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EPA to Award $1.36 million for Clean School Bus Projects in 10 Central U.S. States

Release Date: 07/06/2007
Contact Information: Kim Olson, (913) 551-7458, [email protected]

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Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., July 6, 2007) – The Environmental Protection Agency and its Blue Skyways Collaborative plans to award $1.36 million this year in grants for school bus diesel-emission reduction projects in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Project proposals will be accepted through Sept. 21, 2007.

Proposals may include, but are not limited to, diesel exhaust retrofits, vehicle replacement, engine replacement, idle reduction technologies or strategies, and use of cleaner burning fuels such as biodiesel.

Grant funds come from EPA's Clean School Bus USA program. Program goals are to reduce school bus idling, retrofit existing buses with emission-control devices, use cleaner fuels, and replace the oldest buses with new, cleaner buses.

Diesel exhaust contains nitrogen oxides and fine particles (soot). Nitrogen oxides are precursors of ground-level ozone (smog), which is a lung irritant, and fine particles can aggravate respiratory and heart diseases.

The Blue Skyways Collaborative is a group of businesses, communities, and government agencies voluntarily working together to significantly reduce air pollution emissions in North America’s heartland. Collaborative partners make this goal possible through implementation of projects that use innovations in diesel equipment, alternative fuels, renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency.

Last year, Blue Skyways clean school bus projects helped lessen emissions from 2,875 buses, reducing pollutants and greenhouse gases by 240 tons per year and saving almost 85,000 gallons of fuel.

Interested applicants can learn more about Blue Skyways and how to apply for clean school bus grants at www.grants.gov and www.blueskyways.org. The title of the announcement is "U.S. EPA, Blue Skyways Collaborative Clean School Bus Request for Proposal FY ’07."