By: Pita Juarez, Arizona Field Organizer
Date: June 4, 2026
About: Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-3297
To: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Pita Juarez, and I’m a proud Arizona resident and organizer with Moms Clean Air Force. Our mission is to protect children from air pollution. I’m here today to urge the EPA not to weaken or delay Clean Car Standards because they are essential to protecting our families and communities from air pollution.
Here in Arizona, we live with some of the worst air quality in the nation. According to the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air report, the Phoenix–Mesa area ranks as the fourth worst city in the country for high ozone days. You can feel it in your lungs on hot afternoons when the air hangs heavy, and you can see it in the hazy skies that stretch over our desert valley.
For me, this issue is deeply personal. I live just a mile from the 10 freeway, a major interstate that stretches from California to Florida. The stretch of the 10 closest to where I live sees 300,000-400,000 cars per day. Tailpipe pollution is a very real threat for my community.
My family has worked outdoors in Arizona’s sun and heat since immigrating to this country. My brothers spend long days outside, exposed to smog. My nieces and nephews play in this same air—air that too often fails to meet healthy standards. I worry about what their futures will look like if we don’t take stronger action now. The health-harming impacts of tailpipe pollution disproportionately impact communities like mine. We know that strong clean cars standards markedly improve our air.
We can see that pollution from cars and trucks doesn’t just stay on the road, it seeps into our neighborhoods, our schools, and our homes. Vehicle exhaust contains dangerous air pollutants like NOx, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and particle pollution, or soot. NOx and VOCs react with heat and sunlight to form ozone pollution, aka smog, a potent lung irritant. It worsens asthma, triggers respiratory issues, and increases risks for heart disease and other illnesses. Families like mine are living this reality every day.
Stronger Clean Car Standards are one of the most effective tools we have to protect public health. Cleaner vehicles mean cleaner air, fewer hospital visits, and a better quality of life for everyone. It also means more innovation, more clean energy jobs, and a step toward a future where our children can breathe safely no matter their ZIP code.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I urge the EPA to protect the clean car standards, for my family, for Arizona’s future, and for every child. They deserve to grow up in safe, healthy communities.