220461 Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative Anti-Idling Day of Action: Addressing air quality and the impacts of goods movement in San Francisco Bay Area communities

Monday, November 8, 2010

Karen J. Pierce, JD , BVHP Health and Environmental Assessment Task Force, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Community Health Promotion and Prevention, San Francisco, CA
Azibuike Akaba , Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP), Oakland, CA
Jessica Peters, MPH , Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP), Oakland, CA
Background/Need: Diesel pollution from buses, trucks, trains, and other vehicles is a difficult and ongoing problem in Bay Area communities. Low income communities and communities of color, living along major thoroughfares, highways, ports and rail yards, suffer the disproportionate burden of this pollution.

Methods and Partners: In the fall of 2005 and summer of 2008, the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative (DDDC) Idling Committee planned and implemented a Bay Area Anti-Idling Day of Action. Both events mobilized numerous organizations and individuals from environmental justice communities throughout the region (e.g. truckers, longshore union, public health departments, non-profits). Outreach and educational materials that highlighted California idling regulations, stressed the health and financial costs of idling, and provided information about idling enforcement were developed through local market research and distributed to truckers, school bus drivers, and the general public. Press conferences resulted in several TV, print and radio stories.

Results: Raised awareness of idling regulations, and the benefits of not idling, to promote behavior change and idling reduction among diesel vehicle drivers and to inform/educate the general public. Cultivation of relationships with agencies involved in regional and statewide air quality decisions that have led to additional joint efforts.

Conclusions and Next Steps: We have developed a proven model for community organizing and involvement as it relates to outreach and education around diesel vehicle idling. It should be possible to utilize this model to reach a variety of audiences (e.g., schools, school bus drivers, the general public) and/or apply it to different environmental justice issues.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how a community-based collaborative developed and implemented successful outreach and education efforts around diesel vehicle idling. 2. Articulate a model for community organizing and involvement that can be applied to environmental justice issues.

Keywords: Environmental Justice, Community Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present this poster because I have managed a environmental policy project that directly impacts this area of study and environmental triggers for your asthma.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.