Iowa DNR News
Environmental Services Division
 
For immediate release           February 2, 2009
Media Contact: Mindy Kralicek, DNR air quality information specialist and BEEP communications coordinator, (515) 281-7832, [log in to unmask]
 
Matching Grants for new buses go to 8 school districts
 
Urbandale—Eight school districts have been selected to receive matching grants from Iowa’s Bus Emissions Education Program (BEEP) for the purchase of new diesel school buses. School districts will receive $30,450 each with the stipulation that they remove one old, dirty-operating diesel school bus (engine model years 1981-1992) from their fleet and permanently disable the engine.
 
Selected school districts are Camanche Community Schools in Clinton County; Independence Community School District in Buchanan County; West Hancock Community Schools in Hancock County; Southeast Webster-Grand Community School District in Webster and Boone Counties; Western Dubuque County Community School District (Farley); George-Little Rock Community School District in Lyon County; Cardinal Community School District in Wapello County; and Creston Community School District in Union County.
 
While school districts may provide their match out of the general fund, most districts will use Physical Plant and Equipment Levy or School Infrastructure Local Option tax funds for their grant match. 
 
“The school districts selected are committed to improving air quality for their students,” says Mindy Kralicek, DNR air quality information specialist. “They intend to use this purchase as context for educating students about energy efficiency, pollution reduction and environmental stewardship.”
 
Eligible school districts were required to enforce an idling reduction policy, demonstrate need, and discuss their efforts to reduce pollution at their facilities. The new buses they will purchase must at least meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2007 engine standards for environmental controls and safety standards. New buses emit 95 percent less pollution than the old bus engines the school districts are required to disable.
 
Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases, soot and over 40 known cancer-causing substances, including benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein. Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of diesel pollution because their lungs are still developing and they breathe 1.5 times the air volume for their size compared to adults.
 
Diesel engine emissions are responsible for hospital admissions, asthma attacks and other respiratory symptoms, and lost school and work days. Additionally it causes visibility reduction and is a potent greenhouse agent involved in climate change.
 
BEEP is a collaborative effort to reduce childhood exposure to harmful diesel exhaust. Its objective is to reduce emissions in school bus fleets. The partners include the School Administrators of Iowa, the Iowa Association of School Boards, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Department of Education, and the Iowa Pupil Transportation Association. BEEP funding comes from an EPA/Blue Skyways Collaborative Clean School Bus USA grant.
 
More information about BEEP is available at http//www.iowadnr.gov/air/citizen/vehicle/BEEP.html.
 
 
 
# # #
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]

Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp