By: Michelle Uberuaga, Montana State Coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: February 23, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you so much for your time today. My name is Michelle Uberuaga, my pronouns are she/her, and I am a mother of three and a member of Moms Clean Air Force. I live on the unceded lands of the Apsaalooke and Shoshone people in Livingston, Montana. Which is a town of about 7,000 just north of Yellowstone National Park.
I am testifying today because I am concerned about the impacts of particulate pollution in Montana, on sovereign nations and on vulnerable communities across the country. As so many people have made clear throughout this hearing, Soot pollution disproportionately impacts our most vulnerable community members, marginalized and low-wealth communities, pregnant women, and children.
That’s why I am pleading with you to set the strongest science-based particle pollution standards to clean up our air, advance environmental justice, and protect our health.
We are counting on you. It is the EPA’s job to protect communities from industrial pollution. Especially when the negative health impacts of soot pollution are so clear.
I am calling on EPA to set a more health protective standard for particle pollution of 8 micrograms per cubic meter for the annual standard and 25 micrograms per cubic meter for the daily standard.
Both long-term and short-term soot exposure have been linked to increased severity in pediatric asthma cases—including hospitalization for childhood asthma.
According to Montana’s Department of Health and Human Services, asthma affects over 100,000 people in Montana and caused over 2,000 emergency department (ED) visits and 459 hospital stays in 2018.[1]
Asthma disproportionately impacts marginalized communities and 6.7% of Montana kids are impacted by asthma.
As a parent of three kids, inhalers at playdates are a new part of parenting for me. I remember the one time a kid had an asthma attack when I was in elementary school and it was terrifying. Now as a parent and volunteer coach, we all have learned to ask about inhalers and how to use them.
Stronger standards would prevent needless stress for tens of thousands of families like mine: setting an annual standard of 8 could prevent 46,000 emergency department visits for pediatric asthma each year, not to mention also saving up to 16,000 lives. Stronger 24-hour standards would help ease the burden of daily spikes in particle pollution on the communities most impacted, and for families, these standards could mean the difference between feeling safe to go outside to play soccer or having to stay indoors because the air isn’t safe to breathe.
Every day that passes without these protections is a missed opportunity to protect our health, advance environmental justice, and reduce other dangerous pollution. Our communities, our children, and our families need clean air to live and thrive. On behalf of the 4,000 members of Moms Clean Air Force in Montana, thank you for your attention.