In abstract
Implement smog examine for heavy-duty diesel vehicles, and enact zero-emission requirements on leaf blowers and off-road small engines.
By Will Barrett
Will Barrett is the senior director for Clear Air Advocacy with the American Lung Affiliation.
Invoice Magavern, Particular to CalMatters
Invoice Magavern is the coverage director for the Coalition for Clear Air.
Dec. 9 may very well be the most important day in current reminiscence for cleansing up California’s air, if the members of the California Air Sources Board do the suitable factor.
Clearly, main actions are wanted. Greater than 9 in 10 Californians reside in a county impacted by unhealthy air; 7 of the 10 smoggiest cities within the U.S. are in California; particle air pollution kills 5,000 Californians yearly.
These daunting statistics make two details even more durable to abdomen:
One: Leaf blowers and other small off-road engines produce extra smog-forming air pollution than all of the vehicles in California. In truth, operating a gas-powered leaf blower for an hour is like driving from Los Angeles to Denver when it comes to smog-forming emissions.
Two: Heavy-duty diesel trucks don’t undergo a fundamental “smog examine” like passenger vehicles do. That’s regardless of inflicting greater than half of the air pollution on California roads and making up a tiny share of all automobiles on the street.
Almost everybody we speak to, whether or not family and friends, policymakers or journalists, is shocked when they hear these details.
Like many Californians, we spent the final 12 months working from our properties and have come to grasp how ever-present the drone and stink of leaf blowers will be when one “mow and blow” crew after one other rolls by the neighborhood. This class of gasoline engines is so poorly managed that it now surpasses the smog-forming air pollution of all of the vehicles on California roads. That’s unhealthy for our well being, and particularly unhealthy for staff who’re uncovered all day.
Luckily, the Legislature handed Assembly Bill 1346, authored by Democratic Assemblymembers Marc Berman of Los Altos and Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego, which directs the California Air Sources Board to enact zero-emission requirements for new engines as early as 2024. The Legislature additionally put $30 million on the desk to assist small landscaping corporations transition sooner.
Our organizations made this shift to zero-emissions a precedence this 12 months as a result of it can save lives. The Air Sources Board notes that the rule to implement this regulation will scale back pollution-related deaths by almost 900, with general well being advantages reaching $8.8 billion over the course of the rule.
That’s a giant deal.
The opposite air air pollution head-scratcher is why – regardless of all the lifesaving insurance policies California has put in place – heavy-duty diesel vehicles don’t face related smog examine necessities as passenger vehicles. These huge rigs characterize lower than 5% of all automobiles on California roads however generate greater than half of the on-road smog-forming air pollution and over half of the cancer-causing particle air pollution.
Our organizations co-sponsored Sen. Connie Leyva’s 2019 laws to make sure a sturdy program could be created. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 210 into regulation and the Air Sources Board is poised to undertake the coverage on Dec. 9. It’s sorely wanted, and sorely overdue.
This measure represents the one most health-protective regulation the board has thought-about in additional than a dozen years. Truck Smog Test is anticipated to avoid wasting greater than 7,500 lives and generate $75 billion in well being advantages.
That is staggering, and much more so if you consider the predominantly low-income communities and communities of coloration most impacted by freeways, railyards, warehouses and ports which can be closely dosed by diesel vehicles each hour of day-after-day. These advantages may develop even larger by ensuring truck emission controls are confirmed quarterly, an enchancment Air Sources Board members ought to make.
What’s subsequent? Whereas the governor and Legislature are investing closely in essential funding for zero-emission transportation and zero-emission requirements for vehicles and vehicles are in improvement for 2022, the oldest, dirtiest diesel vehicles have to be retired.
In Newsom’s Jan. 10 funds proposal, he ought to spend money on the staffing and databases wanted to shortly and efficiently implement Truck Smog Test. We additionally want investments in buyback of the oldest, highest polluting vehicles whereas guaranteeing the landscaping transition to zero-emissions continues upfront of the Air Sources Board’s rule.
These steps would repay in cleaner air for Californians for years to return.
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Invoice Magavern has additionally written concerning the want for California to eliminate its reliance on diesel backup generators and a plan to expand access to electric vehicles.
