Measure to fight air pollution, protect kids who ride buses receives first hearing 4/14
Senator Jenny Oropeza
April 03, 2009
Take a deep breath behind a school bus — any school bus — and a thought immediately comes to mind.
This cannot be healthy.
Now, multiply that bus by tenfold or more, and an idea of the air quality around our schools becomes distressingly apparent. Throw in the exhaust put out by delivery vehicles as well, and the impetus behind Senate Bill 124 is clearer than the air we breathe.
Under SB 124, school bus and delivery drivers must turn off their engines upon arriving at or within 100 feet of a school. They can only restart the engine no more than 30 seconds before departing. Drivers of pupils must also not idle at any location within 100 feet of a school for more than 5 minutes.
Transit and delivery vehicle drivers must turn off their engine upon arriving at a school and restart the engine no more than 30 seconds before departing. Transit and delivery vehicle drivers must not idle the engine at any location within 100 feet of a school for more than five minutes.
The Legislature approved a similar bill of mine in 2004, AB 2644, but Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed it, saying the measure was unnecessary due to existing regulations. It is important to make these regulations state law because though we have a governor who prides himself on being "green," what about successors to the office? A regulation can simply be undone by the stroke of a governor´s pen. If special interests can persuade our next governor or any governor after, that these regulations are unnecessary, they are gone.
Our children deserve clean air, especially in the schoolyard. In many cases, children have greater exposure than adults to airborne pollutants. Infants and children generally breathe more rapidly than adults, which increases their exposure to any pollutants in the air. Infants and children often breathe through their mouths, bypassing the filtering effect of the nose and allowing more pollutants to be inhaled.
Children are also often more susceptible to the health effects of air pollution because their immune systems and vital organs are still developing. Inhaled lead is more easily deposited in the fast-growing bones of children. Irritation or inflammation caused by air pollution is more likely to obstruct their narrower airways.
It may also take less exposure to a pollutant to trigger an asthma attack or other breathing ailment due to the sensitivity of a child's developing respiratory system. Exposure to toxic air contaminants during infancy or childhood could affect the development of the respiratory, nervous, endocrine and immune systems, and could increase the risk of cancer later in life.
The need for this bill is clear from a report from a special hearing I held last year as chair of the Senate Select Committee on Public Health and the Environment. The hearing focused on California´s asthma problems, and the environment. Exposure to heavy vehicle traffic may be the most important factor in exacerbating outdoor asthma. Those who live within a quarter mile of freeways have an 89-percent increase in asthma risk.
"Los Angeles remains the most ozone-polluted city in the nation," American Lung Association Vice President Janice Nolan reported in the hearing.
The city also scored at the top of the list for worst year-round particulate exposure.
Under SB 124, motor carriers are required to educate drivers of the regulation and retain records of the education, complaints of non-compliance, enforcement actions and remedies for at least three years and make these records available to enforcement personnel.
The city of Carson has the greatest age-adjusted hospitalization rate for asthma of any zip code in my 28th Senate District, with 50 persons per 10,000 residents, according to research by the California Air Research Board.
Second greatest was the area around Los Angeles International Airport, zip code 90045, 35 persons per 10,000; followed by the north side of Long Beach, 90805, with 33 persons per 10,000.
SB 124 is expected to receive its first policy hearing by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing April 14.
Far too many children in California suffer from asthma. They struggle to breathe, and thus struggle to play, learn, and even live. They deserve better. Please join me in supporting SB 124.
This cannot be healthy.
Now, multiply that bus by tenfold or more, and an idea of the air quality around our schools becomes distressingly apparent. Throw in the exhaust put out by delivery vehicles as well, and the impetus behind Senate Bill 124 is clearer than the air we breathe.
Under SB 124, school bus and delivery drivers must turn off their engines upon arriving at or within 100 feet of a school. They can only restart the engine no more than 30 seconds before departing. Drivers of pupils must also not idle at any location within 100 feet of a school for more than 5 minutes.
Transit and delivery vehicle drivers must turn off their engine upon arriving at a school and restart the engine no more than 30 seconds before departing. Transit and delivery vehicle drivers must not idle the engine at any location within 100 feet of a school for more than five minutes.
The Legislature approved a similar bill of mine in 2004, AB 2644, but Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed it, saying the measure was unnecessary due to existing regulations. It is important to make these regulations state law because though we have a governor who prides himself on being "green," what about successors to the office? A regulation can simply be undone by the stroke of a governor´s pen. If special interests can persuade our next governor or any governor after, that these regulations are unnecessary, they are gone.
Our children deserve clean air, especially in the schoolyard. In many cases, children have greater exposure than adults to airborne pollutants. Infants and children generally breathe more rapidly than adults, which increases their exposure to any pollutants in the air. Infants and children often breathe through their mouths, bypassing the filtering effect of the nose and allowing more pollutants to be inhaled.
Children are also often more susceptible to the health effects of air pollution because their immune systems and vital organs are still developing. Inhaled lead is more easily deposited in the fast-growing bones of children. Irritation or inflammation caused by air pollution is more likely to obstruct their narrower airways.
It may also take less exposure to a pollutant to trigger an asthma attack or other breathing ailment due to the sensitivity of a child's developing respiratory system. Exposure to toxic air contaminants during infancy or childhood could affect the development of the respiratory, nervous, endocrine and immune systems, and could increase the risk of cancer later in life.
The need for this bill is clear from a report from a special hearing I held last year as chair of the Senate Select Committee on Public Health and the Environment. The hearing focused on California´s asthma problems, and the environment. Exposure to heavy vehicle traffic may be the most important factor in exacerbating outdoor asthma. Those who live within a quarter mile of freeways have an 89-percent increase in asthma risk.
"Los Angeles remains the most ozone-polluted city in the nation," American Lung Association Vice President Janice Nolan reported in the hearing.
The city also scored at the top of the list for worst year-round particulate exposure.
Under SB 124, motor carriers are required to educate drivers of the regulation and retain records of the education, complaints of non-compliance, enforcement actions and remedies for at least three years and make these records available to enforcement personnel.
The city of Carson has the greatest age-adjusted hospitalization rate for asthma of any zip code in my 28th Senate District, with 50 persons per 10,000 residents, according to research by the California Air Research Board.
Second greatest was the area around Los Angeles International Airport, zip code 90045, 35 persons per 10,000; followed by the north side of Long Beach, 90805, with 33 persons per 10,000.
SB 124 is expected to receive its first policy hearing by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing April 14.
Far too many children in California suffer from asthma. They struggle to breathe, and thus struggle to play, learn, and even live. They deserve better. Please join me in supporting SB 124.
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