Editor's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who expressed interest! All spots have been filled. HOWEVER: Folks interested in learning more about smoke reading are invited to join us out in the field! Email sue@gasp-pgh.org to get more info on upcoming opportunities in a neighborhood near you. Have you ever been driving, saw a huge plume of industrial pollution snaking its way into the sky, and wondered to yourself, “Well, that looks nasty. I wonder if that’s even permitted,” then we have an opportunity for you. Learn the answer to that question and more at an upcoming smoke reading course. Never heard of smoke reading? Smoke readers is a general term applied to people who are trained and certified to recognize and understand visible emissions from sources such as smokestacks, as well as what violations look like, and how to make reports. “Folks are surprised to learn this is the same training received by Allegheny County Visible Emissions Inspectors,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. GASP’s project manager Sue Seppi, a longtime smoke reader, said attending the training is an excellent way for citizens to take action in their own communities by observing visible emissions at the facilities that are of concern to them. “Inspectors can’t be at every facility all the time,” she said. “Observations from volunteers who are trained and certified as smoke readers help increase regulatory scrutiny on those neighborhood industrial plumes,” she said. Sound like something you or someone you know would be interested in? Then we have some awesome news: Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) is covering the cost of the training by Eastern Technical Associates. The caveat? Spots for this opportunity are EXTREMELY limited. The next training is scheduled for late September. Training includes an education day and a field day. The education day is a live webinar held at 9 a.m. every Monday - participants choose which one works best for them. Participants attend the second session in the field on either Sept. 27 or Sept. 28. The field instruction registration begins at 8 a.m. and consists of multiple hourly field observation periods called runs. When you complete one hourly observation successfully you are done and will receive certification. “Once your training is complete, the GASP team can pick up from there to get you started with actual observations in your community,” Campbell said. To attend ETA Visible Emissions training for free through the Allegheny County Health Department, contact sue@gasp-pgh.org to register. You can get more information about smoke school on the Eastern Technical Associates website.

GASP joined residents and fellow advocates Wednesday to tell the Allegheny County Board of Health that October’s abysmal air quality is unacceptable and that action needs to be taken to adjust the Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode Rule and take enforcement action to stem the outrageous exceedances of Pennsylvania’s hydrogen sulfide standard. For those who need a refresher, the air quality in the Mon Valley was REALLY bad last month. You can get the skinny on all that here. Here is what our executive director told the board: Good afternoon, I’m Patrick Campbell, the executive director of the Group Against Smog & Pollution. October was a painful month when it came to air quality, especially for those in the Mon Valley or downwind of it. To its credit, Allegheny County Health Department did issue public alerts notifying residents about obscenely high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide at the Liberty monitor and issued both a Mon Valley Watch and Warning, which spanned four days. Communication on these crucial public health matters equips residents with the knowledge they need to understand air pollution issues and how they can mitigate exposure to protect themselves and their families. These notices and follow-up air quality reminders, while not perfect, were appreciated. GASP hopes ACHD will build on this, providing more responsive, frequent, and detailed alerts when poor air quality is forecast. GASP hopes ACHD will do more to address the pervasive H2S problem. Half of the days in October were marred by H2S exceedances. Because we know that inversions do NOT cause H2S emissions, we are calling on ACHD to take robust enforcement action against what does: U.S. Steel’s coking operations. GASP also urges ACHD to take action now to review and amend the Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode Rule and its implementation to ensure it is working as intended. Of particular interest is how - and when - the department decides to issue a watch or warning and whether adjustments to that process are needed. For example: The threshold to trigger a Mon Valley Air Pollution Warning was reached as of 8 a.m. Oct. 11 and steadily increased throughout the day but a Warning was never issued. We understand that the rule only requires a Warning to be issued if ACHD “has determined atmospheric conditions will continue” to contribute to a likely exceedance of the PM2.5 NAAQS. But considering the NAAQS for PM2.5 was exceeded Oct. 12, ACHD must answer these questions: Why wasn’t a warning issued? Had a warning been issued and industry polluters like U.S. Steel required to enact their mitigation plans and reduce emissions, could the exceedance have been avoided? Thank you. Editor's Note: Here is media coverage of the Board of Health meeting: From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Allegheny County Residents Raise Concerns Over Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode From the Pittsburgh Business Times: Advocates Say Allegheny County Air Pollution Rules Should Be Revisited

