2004 Grants

With funds from Clean School Bus USA, the following grantees will be working on reducing the air pollution coming from school buses.

Illinois

City of Chicago

The City of Chicago's Department of the Environment (CDOE) will receive $315,000 to procure and install EPA verified, retrofit technology in school buses that services Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the 3rd largest public school district in the nation. The funding will support retrofitting about 80 buses with diesel oxidation catalysts and 20 buses with particulate matter filters (in combination with ultra low sulfur diesel fuel). These will be placed on various buses supplied by CPS school bus vendors. The purpose of the project is to demonstrate the effectiveness of emission reduction technologies on diesel engines. If possible, this project may use various manufacturers in order compare and contrast the effectiveness of each technology.

This school bus emission reduction program includes a partnership of CDOE along with CPS and its bus vendors, the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Indiana

Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) will receive $250,000 to procure EPA verified diesel oxidation catalysts for about 227 school buses in Evansville and near Indianapolis (Marion County) Schools. IDEM will work closely with the school districts and vendors, and a team of qualified technicians currently employed with the school districts will install the retrofit equipment.

Michigan

Ann Arbor and Manchester Public Schools

Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) will receive $95,357 to procure EPA verified diesel oxidation catalysts for 110 AAPS diesel school buses and for operating the Manchester Public Schools fleet of 18 buses on biodiesel B20 (diesel fuel blended with 20 percent biodiesel). AAPS will administer the grant for both AAPS and Manchester Public Schools, which is a nearby small, somewhat rural, school district just west of Ann Arbor. AAPS will also install crankcase filtration systems in three buses as a trial of the systems.

AAPS participates in the Ann Arbor Area Clean Cities Coalition, and has been interested in seeking information on alternative technologies and fuels. AAPS recently completed a grant (along with Manchester Public Schools) to use B20 in their school buses, which helped pave the way for school district acceptance of alternative fuels. This current Clean School Bus USA project is intended to further promote emission reduction technologies and alternative fuels because of their ease of use, ease of access and ease of acceptance.

Okemos Public Schools

Okemos Public Schools (OPS) will receive $70,000 to procure and install EPA verified diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) and crankcase filtration systems (CFS) in 40 to 50 school buses throughout seven different area school districts. OPS, located in the greater Lansing, Michigan area, will administer the grant, as a part of the formation of seven collaborative partnerships (with six area school districts in the Ingham, Eaton and Livingston County areas). Representatives from each district will be invited to attend a 2-3 hour seminar for retrofitting DOCs and CFSs, and focus on installation procedures (for future buses), maintenance of units, and information on air quality improvements due to the catalysts.