By: Giovanna Rossi, New Mexico 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 provide public comment.
My name is Giovanna Rossi, and I am a field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force in New Mexico, speaking on behalf of our 20,000 members—mothers, fathers, caregivers, and grandparents across the state. I am here to urge you to safeguard strong protections against pollution from new heavy-duty diesel vehicles. Weakening these protections will harm the health of our children and our communities.
I grew up in New Mexico, and my husband’s family has deep roots in northern New Mexico. Now we are raising our children here, and like thousands of families across the state, we worry about the air our kids breathe. This is preventable harm. When my daughter asks me, “Why are adults letting these trucks and cars pollute?” I want to be able to tell her that we fought for cleaner air and that strong leaders chose to protect children, not polluters.
Transportation pollution, especially from heavy-duty trucks, is one of the largest and most dangerous sources of health-harming emissions in New Mexico. Heavy-duty vehicles make up a small percentage of vehicles on the road, yet they produce a disproportionate share of nitrogen oxides (NOx), diesel particulate matter, and greenhouse gas emissions. Medium-duty and light-duty vehicles also play a significant role in the pollution burden our communities face every day.
Transportation pollution is the second largest source of climate pollution in New Mexico. These emissions worsen asthma, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses, especially among children, elders, and people living near highways, freight corridors, and industrial sites.
According to EPA, the transportation sector accounts for 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, more than any other sector, and remains the fastest-growing source of climate pollution. EPA must uphold its responsibility to protect public health and welfare by keeping strong standards in place, not weakening them.
We also know that transportation-related pollutants such as NOx and diesel exhaust are linked to decreased lung function, airway inflammation, aggravated asthma, increased cancer risk, and neurological and developmental harms.
Here in New Mexico, the American Lung Association ranks several of our counties among the worst in the country for ozone pollution. My own county received an F. Families feel the impacts of tailpipe pollution every single day.
This is why strong provisions to limit tailpipe pollution from new heavy-duty vehicles are essential, and why the 2022 Heavy-Duty NOx Rule must be maintained in its entirety. The 2022 rule addresses the outsized role that heavy-duty trucks play in producing NOx emissions. Weakening these protections rule would mean more asthma attacks, more missed school days, and more preventable illness for our children.
By maintaining strong standards for heavy-duty vehicles, EPA can ensure cleaner air and healthier communities. We cannot afford to move backward.
On behalf of families across New Mexico, I urge you to protect the 2022 Heavy-Duty NOx Rule and to maintain strong clean truck standards. Our children deserve nothing less.
Thank you for your time and for your commitment to public health.