The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide local communities around the country with more than $7 million in grants to reduce kids' exposure to harmful exhaust from their school buses, including two grants to Pennsylvania schools.

The grants will help fund the cleanup of more than 500 tons of diesel emissions from 4,000 school buses nationwide.

The grants in Pennsylvania include: the Chester County Intermediate Unit, which will install diesel particulate filters on 33 Ford Diesel mini-buses and the Great Valley School District, which will also install particulate filters on 33 buses.

EPA awarded 37 grants totaling $7.5 million as part of the Clean School Bus USA program, which reduces children's exposure to diesel exhaust. The initiative encourages policies and practices to eliminate unnecessary school bus idling, the installation of effective emission control systems on newer buses and the replacement of the oldest buses

with cleaner diesel or compressed natural gas powered buses. The grant recipients are contributing an additional $13 million in matching funds and in-kind services.

For more information, visit EPA’s Clean School Bus webpage.

2/24/2006