Freight trucks, buses, and other heavy-duty vehicles on America’s roads have an outsized impact on air pollution. In fact, more than half of the harmful pollutants from the transportation sector are from heavy-duty vehicles — but they only make up about 10% of the traffic on our roads! 

Recently, the EPA took a critical step forward to clean up our air and protect our health by proposing new emissions standards for buses and trucks. The EPA has been gathering public input on these proposed standards since April. This gives experts and the general public the opportunity to weigh in on critical public health safeguards like this. We are grateful to the EPA for updating these standards and prioritizing public health and tackling the climate crisis by limiting pollution from tailpipes. 

At EDF Action, we took this opportunity to encourage our members, supporters and allies to take meaningful action that will reduce pollution! By reaching out to our members, hosting tables at community events across the country, and spreading the word about the EPA’s proposed standards and the dangers of tailpipe pollution, we helped over 7,600 people nationwide submit comments to the EPA.

Just last week, the EPA’s public comment period for this regulation closed. Now, the EPA will consider all comments they received to help inform the outcome of the final rule. Within the next year, the agency will issue a final rule on pollution standards from heavy-duty vehicles. Thanks to thousands of EDF Action members across the country, the EPA will surely know how strongly Americans want to reduce tailpipe pollution, protect public health, and limit emissions. 

The EPA also recently proposed updated standards to limit pollution from personal cars, vans, and SUVs. There’s still time to provide input on this proposal and make your voice heard to support strong standards on tailpipe pollution from light- and medium-duty vehicles. Take action now by submitting a comment to the EPA before the July 5th deadline!