Schoolchildren in 85 school districts in 35 states will be riding in cleaner buses soon, as the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would spend $7 million to replace or retrofit hundreds of older diesel buses.
About 400 older diesel-engine school buses will be replaced or updated with newer, cleaner technology, said Christopher Grundler, director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. The goal is to reduce pollutants like nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, which cause asthma and lung damage among other health problems.
“Schools and other organizations that install clean diesel technology are doing more than just saving money — they’re creating cleaner, healthier air for children and all community residents,” he said.
The rebates going to school districts are between $20,000 and $250,000, and the only district receiving the top amount is the Jordan School District in West Jordan, Utah.
The funding comes from the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, which allows applicants with buses that have engines older than the 2006 model year to receive money to update or replace their buses with cleaner models. It’s the third such round of funding since 2008, when the program began.
In this year’s round of funding, applicants were also allowed to retrofit vehicles with engines made between the 1994 and 2006 model years with newer technology that the EPA would fully fund.
The retrofitting and replacing is necessary because the EPA has passed emissions standards for newer diesel engines that are much tougher than they used to be. Many school buses being used pre-date the standards.
According to EPA estimates, 17,000 of the country’s schools are located near heavily-traveled roads and more than 6 million children are exposed to traffic-related pollution.
