California Governor Jerry Brown, Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon today announced a package to fund road repairs, as well as investments in transit, and bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements. After a last-minute, backroom deal, however, the package now includes troubling language that would allow dirty diesel trucks to continue polluting our communities indefinitely.
This transportation package represents real progress on transit funding and infrastructure. But all that good progress is threatened by a last-minute rider that would threaten air quality in our most vulnerable communities—around ports and heavy truck transportation corridors.
Our communities deserve better. And this regulatory issue has no place in this package.
If continuing to allow dirty diesel to pollute our communities is a worthy idea, it should go through the normal legislative process. Instead, it was tacked on last minute—and now undermines—this promising, broad-based transportation package that decision-makers have been debating for over two years. With this addition, we anticipate the debate to continue.
Californians expect more. People don’t need to suffer—and dirty diesel shouldn’t get a free pass—just to get the investments we need to fix our roads.
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