Editor’s Note: The Allegheny County Health Department periodically updates its website to include documents related to air quality enforcement actions. As part of our watchdog work, GASP monitors this webpage and reports on the air quality violations posted there. Earlier this week, we told you about the latest enforcement action against U.S. Steel for air quality violations at its Clairton Coke Works facility. Here are the other new cases uploaded to the docket: The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) issued a $3,410 civil penalty against Neville Island-based INEOS Composites for failing to report an equipment breakdown and record-keeping issues that stem from an April 2022 facility inspection. According to the enforcement action, an ACHD inspector noted INEOS did not report a temperature exceedance for Maleic Anhydride Storage Tank F-4602 within 60 minutes as required. The company also failed to submit a written report within seven days, as its permit requires. “Plant personnel stated that the incident was due to a steam bypass valve being open that was supposed to be closed,” the document states. “They stated that the previous day, April 13, 2022, they had observed the temperature at 72° C, or 162° F. Plant personnel stated their belief that they were not required to report the incident as a breakdown because it was due to human error.” The June 21 enforcement action notes that “to date, ACHD has not received a written report” addressing the exceedance.” ACHD further indicated that INEOS was unable to provide the inspector with data of daily plant production and the amount of each monomer used for September 2020 and September 2021 - record-keeping that’s also required by its permit. “Plant personnel indicated that they were not keeping and did not believe they were required to keep daily production or monomer usage records,” the document notes. In addition to the civil penalty, ACHD ordered the company to report all breakdowns caused by human error as well as keep daily production or monomer usage records within 30 days and report that usage in the next two semi-annual reports due July 31 and Feb. 1, 2024. You can read the entire enforcement order here. ACHD, ALCOSAN Enter Consent Agreement Over Agency Exceeding Emissions Limits ACHD and ALCOSAN have entered into a consent decree because the authority exceeded emissions limits of harmful air pollutants such as lead and hydrogen chloride - exceedances for which a nearly $6,000 civil penalty was assessed. At this point, we need to stop to understand a little bit of background: ALCOSAN operates a publicly owned treatment works facility located at 3300 Preble Ave. in Pittsburgh that serves 83 local municipalities and processes more than 200 million gallons of wastewater per day on average. ALCOSAN is a minor source of all criteria pollutants and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), operating two sewage sludge incineration units that must meet specified emission limitations for cadmium, carbon monoxide, dioxins/furans, hydrogen chloride, lead, mercury, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and visible emissions. That operating permit requires periodic stack tests to demonstrate compliance with these emission limits on an annual basis. It also allows stack tests for a given pollutant to be performed less often when two prior consecutive stack test results for a given pollutant are at or below 75% of the respective emission limit and there are no changes in operation that could increase emissions. Now back to that enforcement action: It states that from Aug. 25- 27, 2020, ALCOSAN conducted a stack test on one of its SSI units, known as FBI-2, for all the emissions limits we mentioned earlier. On August 28, 2020 - and prior to receiving the August 2020 stack test results - ALCOSAN took FBI-2 out of service. The results of this stack test, which ALCOSAN received and submitted to the ACHD in October 2020, showed that the measured emissions of hydrogen chloride and lead exceeded the emission limits. Subsequent stack tests also showed that the measured emissions of cadmium and lead exceeded the emission limits set forth in its permit. Regarding hydrogen chloride, ACHD examined the June 2021 stack test results and later determined that the stack test results for hydrogen chloride were incomplete and/or invalid - FBI-2 was active in 2021 only long enough to conduct stack testing. ACHD ultimately issued a Notice of Violation against ALCOSAN in December 2021. In the months that followed, ALCOSAN worked with ACHD to conduct testing and sampling. In March 2022, ALCOSAN stack tests demonstrated compliance with emissions limits. As a result, ACHD issued ALCOSAN its operating permit on Sept. 21, 2022. You can read the entire consent decree here.

