Dear Mr. Broadbent and Board President Torliatt:

We the undersigned organizations and agencies urge the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to adopt revisions to the District’s CEQA guidelines and New Source Review rule that acknowledge and address the cumulative and disproportionate impacts of toxic air pollution on low-income communities and communities of color.  We support increasing health protections and standards for the entire region, but BAAQMD should adopt regulations and guidelines that provide additional protections for the communities most impacted by pollution.

We are disappointed and upset that District staff caved into industry pressure and rescinded their initial recommendations that acknowledged the disproportionate impacts of pollution and called for more health-protective standards in highly impacted communities and near schools.  We believe the initial recommendations are a step forward towards addressing the wide disparities in pollution exposure and health impacts in the region.  We urge the District to adopt revisions to the CEQA guidelines and NSR rule that include differential and more health-protective standards in highly impacted communities and near schools.

Moreover, we believe that lowering emissions limits for polluting industries is not enough to protect public health, especially in low income communities and communities of color most impacted by pollution. Therefore, we also urge the District to adopt the Bay Area Environmental Health Collaborative’s Pollution Reduction Protocol that calls for an end to permitting most polluting industries in the hardest hit communities.  This recommendation should be incorporated into the CEQA guidelines, NSR rule and all other relevant regulatory and permitting processes.

Sincerely,

List of current BAEHC organizations and allies:
Bay Area Environmental Health Collaborative
            Bay Area Clean Air Task Force
            Bay View Hunters Point Environmental Health and Environmental Assessment Task Force
            Breathe California
            Chinese Progressive Association
            Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, Golden Gate University School of Law
            Communities for a Better Environment
            Contra Costa Asthma Coalition
            Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
            Healthy San Leandro Collaborative
            Hunters View Mothers Committee
            People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights
            Regional Asthma Management and Prevention
            San Francisco Asthma Task Force
            West County Toxics Coalition
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Breast Cancer Action
California Newsreel
Center for Environmental Health
Center for Race, Poverty, and the Environment
Citizens Against Pollution
East Palo Alto Asthma Task Force
Environmental Health
Global Community Monitor
Green Purchasing Institute
Harvey Milk Democratic Club
Our City
Pacific Institute
Science and Environmental Health Network
Solano Asthma Coalition
Sonoma County Asthma Coalition
The Breast Cancer Fund
Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund (TRANSDEF)
West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project