A History of Success – Freight Transportation

The DDDC has developed a proven track record by focusing on mitigating the impacts from the extensive transportation infrastructure that moves freight throughout California. When the “Goods Movement Action Plan (GMAP)” for California was under development in 2005, DDDC petitioned the governor to provide seats at the table for community voices, including environmental justice representation, eventually winning approval for representation from several DDDC members.  We provided a number of proposals to improve the Goods Movement Action Plan, made critical comments on the CA Air Resources Board's emissions reduction proposals related to Port expansions, and developed a list of proposed projects necessary to protect the health of communities in Northern California where port expansions are occurring. As the state updates GMAP in 2013 and onwards, now known as California Freight Mobility Plan, DDDC continues to track the process to ensure that community concerns are not left behind.

DDDC, along with the Pacific Institute, produced “Paying with Our Health: The Real Costs of Freight Transport in California”, a detailed account of the community health impacts and costs of freight transportation.  Since its release at three simultaneous press conferences throughout California in November 2006, 1350 hard copies of the report have been distributed to elected officials (including every local, county, state, and Federal elected official in the San Francisco Bay Area), community residents, city, state, and Federal agencies, Port of Oakland staff and commissioners, workers, union staff, and health and environmental organizations. The report has been downloaded an additional 8,300 times from the web.

In collaboration with the Pacific Institute, DDDC published "At a Crossroads in Our Region's Health: Freight Transport and the Future of Community Health in the San Francisco Bay Area". Priority Development Areas in the San Francisco Bay region overlap with communities with the highest health risk from toxic air contaminants, including diesel pollution from freight transport, designated as CARE zones by the Air District. But this new study released in 2011 found that 74% of the land in Priority Development Areas that intersect with CARE communities is far enough away from freight transport hazards to be suitable for sensitive land uses like new housing. DDDC has been using this groundbreaking report as a tool to advocate for wise regional planning that develops the region’s economic capacity while protecting the health of vulnerable communities. This year DDDC provided a briefing to regional and federal agencies (MTC, ABAG, BAAQMD, HUD, EPA Region IX) about the report to inform the assessment and allocation of regional affordable housing, underscoring that the most vulnerable communities shouldn't be housed in the most toxic places. 

DDDC integrates residents' lived experiences with research and data in our reports to elevate environmental justice perspectives and influence decision-making processes so that freight policies are as health-protective of impacted communities as possible. For example, DDDC worked with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to integrate stronger language in the Clean Air Plan to better protect environmental justice communities.  The District will address magnet sources of diesel pollution in their future research, as well as maintain air monitoring in CARE communities, and address Indirect and Magnet Sources. 

Most recently, DDDC has also been working with public transportation advocates to press BAAQMD to integrate a health lens into the SB 375 process, including creating principles of working together, establishing stricter green house gas reduction targets, and developing health criteria for transportation-oriented development, to ensure that pollution from freight transportation sources are taken into account in land use decisions. Our most recent policy success was getting freight-related concerns included in the One Bay Area Grant that disseminates regional transporation funding, thus incentivizing local transportation projects to address the health impacts of freight transport. 

DDDC’s Freight Transport Committee continues to develop the leadership of community-based groups to address freight transport issues relevant to their communities. After Pacific Institute re-released the Spanish version of its curriculum, Gearing Up for Action: a curriculum guide for freight transport justice in June 2013, DDDC partnered with Pacific Institute to host a training-for-trainers for community leaders and public health advocates to gain tools to build the power and capacity of community residents to participate in decision making around freight transport issues.

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Meet the Collaborative, Mission, A History of Success – the Collaborative, A History of Success – Anti-Idling,
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A History of Success – The Collaborative

In 2004, Pacific Institute, Regional Asthma Management and Prevention, Urban Habitat, and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project initiated a broad planning process with key stakeholders to develop a regional strategy to reduce diesel pollution. That planning process culminated in the formation of DDDC.

