Air Board Chairman Issues Statement on $1.7 Million in Stimulus Funds for Air Quality Improvements

SACRAMENTO, CA – Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols issued a statement on today’s announcement by the Obama Administration that it is providing each of the 50 states with $1.7 million to retrofit diesel school buses as part of the overall federal stimulus program.

"The state and its school children thank the Obama Administration for sending this funding our way to clean up older, dirty diesel school buses," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "We are fast tracking this process so that within just a few short weeks this money will allow mechanics to install particulate filters on buses at dozens of school districts throughout the state, providing jobs and protecting children's lungs at the same time."

The $1.7 million in stimulus funds will help retrofit approximately 100 California school buses with verified retrofit devices to reduce pollution by 0.3 tons of particulate matter per year. ARB plans to get the funding in the hands of local school districts within a month of receiving the funding. To date, ARB has helped fund the cleanup of 3,000 under its clean school bus program, with plans to retrofit an additional 3,000 in the coming years. These funds would create as many as 20 jobs and, through the life of the project, would cumulatively reduce diesel particulate matter emissions by 1.5 tons.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

$5.5 Million in Grant Monies Available from Lower-Emissions School Bus Program

The Air Resources Board announced on Dec. 15th $5.5 million first-round grant monies from the Lower-Emission School Bus Program to schools within air districts for replacement and retrofit projects. These grants will affect 123 buses in 41 school districts throughout California, cutting toxic diesel particulate matter and smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions.

"School bus emissions are a serious health concern for children," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "These incentive funds will quickly get the dirtiest buses off the road."

To date, the program has received 172 applications totaling more than $21 million in replacement projects, and 705 applications totaling $13.3 million in retrofit projects. Overall, ARB has received $35.8 million in applications to date.

ARB has also approved applications for the replacement of the remaining pre-1977 buses in these air districts totaling approximately $1.4 million.

Proposition 1B, approved by California voters in November 2006, provided almost $200 million in funding for the ARB’s Lower-Emission School Bus Program. These funds were allocated by the ARB in March 2008, allowing air districts to replace or retrofit some of the oldest, highest polluting diesel school buses.

These current revisions to the program’s guidelines allowed the local air districts to elect the ARB to implement the program in 16 local air districts.

Since the program was established in 2000, over $100 million has been provided to replace 600 of the oldest school buses in the state and retrofit an additional 3,800 buses. With the additional Proposition 1B funds, it is anticipated that a 1,000 school buses will be replaced with new, cleaner buses and 3,500 in-use school buses will be retrofitted with diesel particulate filters, thereby reducing children’s exposure to diesel exhaust emissions.

Nitrogen oxides and diesel particulate matter are toxic, associated with cancer and can also exacerbate cardiovascular and respiratory ailments. Children living in communities with higher concentrations of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter had decreased lung development and may have permanent adverse effects into adulthood.

For more information see:
http://www.blogger.com/www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/schoolbus/2008lesbpgrants.htm

Common Sense: Turn Off the Bus!

A news blurb is from the DieselNet June 2007 newsletter:

"Characterization of Fine Particle and Gaseous Emissions during School Bus Idling", a study by J.S. Kinsley of the US EPA and co-authors concludes that shutting down and restarting school bus engines, as opposed to continuous idling, can reduce emissions. Indeed, it is reassuring when scientific research, armed with sophisticated test equipment and methodology, produces the same conclusions as our logic and common sense.

See the Source:
Characterization of Fine Particle and Gaseous Emissions during School Bus Idling

Find out:
How to reduce fine particle pollution using emissions control technology from CleanAIR Systems.

emissions control
particle pollution

Diesel School Bus Becomes First to Receive Pollution Control Retrofit in Puerto Rico

Improving Air Quality for School Children

Santa Fe, NM – May 30, 2007 – Exhaust from diesel school buses can be dangerous to the health of children. Puerto Rico has decided it’s time to do something about it.

In May, the country unveiled its first school bus retrofitted with emissions control technology to reduce toxic diesel emissions and improve air quality for Puerto Rican school children.

According to an article published in the journal Population Research and Policy Review, “Puerto Rican children are more likely to have asthma than children in any other racial/ethnic group in the United States.” As noted in a study conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health, and the Coalition for Clean Air, riding a diesel school bus may increase the risk of cancer and aggravate respiratory problems in children. Recently E/The Environmental Magazine reported diesel emissions are classified by the EPA as a “likely carcinogen”, with dangers of breathing diesel exhaust ranging from respiratory illnesses like asthma and bronchitis to lung cancer and heart disease. In Puerto Rico, this health threat is especially true for children already impacted by asthma.

The retrofitted diesel school bus was presented during a ceremony in San Juan at the Polytechnic University on May 11th. Alan J. Steinberg, Regional Administrator of the EPA, discussed the benefits of providing air pollution control equipment for aging vehicles. “Pollution from school buses has health implications for everyone, especially asthmatic children. By developing local capacity and promoting the Clean School Bus program in Puerto Rico, where more kids suffer from asthma than anywhere else in the U.S., we are progressively reducing diesel pollution to make that familiar black puff of smoke a relic of the past.”

Air pollution control products and services to retrofit the bus were provided by emissions control manufacturer, CleanAIR Systems, Inc., working in conjunction with emissions reduction consultant, Emisstar. The retrofitted bus is the start of a national initiative aimed at cleaning up school buses throughout the country as a joint effort between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Puerto Rico Clean School Bus USA Workgroup.

Launched in 2003 by the EPA, Clean School Bus USA is a voluntary partnership with the goal of reducing children’s exposure to diesel exhaust through the reduction of unnecessary bus idling, providing funding to retrofit buses with emissions control technology, and replacing older buses with less-polluting models. The majority of Puerto Rican school buses were built prior to 2004. They generate a significant amount of pollutants such as fine particulate matter and can release up to six times more pollution than buses built after 2004. CleanAIR Systems provided the program with an ASSURE DOC (diesel oxidation converter) which will cut school bus emissions of particulate matter by at least 20%, hydrocarbons by 50% and carbon monoxide by at least 60%. The CleanAIR ASSURE DOC can be used with either diesel or biodiesel fuels.

“We’re glad we were able to make a difference in Puerto Rico when it came to cleaning up their school buses,” said Ralph Wintersberger, CleanAIR Sales Engineer. “Emisstar brought this to our attention and jointly our two companies worked with the EPA to get this program off the ground.”

“Emisstar is pleased to lend our expertise to this exciting and important first step in improving the health and well-being of school children in Puerto Rico,” added Glenn Goldstein, Emisstar Principal.

Puerto Rico has also joined the Northeast Diesel Collaborative, allowing it to compete for future EPA grant money in order to purchase air pollution control equipment to retrofit the rest of their bus fleet.

About CleanAIR Systems:
CleanAIR Systems is a technology-based corporation manufacturing emissions control systems with worldwide distribution. Their products are designed to control air pollution such as diesel particulate matter and NOx, for on- and off-road vehicles, as well as stationary machinery and power generation. Visit CleanAIR Systems online at http://www.cleanairsys.com/.