Subject: 6 May 1999 Bluestem Network Action Alert

The Bluestem Network Action Alert as of May 6, 1999 is asfollows:

Please call your Illinois State Senator and ask him or her to vote YES on HB 2031, the bill to clean up dirty diesel trucks.

It is expected that the entire Illinois State Senate will vote on this bill within the next ten days. Phone calls are urgently needed now to your Illinois State Senator.

You can reach your Illinois State Senator's office by calling the Illinois State Capitol switchboard during business hours at 217-782-2000 and asking to be ransferred to your Illinois State Senator's office.

For information on the names of your Illinois State Senator and how to make a local phone call to your legislators' home district offices, see the Political Contacts page of this web site.

What follows is the detailed explanation which explains the background behind the action alert.

We've all had the unpleasant experience of being behind a big diesel truck spewing out black exhaust. Unfortunately, that black smoke is more than just annoying - it's a major public health threat. Diesel exhaust can cause major respiratory problems, particularly for people with asthma and other lung diseases, and is a significant component of urban smog.

The state of Illinois has long had a limit on black truck exhaust. The problem is, there is no enforcement of the limit, because police were never given the authority to write tickets for polluting trucks. HB 2031 would change that, and require diesel trucks in the greater Chicago and metro east areas to undergo annual emissions test to ensure they are not polluting excessively, just like our cars do now. HB 2031 also authorizes trained state police officers to conduct road-side testing on obviously-smoky trucks traveling in the Chicago and E. St. Louis regions. This is important because approximately 50 percent of the trucks traveling in these areas are registered elsewhere and, therefore, not subject to the annual exhaust test. Six states successfully implement road-side testing, and Illinois has more truck traffic than any state other than California. The trucking industry opposes these emissions tests, and is lobbying our Senators in Springfield to allow up to 80% of trucks to go untested, by exempting over 100,000 trucks from annual test, and eliminating roadside policechecks entirely.

Our Illinois Senators will vote on HB 2031 during the week of May 10th. Please contact your Illinois State Senator TODAY and urge them to SUPPORT HB 2031 and OPPOSE the trucking industry's attempts to weaken it.