Release: Khanna, Lofgren, & Chavez Call on Faa & Epa to Hold Hearings in East San Jose on Leaded Aviation Fuel

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17), Chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Environment, U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez toured Reid-Hillview Airport and held a press conference to call for a hearing in East San Jose with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as soon as possible to address the decades of exposure to leaded fuel in that community. They also again pushed for a national ban on leaded aviation fuel.

The event follows Chair Khanna's hearing in the House Oversight Subcommittee on Environment on the health and environmental dangers of leaded fuel, in which the FAA declined an invitation to testify. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was also invited to attend today's event but declined. Today, the leaders renewed their invitation to the Secretary to visit and hear firsthand from the affected community.

Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the midst of an evaluation into whether leaded fuel endangers public health and welfare. Today, Khanna, Lofgren and Chavez called on the EPA to hold a public comment hearing in East San Jose once the EPA's interim proposal resulting from the evaluation is complete.

"For too long, low-income communities and communities of color have suffered from exposure to leaded aviation fuel causing serious health issues," said Representative Ro Khanna. "The harms caused by this fuel are well-documented and there's no excuse for it to be used at Reid-Hillview or at any other airport in America. I'm grateful for Supervisor Chavez and Representative Lofgren's leadership in exposing this environmental injustice. I hope that the FAA and Secretary Buttigieg will agree to answer our questions regarding the use of leaded fuel going forward."

"Today's tour showcased just how close Reid-Hillview Airport is to the communities surrounding it. That's why Representative Khanna, Supervisor Chavez and I are calling on federal agencies to hold hearings on-the-ground in East San Jose. It's astonishing and unacceptable that children continue to be exposed to leaded aviation fuel here or anywhere in America," said Representative Zoe Lofgren. "We are on a mission to get the FAA to stop allowing the use of the dangerous fuel that is poisoning our neighbors and vulnerable communities around the country. Our nation should promptly transition to non-leaded fuel."

"Childhood lead exposure from lead in aviation fuel is a national public health crisis and the federal government needs to take action now," said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez who represents the area where Reid-Hillview Airport is located. "Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose is like 20,000 other small general aviation airports across the nation that are mostly situated in communities of color."

Last year, Santa Clara County released results of a study showing a correlation between the use of leaded fuel at Reid-Hillview Airport and elevated blood lead levels in local children. In February 2022, Khanna and Lofgren, along with U.S. Representatives Anna Eshoo (CA-18) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), called on the Biden Administration to help protect vulnerable communities from lead exposure.

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