Iowa school districts have two opportunities to reduce diesel emissions from their school bus fleets thanks to a grant by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with applications due Dec. 6.
The Bus Emissions Education Program, known as BEEP, is assisting with grant publicity and other tasks in administering the grant, which is available through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
One opportunity is to receive a maximum reimbursement of $38,000 to replace a school bus with a pre-1994 diesel engine in use with a new 2011 school bus that has an EPA-certified 2010, or newer, diesel engine. The second opportunity is full reimbursement of the purchase and installation of up to 20 closed crankcase ventilation systems and diesel oxidation catalysts on school buses with pre-2004 engines.
In the first opportunity, school districts would be required to provide at least $43,000 for the new bus and to install a combination of up to 20 closed crankcase ventilation systems and diesel oxidation catalysts on fleet buses with pre-2004 engines, which will be fully reimbursed.
“Reducing the amount of diesel emissions in areas of concentrated populations, retrofitting diesel engines with equipment that reduces the amount of diesel fine particles emitted near children and limiting the time diesel school bus engines idle are the top priorities for this grant,” said Mindy Kralicek, spokesperson for BEEP and the DNR. “This is an opportunity to get many Iowa school bus engines manufactured prior to 2004 retrofitted to help keep the quality of our air cleaner and reduce incidents of asthma attacks.”
Diesel oxidation catalysts replace mufflers and contain a honeycomb-like structure coated with an active catalyst layer that reduces harmful emissions by about 30 percent as they flow through the equipment. Closed crankcase ventilation systems remove 100 percent of the crankcase emissions that are generated while the engine is operating, removing the possibility of emissions building inside the bus cabin where students sit.
Grant awards are expected to be announced Jan. 24, 2012, pending approval by the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission. School districts that received 2010 Diesel Emissions Reduction Grants are not eligible for 2011 grants.
