San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition Spotlight 2010

Housing Update

Strategies around a Healthy Homes Ordinance in San Diego continue. Partners such as Affordable Housing Advocates and the Environmental Health Coalition both based in San Diego, have joined forces and engaged community groups.  Our promotora team conducted a Leadership Academy workshop on Healthy Homes to inform San Diego’s Somali community about the importance of healthy housing and the effects that household environmental triggers can have on people with asthma. Approximately 150 residents were reached and feedback from the training suggested they are very excited about having been invited to join us in the Healthy Homes movement.   The goal is to empower these residents to become more involved in the policies that affect their lives on a daily basis.

San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition by-laws and overall structure served as the blue print for shaping the the newly formed California Healthy Homes Coalition. We share the vision of proactive code enforcement, and we hope to gain momentum so critical to the passage of the ordinance.

Outdoor Air Quality Update

On March 16^th the City Council of National City adopted the Westside, or “Old Town” specific plan correcting decades of inconsistent planning.  The Westside evolved in the early 1900s as a community of Victorian homes on tiny lots built for those with waterfront and railroad jobs.

Top leadership at the EPA have called the new project a model for environmental justice history. The San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition worked behind the scenes throughout 2009 and into 2010 gathering evidence on freeway buffer zones, creek protection, balancing height density housing levels, and improving community walkability. Coalition staff met with city officials in providing feedback on EIR and planning documents to end discriminatory land use decisions from the 1950s and 60s that allowed industrial polluters to be located next to homes, schools, and churches.

Port of San Diego

Following the newly passed Drayage Truck Law effective January 1, 2010, the Port of San Diego and stakeholders have created Truck Policy workgroup to reduce diesel pollution from trucks servicing the terminals.  The goal is to increase trucker outreach and promote funding from Goods Movement Emissions Reduction Program (GMERP) as part of the Prop 1B for truck retrofits or replacement.  The Port Commission will convene in June 2010 to adopt a policy for enforcement.

The Environmental Sustainability Policy (ESP) was approved in December 2009. This policy will minimize the Port’s impact on the environment while growing its business. It will serve as the framework by which the Port will make decisions that incorporate a balance of environmental, social and economic concerns.

Click here to see previous coalition spotlights