The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday awarded more than $7.7 million to replace or retrofit 401 older diesel school buses. Three

The Pennsylvania grants were awarded to Deitch Buses, Inc. of Carlisle, Cumberland County-- $80,000, 4 buses; George Krapf, Jr. & Sons, Inc. in Glenmoore, Chester County-- $60,000, 3 buses; and to the Philadelphia School District-- $165,000, 10 buses.

The new and retrofitted buses will reduce pollutants that are linked to health problems such as asthma and lung damage.

“Thanks to DERA [Diesel Emissions Reduction Act] funding, we are protecting our children from breathing diesel emissions as they travel to school,” said Christopher Grundler, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. “Nearly 17,000 of our country's schools are located within steps of a heavily traveled road, potentially exposing more than six million children to traffic-related pollution at a time when their developing lungs are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of air pollution.”

For more information on the 88 grant awardees in this cycle, visit EPA’s Clean Diesel Rebates webpage.

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