José Miguel Acosta Córdova, Transportation Justice Program Manager at Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) gave this presentation at Forth Design and Fund Equitable Electric Mobility For Your Community workshop on April 17, 2024.

1. Equity & Freight Electrification
Jose Miguel Acosta Cordova, LVEJO

2. Neighbors for an Equitable Transition to
Zero-Emission (NET Z)
We’re a working group of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC), that consists of justice, environmental, faith-
based, public health, worker, and clean technology institutions working to reduce diesel pollution across
Illinois.
Did you know that?

3. What’s the diesel pollution problem?
Dirty Dozen Illinois Counties
● These IL counties are all
within the top 9% of counties
nationwide with the worst
pollution from diesel engines.
○ Cook and DuPage are in
the top 1%
○ Will, Lake, Kane, Grundy,
Kankakee, and Kendall
are within the top 5%

4. IL statistics on the impacts of diesel pollution

5. Transportation is the largest source of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Illinois!

6. Heavy-duty pickups, vans, transit and school buses, freight and
work trucks, up to tractor-trailers. Most of these vehicles are used
commercially, rather than for personal transportation, so most of
diesel pollution is primarily caused by private corporations, not
individuals.
In Illinois, there are:
● 615,603 MHD vehicles
● Travel more than 14.4 billion miles per year
● Consume almost 1.9 billion gallons of fuel
Medium/Heavy-Duty Vehicles in Illinois

9. - Warehouses, distribution
centers, logistics hubs locate
near these intermodals
- Disproportionate impact of
medium and heavy duty truck
traffic
- Electrification of MHDs should
be concentrated in port
adjacent and EJ communities

10. Why does diesel pollution matter?
Who is breathing in the most diesel pollution?

13. Zero-emissions solutions already exist
Zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) are ones that
produce zero exhaust (or tailpipe)
emissions of any criteria pollutant (or
precursor pollutant) under all possible
operational modes and conditions.
ZEV’s are already being manufactured in
Illinois, but states that have passed
supportive ZEV policies are seeing more of
the benefits.

14. What are zero-emission trucks?
● Produce no tailpipe emissions and reduce many of the health and climate
problems caused by vehicles that run on fossil fuels.
● Cost-effective: No oil changes or transmission fluids to think about
● Brakes on ZEV last twice as long because of regenerative braking
○ Many or most battery-electric truck models use regenerative braking systems – redirect energy
that would have been converted into friction with brake pads and wear out much less quickly
consequently emitting less particle pollution
● As battery prices continue to decline rapidly, the upfront costs of electric
trucks are almost certain to come down.
● Illinois will continue building charging infrastructure to support a full transition
to an electric truck fleet.

15. A new 38 port electric truck charging depot and maintenance hub is
coming online to service Southern California’s ports and logistics
centers, along with 50 new electric trucks from Volvo and Daimler.
One of the first electric truck
harging hub and
maintenance facilities

16. Rivian delivery vans L2 charging at Amazon facility
Proterra CTA bus overhead charging
Electric school bus L2 charging
Electric semi-truck CCS fast charging

17. Equity is central part in the EV transition
Affordability and Clean Jobs
● More affordable “fuel” & less maintenance
● Up to $40,000 per vehicle tax credit – and other
manufacturing loans, grants, and tax credits
● Job growth
○ 2 million new jobs by 2035
● Higher labor intensity of EV manufacturing
● Demand for construction, maintenance,
installation of charging stations

18. Supply chain equity
Until recently, most batteries were nickel-
manganese-cobalt batteries, made like this,
of most concern nickel and cobalt for their
ecologically destructive and cruel mining
practices.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are a
growing alternative that don’t require nickel
or cobalt.
Battery storage and recycling practices.

19. Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT)
● Sales targets for an increasing percentage of new ZEV sales
● Guaranteed supply of clean, cost-saving vehicles available in Illinois
The rule DOES:
- Increase consumer choice and access to
zero-pollution trucks, buses, and vans
- Support our state’s manufacturing
economy and grow jobs
- Reduce diesel pollution and protect
public health
- Increase targets at a gradual, flexible
pace
The rule DOES NOT:
- Ban gasoline or diesel vehicles
- Impose purchase mandates
- Affect used vehicles
- Set rigid requirements of specific
vehicles or brands

20. Heavy-Duty Omnibus (HDO) Low NOx
- Pollution limits for new diesel engines
- More effective exhaust testing requirements
- Longer Useful Life and Emissions Warranty periods
The rule DOES:
- Reduce NOx and PM emissions by 90%
- Improve air quality – especially for
warehouse, railyard, and port
neighbors
- Ensure pathways to compliance
The rule DOES NOT:
- Affect existing vehicles
- Immediately go into effect
- Increase fuel consumption or
CO2 emissions

21. If the ACT is passed in Illinois…
● Assuming implementation starting with model year 2027, this regulation would
mean that by 2050, approximately 50% of onroad MHDVs in Illinois would
have zero tailpipe emissions.
● The reduction in nitrogen dioxide pollution (NO2) would equate to around 500
fewer deaths and 600 fewer new cases of childhood asthma annually in the
CMAP region.
● Greater health benefits in neighborhoods with higher percentages of Black and
brown residents
○ For example, the residents of census tracts with the largest (top 10%) NO2-
associated reductions in mortality are 48% Black, 12% Hispanic or Latino, 7%
Asian and 31% white, while the region as a whole is 17% Black, 23% Hispanic or
Latino, 7% Asian and 51% white

22. Economic benefits of the ACT and HDO
- Net cost savings for electric fleets, and savings to all residential and
commercial electricity customers due to lower electric rates made possible by
the additional electricity sales for electric vehicle charging
- In Illinois: $1.2 billion in annual cost savings for fleets, and $62 million in bill savings for electric
utility consumers by 2050
- increased electricity sales for M/HD EV charging would lower distribution rates ($/kWh), since
fixed annual distribution system costs would be spread over a larger base of energy sales.
- Substantial job gains in many industries (e.g., battery and electric component
manufacturing, charging infrastructure construction, electricity generation)

23. ● The Advanced Clean Fleet Rule - this rule puts the
pressure on large fleets (like those that operate
Federally, those that are used at port facilities, and
those that make up city and state governmental
fleets) to transition to zero-emission vehicles.
● A port authority - “a government commission that
manages bridges, tunnels, airports, and other such
facilities of a port or city.” In Illinois, that port authority
would manage the freight that passes through the
Chicago area, and other high-traffic freight areas.
Key additional tools to combat diesel pollution
A few strategies and policies that will help decrease specific health-impacting pollutants are:

24. National efforts
- US EPA Clean Ports Program
- $3B released to fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure, climate and air quality
planning at U.S. ports
- Advocates like LVEJO & other MFN members pushed for inland/dry ports (intermodal rail yards)
to be included
- $250M allocated for inland/dry ports - working with state on a proposal, also know the IL Port
Authority
- US DOE & DOT Zero Emission Freight
Corridors Strategy
- Build out the charging infrastructure over next 15
years
- Moving Forward Network Rail/Locomotive
Campaign
- Currently working on locomotive electrification
- EPA clarified regulation options for local jurisdictions

25. Questions?