HR0840 LRB093 21921 KEF 50077 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Diesel emissions have the potential to cause
3 adverse health effects such as asthma, chronic obstructive
4 pulmonary disease (COPD), allergies, and lung cancer; and
 
5     WHEREAS, There are few other sources of air pollution in
6 our environment that are so widespread and toxic as diesel
7 emissions; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Emissions from diesel vehicles can cause serious
9 air pollution; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection
11 Agency, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the
12 American Lung Association have shown that exposure to diesel
13 exhaust increases the frequency of asthma attacks and other
14 respiratory illness; and
 
15     WHEREAS, The U.S. EPA has found diesel exhaust to be a
16 likely carcinogen; and
 
17     WHEREAS, A national estimate of cancer risk from diesel
18 exhaust found that diesel exhaust is the number one air toxics
19 cancer risk in the U.S.; and
 
20     WHEREAS, The air inside a diesel-fueled school bus can be
21 up to 15 times more polluted than the air outside the bus; and
 
22     WHEREAS, The vast majority, more than eighty percent, of
23 school buses in Illinois are diesel-fueled; and
 
24     WHEREAS, Children spend, on average, an hour and half on
25 school buses each day; and
 
26     WHEREAS, Asthma is the most common chronic illness in

 

 

HR0840 - 2 - LRB093 21921 KEF 50077 r

1 children and the leading cause of school absences; and
 
2     WHEREAS, Asthma has reached epidemic proportions in the
3 United States, affecting an estimated 20 million people; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Nearly 300,000 children in the State of Illinois
5 suffer from asthma; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Asthma is the leading cause of childhood
7 hospitalizations in the State of Illinois; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Nearly 300 Illinois citizens died from asthma
9 related deaths in 2003; and
 
10     WHEREAS, This body recognizes that the health and wellbeing
11 of each and every citizen of this State is important;
12 therefore, be it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
15 proclaim May 4th, 2004, as Illinois Clean Air and Asthma
16 Awareness Day; and be it further
 
17     RESOLVED, That on Illinois Clean Air and Asthma Awareness
18 Day, awareness will be made that school bus idling is a major
19 cause of diesel exhaust pollution in school zones; and be it
20 further
 
21     RESOLVED, That efforts should be made to reduce school bus
22 idling on this day and every day to increase the health and
23 well-being of all Illinois citizens, especially children.