Cleaner School Buses Mean Healthier Kids
(Tucson, Ariz.-Feb. 20, 2006) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide local communities around the country with more than $7 million in grants to reduce kids' exposure to harmful exhaust from their school buses. The grants will help fund the cleanup of more than 500 tons of diesel emissions from 4000 school buses nationwide. "Today's clean school bus grants mean that the only thing pouring out of school buses will be students - not diesel emissions," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "President Bush and EPA are committed to making that black puff of diesel smoke from school buses something you only read about in history books." EPA awarded 37 grants totaling $7.5 million as part of the Clean School Bus USA program, which reduces children's exposure to diesel exhaust. The initiative encourages policies and practices to eliminate unnecessary school bus idling, the installation of effective emission control systems on newer buses and the replacement of the oldest buses with cleaner diesel or compressed natural gas powered buses. The grant recipients are contributing an additional $13 million in matching funds and in-kind services. Johnson made the announcement in Arizona accompanied by local officials of the Tucson Unified School District. Tucson is matching its $500,000 EPA grant with $6.5 million it raised towards the purchase of more than 60 new compressed natural gas buses. The effort will improve the air quality for 67,000 students and school employees. The school district operates 308 buses that ferry 16,000 children to and from school, traveling 4.7 million miles annually. For more information about the list of grantees visit: _http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/funding.htm_ [ http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/funding.htm ] For more information about Clean School Bus USA visit: _http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus_ [ http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus ] Clean School Bus USA 2005 Projects (In alphabetical order by state) Arizona Tucson Unified School District California Napa Valley Unified School District Sweetwater Union High School District Visalia Unified School District Windsor Unified School District Colorado Cherry Creek Schools Huerfano School District Connecticut Regional School District No. 18 Town of Fairfield School District Florida School Board of Pinellas County Georgia Bibb County Board of Education Idaho Basin School District Kentucky Campbell County School District Louisiana St. Charles Parish Public Schools Maine Maine School Administrative District No. 57 Michigan Okemos Public Schools Traverse City Area Public Schools Missouri Kansas City School District No. 33 Nebraska Omaha Public Schools New York Greece Central School District Sachem School District Ulster Board of Cooperative Education Services Ohio Bexley City School District Cleveland Municipal School District Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation Oklahoma Crutcho Public Schools Oregon Eugene School District Pennsylvania Chester County Intermediate Unit Great Valley School District South Carolina South Carolina Department of Education Texas Pasadena Independent School District Pearland Independent School District Utah Jordan School District Vermont Windham Northeast Supervisory Union Virginia Richmond School District Washington Peninsula School District Wisconsin Madison Metropolitan School District