Dear John,

Residents in California’s 39th Congressional District has longer suffered from air pollutants, poor air quality, and resulting health issues. Last Wednesday, I met with local environmental experts to discuss my recently published State of Air Quality Report and the persisting air quality problem. The roundtable convened local researchers, academics, nonprofit organizations, and government officials and highlighted the dire nature of this situation and the necessity to act now.

During the roundtable, we discussed the findings of my State of Air Quality Report, including local sources of environmental air pollutants, the impact of poor air quality on the families, and potential solutions that could meaningfully reduce emissions.

Some key findings in the State of Air Quality report include:

· Fine particulate matter and ozone concentrations in the region are substantially higher than they are nationally.

· Sources of pollutants in the district include the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, wildfires, and warehouse development.

· Since 2005, over 100,000,000 square feet of warehouse space have been constructed in California’s 39th Congressional District.

· Asthmatic health problems caused by poor air quality cost residents of Riverside about $8.5 million a year and cost individual Riverside families about $4,008 annually.

· Exposure to high levels of air pollutants could be linked to 721 deaths a year in Riverside.

· In a 2-year period, 1.26 million school absences, and 470,000 lost days of work in the South Coast Basin were attributable to high levels of air pollutants.

You can read the full State of the Air Quality report here , and the Press Enterprise’s coverage of the report findings here.

The Inland Empire has some of the worst air quality in the nation, and we have not seen any meaningful improvement since the late 2000s. It is time we take the necessary steps to finish the job of removing air pollutants from our neighborhood. Access to clean air is not a privilege, but a right.

Sincerely,

Mark Takano

Member of Congress