WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Clean Air for the Long Haul partners including GreenLatinos lead effort to defend the health of vulnerable communities by pushing back against EPA’s attempt to loosen truck pollution protections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2026
Contact:
Ashley Sullivan, ashley.sullivan@weact.org
Edder Diaz Martinez, edderdiazmartinez@greenlatinos.org
WASHINGTON – WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Clean Air for the Long Haul, along with GreenLatinos, are leading a mass pushback against the attempt by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to weaken tailpipe standards for model years 2027 and later heavy-duty engines and vehicles. These groups are submitting a public comment and mobilizing dozens of organizational signatures alongside Hip Hop Caucus. Clean Air for the Long Haul is also providing the public with a toolkit to submit their own comments to demand the EPA withdraw this proposed rule.
This collaboration is an urgent line in the sand to defend standards that were strengthened in 2022 for the first time in 20 years, that while not as strong as advocates had pushed for, were still a meaningful step forward. Communities of color and low-income people stood to benefit from this rule as they often live near transportation hubs and experience outsized exposure to truck pollution, with this exposure causing increased risk of asthma and respiratory illnesses, heart disease, cancer, preterm births, and premature deaths. Trump’s EPA proposal to weaken this rule will make these issues worse, “increasing ozone-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from heavy duty trucks by over 4 percent in 2030 and almost 12 percent by 2055.” Allied groups condemn this rule and broader attempts to rollback vehicle pollution and climate safeguards, including the recent proposed delay of light-duty vehicle pollutant standards and repeal of the Endangerment Finding and motor vehicles greenhouse gas emission standards, as actions that will continue to increase health harms already overburdened vulnerable communities.
In response, organizations shared the following statements:
“The Trump EPA’s efforts to weaken truck pollution standards, alongside many other clean air rollbacks, is unacceptable. We fought hard with partners and allies to make clean air protections stronger, because we have to address the burdens that truck pollution places on our communities. Communities of color and lower income people are often living near polluting roads, highways, and ports that concentrate these emissions in our neighborhoods. Diesel pollution from trucks is responsible for more than 8,400 premature deaths, 497,000 missed work days, and $93.9 billion in health damages every year. We do not need polluting industry giveaways, we need strong clean air protections that safeguard our health and future, especially for environmental justice communities.” – Yosef Robele, Federal Policy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice
“Communities have a right to breathe unpolluted air, and the EPA should be protecting and ensuring that right to the fullest extent of the agency’s power. The EPA’s proposed rollback of the heavy duty NOx rule is foremost a call for technological stagnation that would continue to poison our most vulnerable communities, harm public health and burden truck drivers. Diesel pollution is recognized as a Class 1 Carcinogen. Life-saving emissions reductions technologies are already long established in truck markets across the world, saving lives and allowing communities to breathe. Our communities deserve the same,“ said Andrea Marpilero-Colomina, PhD., Policy Advisor at GreenLatinos.
“I live in New Orleans three blocks from I-10, one of the busiest interstate highways in the United States. Every day I go on a run or walk with my dog while trucks pass by, choking me with their exhaust,” said Kristi Dayemo, Think 100% campaign manager at Hip Hop Caucus. “The EPA’s proposed rollback of the heavy duty NOx rule will only make these conditions worse for me and many other communities of color, which is why Hip Hop Caucus stands in solidarity with partners and allies to oppose 2027 Heavy-Duty Nitrogen Oxides Rule.”
The benefits of electrifying our freight system are immense, and we need strong standards to encourage the industry to adopt zero-emissions vehicles. We need an EPA that fulfills its mission to “protect human health and the environment” for everyone, so that communities of color and lower income are provided justice and the ability to finally breathe clean air. The groups advancing this effort encourage organizations to sign-on to their public comment letter, and for individuals to use the toolkit to submit their own comments to demand the EPA with this proposed rule. We will continue to stand together to ensure that the right to healthy, safe air is protected for everyone.
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Clean Air For The Long Haul, a nationwide coalition of environmental justice groups, coordinates federal rulemaking campaigns, centering overburdened communities, to reduce air pollution from power plants, cars, and trucks. The coalition seeks to catalyze the environmental justice movement through federal emissions reductions targeting United States power and transportation sectors. Coalition member organizations include: Duwamish River Community Coalition, Green Door Initiative, GreenLatinos, PODER Austin, Rise4EJ, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, West End Revitalization Association, and Wisconsin/Michigan Green Muslims.