PM2.5 exposure disparities persist despite strict vehicle emissions controls in California

26 August 2024, Version 2
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

As policymakers increasingly focus on environmental justice, a key question is whether emissions reductions aimed at addressing air quality or climate change can also ameliorate persistent air pollution exposure disparities. We examine evidence from California’s aggressive vehicle emissions control policy from 2000-2019. We find a 65% reduction in modeled statewide average exposure to PM2.5 from on-road vehicles, yet for people of color and overburdened community residents, relative exposure disparities increased. Light-duty vehicle emissions are the main driver of the exposure and exposure disparity, although smaller contributions from heavy-duty vehicles especially impact some overburdened groups. Our findings suggest that a continued trend of emissions reductions will likely reduce concentrations and absolute disparity but may not reduce relative disparities without greater attention to the systemic factors leading to this disparity.

Keywords

Air Pollution
Environmental Justice
Environmental Policy

Supplementary materials

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Title
Supporting Information for: PM2.5 exposure disparities persist despite strict vehicle emissions controls in California
Description
This supporting information file contains the following: - Supporting text about the novel pipeline for processing InMAP source-receptor matrix calculations. - Supporting text about the validation and comparison to other estimates. - Supporting text about the uncertainty and sensitivity. - Supplementary Figures S1 through S18. - Supplementary Tables S1 through S6.
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