Region 9 Clean School Bus Program

Clean School Bus Quick Finder
Clean School Bus Program, Region 9	Grant Recipients

National Clean School Bus

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Clean School Bus USA Grants
About Clean School Bus USA
Arizona Efforts
California Efforts
Nevada Efforts

Clean School Bus USA Grants

EPA is making over $1.3 million available in 2007 for clean diesel school bus projects in the west as part of the West Coast Collaborative and Clean School Bus USA programs.

EPA’s western offices are soliciting proposals on a competitive basis for projects that will reduce emissions from existing diesel school buses. Project solicitations may include a variety of diesel emissions reductions solutions, such as add-on pollution control technology, engine or vehicle replacement, idle reduction technologies or strategies, and/or cleaner fuel use. The deadline for submitting applications is September 24, 2007.

About Clean School Bus USA

Clean School Bus USA brings together partners from business, education, transportation, and public health organizations to work toward these goals:

Encouraging policies and practices to eliminate unnecessary public school bus idling.
Upgrading ("retrofitting") buses that will remain in the fleet with better emission control technologies and/or fueling them with cleaner fuels.
Replacing the oldest buses in the fleet with new, less polluting buses.

Statistics show that school buses are the safest way to transport children; the EPA wants to ensure that they are also the cleanest. There are an estimated 400,000 diesel school buses on the road, with roughly one third manufactured before 1990. The pre-1990 school bus fleets are the heaviest polluters and should be replaced. The remaining school buses, manufactured between 1990 and 2006, can be made much cleaner by installing devices designed to reduce pollution and switching to cleaner fuels.

Children are especially sensitive to air pollution because their respiratory systems are still developing and they breathe at a faster rate. More than 24 million children ride in school buses daily, spending, on average, an hour and a half each weekday on the bus. Recent studies suggest that children’s school bus commutes can expose them to significantly higher concentrations of pollutants than what is measured in a community’s outdoor air.

Since 2001, the EPA has awarded over $5.5 million to clean up school buses in the West. For more information on current and past Clean School Bus USA projects in the West, visit the West Coast Collaborative.

Arizona Efforts

Anti-idling - Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area: Heavy-duty Engine Idling Restrictions restrict heavy-duty diesel engine idling to no more than five minutes in Maricopa County and surrounding counties in the Greater Phoenix non-attainment area.
Retrofit - School District Fleet Conversion Program, Dept of Environmental Quality (PDF)
- Some resources come from the Clean Air Fund.
- Requires at least 50% of the fleet to be converted by December 31, 2004, 60% by 2006, and 75% by 2007.
- Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) and vehicles powered by engines meet fleet conversion requirements.

California Efforts

Anti-idling - California Air Resources Board (CARB) Airborne Toxic Control Measure
Limits school bus idling to only when necessary for safety or operational concerns.
Includes all heavy-duty vehicles while on or within 100 feet of school grounds.
Identifies an acceptable idling time period, activities and situations that should be exempt from an idling limit and the area in and around the school to be regulated.

Retrofit - The California Energy Commission has issued a final status report on its "Safe School Bus Clean Fuel Efficiency Demonstration Program (PDF)" (373K About PDF)

Retrofit - California Air Resources Board (CARB) Lower Emission School Bus Program, Air Resources Board
- Budget allocation of $50 million in 2001, $16 million in 2002 and $5 million in 2003.
- Funds public school districts (and eligible joint power authorities) for replacement of pre-1987 diesel and limited gasoline-fueled school buses in use. Public schools receiving funding would have to replace any pre-1977 buses before replacing pre-1987 buses. New buses must meet CARB guidelines. Diesel buses funded under this program must operate on low-sulfur diesel fuel.
- May fund alternative fuel infrastructure based upon a demonstrated need.
- School districts throughout the state are implementing the program. Some notable examples include: San Diego Unified School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, Antelope Valley Schools Trans, Elk Grove Unified School District, Kern Union High School District, and Poway Unified School District.
Retrofit - South Coast Air Quality Management District's School Bus Fleet Rule (PDF). This rule, covering the South Coast Air Quality Management District, requires public and private school bus fleet operators to retrofit used or existing school buses with a CARB-approved control device(s).
Replacement - South Coast Air Quality Management District's School Bus Fleet Rule. This rule, covering the South Coast Air Quality Management District, requires public and private school bus fleet operators to acquire alternative-fueled school buses when adding or replacing school buses in their fleet.
Adopt-a-School Bus South - Coast Air Quality Management District's Adopt-a-School Bus Program: In January 2000, the Board proposed an "Adopt-a-School-Bus" program to help pay the cost of reducing cancer-causing diesel emissions from Southland school buses. Under the program, individuals or corporate sponsors can help pay the cost of retrofitting diesel buses to cleaner burning technologies, or even purchasing new natural gas-powered buses. The Adopt-a-School Bus Foundation was formed to administer the independent, nonprofit program, funded through tax deductible contributions.

Nevada Efforts

Biodiesel - Las Vegas: The Clark County School District recently switched to using biodiesel in its bus fleet of over one thousand vehicles. The school district serves the City of Las Vegas, Nevada and surrounding areas, covering a geographic area of almost 8,000 square miles and serving a projected 246,000 students in 266 schools.

Contact Information

For more regional information, contact:

Michael Mann (mann.michael@epa.gov)
(415) 972-3505

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