HR0840 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0840 LRB093 21921 KEF 50077 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Diesel emissions have the potential to cause adverse health effects such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), allergies, and lung cancer; and

WHEREAS, There are few other sources of air pollution in our environment that are so widespread and toxic as diesel emissions; and

WHEREAS, Emissions from diesel vehicles can cause serious air pollution; and

WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Lung Association have shown that exposure to diesel exhaust increases the frequency of asthma attacks and other respiratory illness; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. EPA has found diesel exhaust to be a likely carcinogen; and

WHEREAS, A national estimate of cancer risk from diesel exhaust found that diesel exhaust is the number one air toxics cancer risk in the U.S.; and

WHEREAS, The air inside a diesel-fueled school bus can be up to 15 times more polluted than the air outside the bus; and

WHEREAS, The vast majority, more than eighty percent, of school buses in Illinois are diesel-fueled; and

WHEREAS, Children spend, on average, an hour and half on school buses each day; and

WHEREAS, Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children and the leading cause of school absences; and

WHEREAS, Asthma has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, affecting an estimated 20 million people; and

WHEREAS, Nearly 300,000 children in the State of Illinois suffer from asthma; and

WHEREAS, Asthma is the leading cause of childhood hospitalizations in the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Nearly 300 Illinois citizens died from asthma related deaths in 2003; and

WHEREAS, This body recognizes that the health and wellbeing of each and every citizen of this State is important; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we proclaim May 4th, 2004, as Illinois Clean Air and Asthma Awareness Day; and be it further

RESOLVED, That on Illinois Clean Air and Asthma Awareness Day, awareness will be made that school bus idling is a major cause of diesel exhaust pollution in school zones; and be it further

RESOLVED, That efforts should be made to reduce school bus idling on this day and every day to increase the health and well-being of all Illinois citizens, especially children.