By: Isha Thakkar, Community Health Justice Intern
Date: July 29, 2026
About: Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2026-0728-0114
To: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Hi, thank you so much for being here today and for giving me the chance to speak. My name is Isha Thakkar. I am currently a community health justice summer intern with Moms Clean Air Force and also a college student. Moms Clean Air Force is a community of 1.6 moms and caregivers fighting to protect all our children from air pollution. I am here today to urge you to protect tailpipe pollution standards for heavy-duty vehicles. Strong transportation standards are crucial in protecting the health of our children and communities, and it is critical that we do not roll back these important safeguards.
I am originally from Aurora, Colorado. Growing up, my parents owned a restaurant in Aurora, where I spent a large portion of my childhood. The restaurant was located around 100 feet from Interstate 225, so exposure to high levels of tailpipe emissions is not unfamiliar to me. My brother grew up with respiratory issues and had to use an inhaler when playing outside. When we moved to a new neighborhood in Highlands Ranch, he no longer needed to use his inhaler. The main difference between these neighborhoods was that we were now separated from highways and had cleaner air.
Tailpipe exhaust from heavy-duty vehicles is a significant source of nitrogen oxides, which react in the atmosphere to form ground-level ozone, or smog. Ground-level ozone is harmful to breathe! According to the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air Report, Douglas County, Colorado (where I live), has an average of 19.2 unhealthy days of ground-level ozone pollution, receiving an F grade. The Aurora area ranks as the sixth worst in the country for high ozone days. I am urging you to protect the Clean Trucks Rule so that no child has to be sick for breathing the air in their neighborhood.
Research shows that Black, Latiné, and Asian Americans, like me, experience higher than average levels of pollution exposure from a variety of sources, including heavy-duty trucks. And according to the 2026 State of the Air Report, 21 million people of color live in counties that received failing grades on all three measures of air quality.
As someone with a chronic disease, I worry that air quality could worsen my symptoms. Delaying the enforcement of limits on health-harming tailpipe pollution from trucks would worsen air quality, and in turn worsen chronic diseases, causing more Americans to get sick and die from cancer, COPD, and heart disease.
According to Gallup polling, one in three people (35%) report that they are unable to access quality, affordable healthcare. Many cannot afford the sicknesses that delaying the enforcement of limits on tailpipe pollution will bring.
The Trump-Zeldin EPA is making it easier for us to get sick and harder for us to get well. Children of color will pay the price the most. Due to the economic and health concerns I have mentioned, I strongly urge EPA not to weaken protections from tailpipe pollution from heavy duty vehicles. Thank you for your time and consideration.