In recognition of Earth Day, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) Friday reintroduced the Community Environmental Equity Act, to protect working families in New York City, and across the nation, from being exposed to a disproportionately high concentration of pollution-producers that result in high asthma rates and other illnesses, in their neighborhoods.

No one community should bear the brunt of environmental degradation," said Velázquez.  "Yet too many of our neighborhoods - particularly those that house working families- suffer more than their fair share of factories, heavy traffic, and trash dump sites.  Residents of these communities have been stricken by high rates of chronic illnesses, such as asthma, heart disease, cancer, and birth defects. This bill empowers communities to fight back."

New York has unacceptably high asthma hospitalization rates compared to other states. A total of 1.1 million adults and 370,000 children are affected by this respiratory illness, resulting in over 42,000 hospitalizations due to asthma in New York State during 2004 alone.  The NYC Department of Health reports that Hispanic adults have the highest prevalence of current asthma. 

The Community Environmental Equity Act would protect communities from being disproportionately exposed to an array of contaminants.  The legislation empowers all levels of government to measure whether a certain neighborhood is more affected by environmental hazards than other communities. 

Under the bill, a working group of the Environmental Protection Agency issues a report to Congress every two years on the progress of the implementation of this environmental justice legislation.