Consortium Statement on EPA’s Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles

March 29, 2024

On March 29, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized strict emission standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses, and other large vehicles. In response to the new limits, the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health issued the following statement:

Today, in a win for health, the EPA finalized stronger emissions standards for trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles.

While medium and heavy diesel trucks make up less than 6% of vehicles on the road, they generate more than half of the ozone- and particle-forming NOx emissions and particle pollution that we breathe. The Consortium views the new standards as an important step toward cutting emissions that affect all Americans’ health, but especially for the 72 million Americans who live close to truck freight routes. These communities are often low-income communities and communities of color that bear the disproportionate burden of air pollution and climate impacts.

Dr. Lisa Patel, Executive Director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health says “As a pediatrician, I believe the heavy-duty vehicle standard from EPA is something to celebrate. I’ve seen firsthand the health impacts of particulate matter. Children are particularly vulnerable to this pollution, which causes low birth weight, asthma, respiratory infections, and chronic respiratory diseases down the line. Diesel pollutants from trucks can also impair the brain development of young children. No child should unjustly bear the health harms of this pollution, and all children deserve clean air. I thank the Administration for their leadership on this important climate and health equity issue.”

The EPA estimates that the new rule will result in $13 billion of benefit to society from reduced public health and climate impacts and savings for truck owners and operators. This rule, combined with the rule passed by the EPA on light- and medium-duty vehicles, moves us closer to breathing cleaner air and reducing the carbon pollution that is driving the climate crisis.