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Dear CARB Board,

My name is Alejandro Amador and I am a resident of San Ysidro and
the Environmental Programs Supervisor at Casa Familiar. I want to
express my support and the dire need for San Diego's International
Border Communities to be selected for this round of AB617
communities.

The high amount of pollution that comes from the unique dynamic of
hosting the largest land port of entry in the Northern Hemisphere
needs to be monitored and regulated locally, at a community level,
to appropriately address the issue and lessen the burden on the
most vulnerable. Studies in San Ysidro have shown that there is a
correlation between border wait times and the amount of pollution
in the community, in addition to other sources that impact the air
quality in the community. Both communities, San Ysidro and Otay
Mesa, have the 905-highway bordering the North side of the
communities as the designated truck route from the 5-interstate to
the US-Mex border. Local strategies and enforcements will need to
be set in place to address the large amount of heavy duty freight
trucks caused by this corridor and prevent the rise in pollution
the rapid expansion of Amazon and other companies' warehouses in
the border communities are set to bring.

San Ysidro, a residency-heavy area, and Otay Mesa, heavily
industrial but expanding in housing rapidly in the upcoming years,
both need regulatory monitoring and the development of a Community
Emission Reduction Plan to take a step towards environmental
justice in this region.

Thank you,
Alejandro Amador