While there were no action items on the agenda for Wednesday’s Allegheny County Board of Health meeting, members were treated to a lengthy update from health department Interim Director Patrick Dowd, who shared information on monitors on the move, data details related to the most recent rash of wildfire smoke, and goals for reducing both fine particle pollution and sulfur dioxide by 2027. In his environmental health report, Dowd said: The Air Quality Program’s permitting section continues to finalize the development of an online permitting portal, noting that residents should have access by the end of the year. ACHD staff moved the Avalon air quality monitor a few hundred yards from the old location and is preparing to relocate the Lawrenceville monitor to Fulton Street. The Air Quality Program has worked to reduce the amount of unpaid or overdue invoices from $113,624 to $9,267. During an update on administrative matters, Dowd noted that the department is wrapping up the 2024 budgeting process. He said ACHD submitted nine new grant applications over the last three months, totaling $29 million with spending periods ranging from three to five years. It was unclear which programs would benefit from the grants if awarded. He also said ACHD is moving multiple programs from the Clack campus in Lawrenceville to Fulton Street. It is also relocating current programs into revamped spaces in their current leased facilities. No further details we shared. Dowd also provided an update regarding how the recent waves of Canadian wildfire smoke impacted our local air quality. Notably, he said AQI for PM2.5 peaked at 212 (which falls into the EPA’s purple, unhealthy range) at the Parkway East on June 29 - the highest ever recorded in Allegheny County. The former record? It occurred in 2003 when the AQI for PM2.5 hit 175. Dowd also detailed how “ACHD kept residents apprised on changing air quality conditions and provided information on how they could remain healthy.” More on that from GASP tomorrow. Stay tuned. After talking about how air quality has improved over the decades, he reiterated that despite that progress, there was still work to be done. And to that end, he outlined ACHD’s goals on the air quality front. Specifically, he said ACHD’s goal was to: Reduce the annual average PM2.5 concentration by at least 12% (from 9.7 µg/ m³ in 2021 to 8.5 µg/m³ in 2027, on a countywide average basis) Reduce the number of days per year when sulfur dioxide (SO2) exceeds an AQI of 50 (from 36 in 2021 to 26 in 2027) He indicated that ACHD would also prioritize helping local communities “prepare to adapt to changes generated from climate change.” Editor’s Note: You can view the slides presented at the meeting for yourself here.

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) on Tuesday announced it issued $301,725 in stipulated penalties against U.S. Steel for air pollution violations that occurred at the Clairton Coke Works during the third quarter of 2022. The fine was calculated pursuant to ACHD's 2019 settlement agreement with the Mon Valley steelmaker. Per that agreement, 90% of penalties ($271,552.50) will be paid to the Community Benefit Trust for impacted communities while the remaining 10% ($30,172.50) will be paid to the Clean Air Fund. In March 2023, ACHD issued $307,800 in stipulated penalties against U.S. Steel for violations that occurred at the Clairton Coke Works during the second quarter of 2022. To view this enforcement action and other air quality enforcement actions issued by ACHD, click here. Editor's Note: GASP staff is currently reviewing the enforcement action and will keep you posted. In the meantime, you can read the 30-page document for yourself here.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently published notice of what may be the first Reasonably Available Control Technology - or RACT III - determination for a site in southwestern Pennsylvania under DEP’s jurisdiction - one that will lead to emissions reductions in Beaver County. Specifically, DEP determined that the Pike Compressor Station in Beaver County is required to control emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from rod packing operations with a combustor and emissions of VOCs from compressor blowdowns and startups with an enclosed flare. Based on the Pike Compressor Station’s existing Title V Operating Permit, it appears that such emissions were previously not controlled. We have blogged about the RACT requirement before, but to review: The RACT requirement instructs the states to determine whether major sources of VOCs and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) are using all reasonably available control technology to limit their emissions of NOx and VOCs. NOx and VOCs are the two principal precursors to the formation of ground-level ozone pollution. And the concern about ground-level ozone is that it can trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. Ozone also can reduce lung function and inflame the lining of the lungs. Repeated exposure may permanently scar lung tissue. If such sources of ozone are not implementing RACT, the states must require them to do so, even if they were properly permitted when they began operating and have continued to operate within all applicable limits. New RACT determinations are required under the Clean Air Act every time a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone or NOx is revised. Because this is the third time new RACT rules have been required, the new rules are referred to as RACT III. The first round of RACT determinations followed the imposition of the RACT requirement by the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act and was implemented in the late 1990s and early 2000s. RACT II determinations, which were completed just last year, followed the revision of the NAAQS for ozone in 2008 (yes, there really was a 14-year lag!). RACT III follows the latest revision of the ozone standard, which occurred in 2015. Generally, the Clean Air Act requires RACT determinations only for major sources in areas that do not attain the NAAQS for ozone. However, all areas of Pennsylvania are deemed to be nonattainment for the purpose of implementing RACT, because Pennsylvania is included in the “Ozone Transport Region” established by the Clean Air Act. As a result, all major sources of NOx and VOCs in Pennsylvania will be required to comply with RACT III emission limits. DEP’s RACT III determination for the Pike Compressor Station is one of many that will be made in the upcoming months (and years); however, not all of them will result in new controls as this one did. We will keep you updated as DEP’s RACT III determinations continue.