DDDC's Steering Committee continues to organize General Member Meetings that bring together collaborative members, public agency representatives, community members and other stakeholders to explore diverse topics relevant to reducing diesel emissions in environmental justice communities throughout the Bay Area. These meetings help maintain a strong educational and strategic diesel network for those working on reducing diesel emission. The Steering Committee, which consists of the community-based members of the Collaborative, also provides overall leadership for the Collaborative by setting operational policy (e.g., participant stipend eligibility) and directing sustainability efforts.

The DDDC has long been led, shaped and driven by its members, most of whom contribute their time on an in-kind or volunteer basis. In fact, it is only in the last few years that the DDDC has obtained several program grants, each of which has considerably amplified DDDC’s effectiveness. From 2010-2013, DDDC received a three-year capacity building grant from the San Francisco Foundation's Strength From Within program for environmental justice organizations. Upon completion of the program, DDDC reassessed and clarified its Collaborative identity; updated its internal processes and guidelines for membership; and increased the leadership and organizational capacity of DDDC member organizations, Steering Committee members and staff. Here are some documents with more information about DDDC's internal infrastructure.

• To learn more about DDDC's membership guidelines, click here for the 2013 Membership at a Glance document.
• To learn more about DDDC's committees and its scope of responsibilities, click here for the 2013 Committees at a Glance document.
• To learn more about DDDC's principles of collaboration, click here for the 19 Rules of the Road document that came out of an all-member meeting in December 2011.
  

DDDC continues to seek out funding to build on its past successes in reducing emissions and fuel consumption. DDDC’s fiscal sponsor is the San Francisco Study Center, a 501(c)(3) organization. We currently receive funding from the San Francisco Foundation and Center for Environmental Health.

This website was made possible with funding from Regional Asthma Management and Prevention provided by The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation.

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Meet the Collaborative, Mission, A History of Success – the Collaborative, A History of Success – Anti-Idling,
A History of Success – Freight Transportation, Members, The Collaborative Speaks Out - Videos

A History of Success – Anti-Idling

In 2005 and 2008, the Idling Committee planned and implemented Bay Area Anti-Idling Days of Action. Both events mobilized numerous organizations and individuals from environmental health and justice communities throughout the region. Outreach and educational materials that highlighted California idling regulations, stressed the health and financial costs of idling, and provided information about idling enforcement were developed through local market research and distributed to truckers, school bus drivers, and the general public. Press conferences resulted in several TV, print and radio stories.

For three years the Idling Committee also partnered with air quality agencies to place anti-idling ads in the English and Spanish editions of the DMV Commercial Driver Handbook. In 2008 the circulation was 700,000 for the English edition and 250,000 for the Spanish edition. The DDDC was responsible for the design, development, and placement of the ads and the partner organizations provided financial contributions.

In 2012, the Idling Committee developed an Anti-Idling Toolkit for Schools. The Toolkit will be used to educate and mobilize a school community, including students, teachers, parents, school bus and delivery vehicle drivers, and/or diesel vehicle drivers, to reduce idling at and around school sites. Currently, the toolkit is being designed for an online release on DDDC's website. In the coming months, the Steering Committee will conduct strategic planning to identify the next educational or policy foci related to the reduction of idling.

For links to outreach and educational materials around anti-idling, visit the Publications.

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Meet the Collaborative, Mission, A History of Success – the Collaborative, A History of Success – Anti-Idling,
A History of Success – Freight Transportation, Members, The Collaborative Speaks Out - Videos

Mission

DDDC strives to address the impacts of diesel pollution and its connection to adverse health issues like asthma and cancer in environmental justice communities. The mission of this Collaborative is to build a powerful coalition of environmental justice and health affected groups to reduce diesel pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area while educating and building an informed constituency for change.

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Meet the Collaborative, Mission, A History of Success – the Collaborative, A History of Success – Anti-Idling,
A History of Success – Freight Transportation, Members, The Collaborative Speaks Out - Videos