By: Mary Wagner, Nevada 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. My name is Mary Wagner, and I am the Nevada Field Organizer with Moms Clean Air Force and EcoMadres, but today I’m also here as a mother of two boys—one of whom lives with asthma. We live in Las Vegas, Nevada, just two minutes from both I-15 and US-95, two major highways that cut through our city and bring constant traffic, noise, and dangerous tailpipe pollution into our neighborhoods.
On behalf of Moms Clean Air Force, EcoMadres, and families across Nevada, I am urging you not to weaken critical safeguards on tailpipe pollution from new heavy-duty diesel vehicles.
Tailpipe exhaust is one of the largest contributors to the air pollution Nevada families breathe every day. Cars and trucks emit nitrogen oxides (NOx)—which form the ground-level ozone that blankets our valley—and particle pollution, or soot. Both of these pollutants are well-known triggers for asthma, heart problems, and long-term respiratory damage.
According to the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air Report, Clark County received an F for ozone pollution. Las Vegas consistently ranks among the worst in the country for smog due to heat, geography, and vehicle traffic. Statewide, nearly 220,000 adults and nearly 50,000 children live with asthma—and in my home, that number includes my own son.
For families like mine, tailpipe pollution isn’t an abstract issue—it’s our daily reality. Living so close to I-15 and US-95 means constant exposure to heavy traffic emissions. On high-ozone days, we receive air quality warnings, outdoor activities are restricted, and my son’s asthma symptoms worsen. We’ve had days where we simply cannot let him play outside because the air is too dangerous to breathe.
Cleaner vehicles would mean cleaner air for my family and for all Nevadans. That’s why I was grateful when EPA strengthened the heavy-duty NOx standards in 2022—standards that would help push cleaner technologies onto our roads. Undermining these protections now would take us backward. The vehicles covered by this EPA proposal will be on our roads for decades. Weakening these protections locks in more pollution, more asthma attacks, and more preventable health harms for generations.
Nevada families deserve better. We have the technology to reduce tailpipe pollution, and every year we delay progress, our children pay the price.
I strongly urge EPA to maintain the 2022 standards for new heavy-duty diesel vehicles and protect the 152 million Americans—including hundreds of thousands here in Nevada—who live with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. Thank you for your time and your commitment to public health.