs and even enter the bloodstream, causing lasting harm. Children are more vulnerable to these impacts as their lungs are still developing, and with local schools often positioned near major roadways, they are more exposed to these toxins.
Weakening the enforcement of limits on health-harming tailpipe pollution from new heavy-duty diesel vehicles would dramatically worsen air quality, deepen our chronic disease crisis, and cause more Americans to get sick and die from cancer, COPD, and heart disease.
We cannot afford to undermine protections like the Clean Trucks rule. At a minimum, current safeguards must remain in place. Weakening them would mean more children struggling to breathe, more families facing health crises, and more communities burdened by pollution.
I urge the EPA to maintain the strongest possible standards for new heavy-duty diesel vehicles. Please protect our children, our families, and our communities from the impacts of preventable air pollution.