EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson visited with Ohio state officials last week and announced $5 million was coming their way for clean diesel projects, including more than $1 million for school buses.
Of approximately $1.73 million the state received fo fund clean diesel projects in stimulus funds, Hamilton County won $1.1 million that will help purchase 60 new school buses for seven school districts serving the greater Cincinnati area. Hamilton received the money directly through EPA Region 5. Another $750,000 was doled out to other state school districts through grants awarded to the Ohio EPA’s Clean Diesel School Bus Retrofit Grants Program.
Carolyn Watkins, chief of the office of environmental educational, said another $300,000 was received through the federal Diesel Emissions Reduction Program, raising the annual state fund to $900,000 for the current fiscal year. Ohio EPA gives school districts two chances each calendar year, March 1 and Sept. 1, to submit grant applications.
“It’s a patchwork quilt, but we’re trying to fund as many programs as possible while funds are available,” said Watkins.
So far, the Ohio Clean Diesel School Bus fund has awarded $1.6 million to 33 school districts for retrofitting 652 school buses. Four information sessions around the state were scheduled for this month to inform counties and vendors on requirements for the upcoming grant period. Ohio EPA is also seeking additional funding from legislators to cover 800 school buses operated year round by developmental disability programs for children and adults in all 88 counties.
