| April 18, 2007
Compressed Natural Gas-Burning School Buses Benefit Children’s Health,
Environment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the South Coast Air
Quality Management District (AQMD) and the Mobile Source Air Pollution
Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) have awarded the Menifee Union School
District approximately $2.6 million to convert its school bus fleet from
diesel to cleaner-burning compressed natural gas.
At a ceremony held today at Evans Ranch Elementary School, the Menifee
Union School District acknowledged grants of $400,000 from the EPA, $975,000
from the AQMD, and $1.3 million from the MSRC.
“By converting their school buses to compressed natural gas, thousands of
bus-riding Menifee Union School District students will not be exposed to the
harmful effects of black smoke coming from diesel engines,” said Wayne
Nastri, the EPA’s Administrator for the Pacific Southwest region.
“It’s imperative to children’s health that we replace all dirty diesel
school buses in the region," said Gary Ovitt, AQMD Governing Board member
and San Bernardino County Supervisor. “Today’s award continues AQMD’s
commitment to get the region’s school bus fleets cleaned up as rapidly as
possible.”
“The Menifee Union School District is grateful for the assistance it has
received from the EPA, AQMD and MSRC,” said Dan Wood, Assistant
Superintendent of Business Services for Menifee Union School District. “Our
children breathe healthier air and our bus drivers are grateful to operate
quieter vehicles; compressed natural gas makes for a better situation for
all concerned.”
“The MSRC’s
School Bus Buydown Program provides incentives to qualified school bus
vendors to buy-down the cost of a bus, which is then available to school
districts like Menifee USD to purchase at a lower cost,” said Ron Roberts,
Vice-Chair of the MSRC and City of Temecula Councilmember.
Until 2003, Menifee Union School District’s bus fleet consisted largely
of diesel buses with a smattering of gasoline buses. In 2003, thanks to the
AQMD, older, polluting buses started to be replaced with clean-burning
compressed natural gas buses. With AQMD funding, the school district
replaced six diesel buses and 22 diesel buses will be replaced with funding
from the MSRC.
Menifee Union School District was also awarded a grant of $400,000 from
the EPA that will be used to convert the school district’s remaining five
diesel school buses to compressed natural gas buses.
Reducing emissions from diesel engines is one of the most important air
quality challenges facing the country, since diesel engines emit large
amounts of smog- and particulate-forming nitrogen oxides and particulate
matter, which contribute to asthma and other adverse health effects. CNG
school buses on average emit four times less smog-forming nitrogen oxides
and 10 times less particulate matter than the diesel buses they replace.
The EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign seeks to reduce diesel
contamination by changing fuels or installing filtration units on
diesel-powered vehicles. For more information on the EPA’s National Clean
Diesel Campaign, please visit
http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/index.htm
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Since 2000,
AQMD has approved more than $83 million to help school districts replace or
retrofit older diesel school buses in the Southland.
The Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) was
created in 1990 by state law that authorized a $4 motor vehicle registration
fee for programs to reduce air pollution from mobile sources. Thirty
percent of the $4 fee or approximately $14 million annually is used for
programs administered by the MSRC.
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