In May, we blogged about Pennsylvania Senate Bills 561 and 562, which would, respectively, exempt vehicles less than five years old from Pennsylvania’s vehicle emissions inspection requirement and exempt vehicles registered in Blair, Cambria, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer, and Westmoreland Counties from such requirements altogether. Although it appeared to us that Senate Bill 561 could be consistent with the Clean Air Act, Senate Bill 562 would seem to violate the Act. We have an update: The full Senate late last month approved both bills, which have been transferred to the House of Representatives for its consideration. We’ll continue to provide updates on these Bills as new developments occur.

Last week the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a series of occasionally color-coded warnings, watches, and alerts as waves of smoke from Canadian wildfires descended upon, passed very nearby, or lingered around communities in southwestern Pennsylvania. If you found it all a bit confusing, that makes two of us. While a sliver of good news is that air quality was much less poor locally than it was in areas farther east, two facts remain: At times, air quality was poor, and At times, the messages conveyed to the public did not explain the situation clearly or accurately. Thanks to a host of factors, air quality in our area will continue to experience bad spells and the solutions are not simple. At the same time, improving how air quality agencies inform, warn, and educate the public can and must be improved quickly. To help the public decipher what they were reading last week and make some of the agencies’ deficiencies clear to those agencies, we put together this Q&A: First things first: How bad did air quality get locally? It was bad, but we’ve seen worse. Based on averages of hourly data, air quality exceeded the daily federal health-based standard for fine particulates (PM2.5) at five of ACHD's six monitoring sites at some point on June 6 and 7. Air quality wasn’t great pretty much all week. Were all the warnings justified? Absolutely. Even on days when air quality wasn’t ideal but ended up within the federal standard, various models and forecasts showed the potential for conditions to deteriorate in a hurry. Example: On June 7, the average PM2.5 concentrations across southwest Pennsylvania ended the day at around 30 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3). That includes a DEP monitoring site in Johnstown. In Altoona, the daily average was 75 ug/m3, and in State College, the daily average was 125. It would not have taken much of a shift in the wind to push those numbers into our area. Justified or not, why did the warning, watch, and action messages change terminology so often? The answer involves both geography and who is in charge. Messages addressing a Mon Valley Watch or Mon Valley Warning relate specifically to an ACHD regulation designed to address periods of poor air quality referred to as episodes. The Mon Valley Episode Rule requires companies that emit PM2.5 to take certain actions when poor air quality is in the forecast and more actions when air quality exceeds the EPA standard. GASP put together a detailed explanation of the rule that you can read more about here. Both ACHD and DEP can declare Air Quality Action Days, but ACHD can only declare them for all or parts of Allegheny County; DEP can declare them statewide. These declarations are usually color-coded to reflect the expected poor air quality. These colors correspond to the EPA’s AQI color-coding and messaging for informing the public about the severity of conditions, health risks associated with those conditions, and actions people could take to minimize risk. We noticed some ACHD messages sent via Allegheny Alerts mentioned DEP Action Day determinations but some didn’t. We think this might be related to the specific messages users signed up to receive, but we aren’t sure