By: Nicole Marcot, Michigan member, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: June 28, 2022
About: Waiver Requests for California's Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT), Zero Emission Airport Shuttle, and Zero-Emission Power Train Certification Regulations; Omnibus Low NOx Regulation; and HD Emission Warranty Regulation, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0331
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Nicole Marcot, and I am here today as a private citizen and volunteer for Moms Clean Air Force. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am grateful to this administration for acting swiftly on clean trucks but am asking EPA to approve California’s waiver request in full, allowing the state to create the strongest possible limits on heavy duty vehicle pollution and rules to accelerate the transition to zero emissions vehicles. We cannot delay any measures to ensure cleaner air as soon as possible. California’s authority to set more stringent emissions standards under the Clean Air Act is crucial to cleaning the air throughout all section 177 states. Vehicle manufacturers are able to meet the goals of California’s rules, and recent research has shown that zero-emission trucks will be cheaper to purchase and operate than diesel-trucks within the timeframe of these standards.
Simply put, I’m here because I’m concerned about the future of children across America. As the mother of three young daughters and a resident of a low-income, primarily BIPOC community where people are suffering from the effects of air pollution and climate change on a daily basis, I am witness to the fact that there is no time to delay with life-saving regulations. One in five people in Detroit suffers from asthma, and heart disease (linked to air pollution) is the leading cause of death in our state, with rates much higher among lower income communities such as mine.
A delay in implementing clean trucks and electric truck standards would prolong the suffering experienced by communities like mine, living daily with the impacts of environmental racism, red lining, and generations of marginalization that make them vulnerable to pollution from trucks. The disproportionate impact of air pollution is the clearest example of environmental racism in our country. Giving states the option to adopt the earliest and strongest possible clean, electric truck standards is necessary to fight environmental racism and provide relief to freight corridor communities.
In conclusion, I urge this administration to approve the waivers in full to grant California the authority to create life-saving rules to reduce deadly NOx pollution and to accelerate the transition to zero emission electric trucks and buses. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.