The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of approximately $7 million in rebates to public school bus fleet owners to help them replace or retrofit older school buses. Upgrading buses with older engines reduces diesel emissions and improves air quality.
"Modernizing school bus fleets across the country with retrofits, replacements, and idle reduction practices helps reduce children’s exposure to air toxics,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “With the amount of time kids spend on buses, we need to protect them from the harm older diesel engines can cause.”
EPA standards for new diesel engines make them more than 90 percent cleaner than older ones, but many older diesel engines still in operation predate these standards. Older diesel engines emit large quantities of pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which have been linked to serious health problems such as aggravated asthma and lung damage.
EPA will accept applications from Sept. 29 to Nov. 1, 2016.
This is the fourth rebate program to fund cleaner school buses offered under the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) reauthorization. Nearly 25,000 buses across the country have already been made cleaner as a result of DERA funding.
To learn more about the rebate program, applicant eligibility, selection process and informational webinar dates, visit www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-rebates.