and will work on finding an answer. Why didn’t ACHD messages mention the EPA’s AirNow system? We have no idea. Last week, messages and outreach from the DEP, EPA, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Weather Service (NWS), and PA Emergency Management Agency – to name just a few – encouraged people to utilize EPA’s AirNow forecasts, maps, and real-time conditions tracking as a way to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants. The AirNow system is not perfect. The real-time conditions (called the NowCast AQI) are the product of an algorithm that heavily weighs the most recent few hours – meaning it isn’t exactly real-time. Another concern is that it bases the color-coding and warning messages on PM2.5 levels associated with a 24-hour average. Still, it is an invaluable tool for anyone interested in avoiding high levels of air pollution. ACHD’s refusal or failure to share and promote it is troubling. Ironically, at a conference in Delaware County on June 8, the DEP proudly touted the benefits of paying attention to AirNow (check it out - the clip is 3.5 minutes total, starting at 4:07:00 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg622W14Qtc) Suffice it to say this is a topic we’ll address again. Stay tuned. EPA. DEP. ACHD. It’s all bureaucratic alphabet soup to me. Who exactly is in charge? All three agencies play a role. Here’s the breakdown: ACHD operates all monitoring stations in Allegheny Count, reports the results to EPA hourly, and adds local expertise to outreach and forecasts. The DEP operates monitoring stations statewide except for in Allegheny County and Philadelphia (which also has its own health department), it also reports the results to EPA hourly, and issues statewide air quality forecasts. The EPA sets standards and has a platform for nationwide reporting of air quality data. What last week highlighted was that three agencies taking three approaches to outreach only ensures confusion. And in that confusion, people suffer or are put at unreasonable risk of suffering. ACHD didn’t share EPA messages. DEP messages didn’t mention Allegheny County nuances. In a modern, connected world, such things are objectively, patently, embarrassingly, and completely absurd. The public needs consistent, regular, accessible messaging, something that - with a little effort - these agencies could deliver. Was the campfire I had last week illegal? If you were in Allegheny County, yes. Wood burning is prohibited in any of the municipalities covered by a Mon Valley Watch or Warning when such a Watch or Warning is declared. Wood burning is also prohibited in any portion of the county under an Air Quality Action Day declaration. If you were anywhere else in western Pennsylvania, having a campfire wasn’t a great idea, but legal. What’s the chance of the situation improving? We are optimistic, but change will take some effort. Based on decades of experience reinforced by a few very positive interactions we had last week with staff at the relevant agencies, we know dedicated caring people are working on these issues. Unfortunately, agency staff are not able – physically and/or fiscally – to accomplish everything they’d like to. Sometimes they only can accomplish what decision-makers higher up in the chain of command deem is most important. We also know that opportunities for the public to provide feedback to those decision-makers are limited. Here in Allegheny County, these opportunities existed in the form of ACHD Air Pollution Control Advisory subcommittees. Unfortunately, after many years of consistent by-monthly meetings, two of those three subcommittees - one dedicated to pollution prevention and education and the other to monitoring - have not convened in months. The ACHD website indicates that the next meeting date for those subcommittees is TBA. We’re working to get answers and action on when the public can expect these meetings. Stay tuned - we’ll keep you posted.

At GASP, we aim to be a resource for EVERYONE to better understand and take action on critical air quality issues specific to their neighborhoods. Thanks to a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), we’ve been able to ramp up these efforts even more: GASP crafted an educational primer for elected officials that explores everything from air quality sources, regulations, and regulators to grant funding opportunities and community resources. But it's not JUST for elected officials - we want to make it available for everyone: Check it out here. We also took our environmental educational advocacy on the road, hosting air quality workshops in Allegheny and surrounding counties for local elected and municipal officials. Our hope? That these boot camps will help equip our local leaders with the info and resources they need to represent you on the air quality front better. Now, we’re making the recording of that presentation available to EVERYONE. We hope the information presented in the primer and via the workshop recording can help equip folks with the knowledge and resources they need to be more effective air quality watchdogs and changemakers in their communities. "We know so many of our members are active in their communities and regularly attend municipal and school board meetings," GASP educator Laura Kuster said. "We hope this primer helps them be better advocates and we encourage them to share these resources with their local elected officials." Check it out:

The Route Zero Relay on Monday continued its nationwide journey, marking its stop in Pittsburgh, where GASP was honored to stand alongside Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, state Senator Lindsey M. Williams, and others for a press conference urging robust public support for zero-emissions vehicles and the substantial investments in clean transportation. Pennsylvania - and the rest of the country - are on a path to a zero-emission future, spurred by historic investments in charging infrastructure, battery manufacturing, and tax incentives encouraging consumers to make the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles. Remaining on the route to zero emissions requires strong federal clean car standards - a major focus of the Route Zero Campaign. Mayor Ed Gainey highlighted the combined potential of local and federal climate action to transform American transportation. "A strong federal partnership is essential for our progress towards a zero-emission future in our city and on a state level," he said. "The Route Zero Relay emphasizes the importance of clean transportation and air quality for communities like our own. By working together, local, state, and federal governments can accelerate our transition to electric and hybrid vehicles, improving public health and fostering a sustainable future for generations to come." But let’s stop here for just a little bit of background: The Route Zero Relay is traveling across the country, spotlighting stories from Americans about how they would benefit from reduced tailpipe pollution and cleaner air, where they see opportunities for zero-emission vehicles, and how cities like Pittsburgh are proactively working toward clean transportation initiatives. Critical to the journey on Route Zero? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed strong federal clean car standards. "Pennsylvania needs to adopt policies around electric vehicle ownership that balance our environmental and economic needs while ensuring that working families aren't priced out of the EV market," said Williams said. "This includes setting fees and making strategic use of the federal infrastructure money available to help school districts electrify their school bus fleets. We're all on the journey to zero emissions—we need to make sure that road is accessible and open for everyone." The transportation sector is the leading source of carbon pollution in Pennsylvania and in the country, leading to Pennsylvania residents breathing some of the most polluted air in the U.S., while at the same time fueling the climate crisis. "Route Zero is a powerful demonstration of our collective commitment to a zero-emission future," said Campbell. "Air pollution from vehicles is a pressing issue for our communities. Its harmful impact can be seen in air quality and in the health of Pennsylvanians, especially those living in underserved communities that have borne the greatest burden for too long. Today, we urge bold action from the EPA for significant clean car safeguards to improve public health." "Pittsburgh is among the worst-ranked areas in the country for air quality, and particle pollution is a known trigger for asthma attacks and increases the risk of heart disease and lung cancer, and other chronic lung diseases," said Dr. Stephanie Maximous, a pulmonary and critical care physician. "We have to increase the sense of urgency. Stronger clean car standards provide the opportunity to put us on the right path to zero emissions." Speakers encouraged the Biden Administration and the EPA to sustain their commitment by finalizing the strongest-possible federal clean car standards that would apply to automobiles and light-duty trucks for model years 2027 through 2032. The public comment period for clean car standards is now open, and the Route Zero Relay is encouraging people across the country to submit comments on the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/​ using the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829-0451. The Route Zero relay will "deliver" these comments to Washington, DC at the end of this comment period. Editor’s Note: You can watch the full press conference here. Or you can read Patrick’s full remarks here: Smoke billowing into our area last week from the Canadian wildfires and the unhealthy air quality it spurred was a stark reminder for many about just how quickly Climate Change can get personal. Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth were advised to stay indoors, to run air filters in their homes, and to mask up if they needed to go out. In the Pittsburgh area, though, the air quality impacts of those plumes were like pouring salt on a wound. Because here in Pittsburgh, we wake up to some of the worst air quality in the country all too often. While legacy polluters are a culprit, we know dirty diesel and other gas-powered vehicle emissions also contribute to the smog on bad air days. We also know Ignoring carbon pollution from vehicles only exacerbates the injustices facing communities that have disproportionately borne the greatest impact from tailpipe pollution. That’s one reason GASP has worked so hard over the years to advocate for anti-idling laws and usher in Clean Construction policies - and why strongly support our journey to zero emissions: By investing in cleaner cars, we can reduce harmful pollution and help protect our most vulnerable neighbors. When it comes to environmental policies, this one is truly a win-win. These stronger standards will help protect public health, advance environmental justice, fight climate change, and save consumers cash at the pump. We urge local residents to join GASP in speaking out and telling the EPA it must act quickly to enact the strongest-possible clean car standards because the health and welfare of so many depend on it.