News Releases from Region 04

EPA Awards Nearly $2 Million in Funding to Replace and Upgrade School Buses in Fulton County, Ga.

Clean Diesel Grant to Reduce 22.5 Tons of Nitrogen Oxides, Increase Clean School Bus Fleet

Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young (harris-young.dawn@epa.gov) (404) 562-8421 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main)

ATLANTA (Feb. 6, 2019) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding a Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program grant totaling $1,962,097 to the Fulton County School System in Georgia to curb harmful pollution from school buses.

“The Fulton County School system has shown their commitment to reducing the impacts of diesel emissions with the early retirement of older dirtier school buses,” said EPA Acting Region 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker. “Combined with the clean school bus idle reduction policy, the school system has demonstrated a strong commitment to children’s health and the environment.”

This grant will allow Fulton County to fund the early retirement of 85 diesel-powered school buses and replace them with new propane-powered buses. The buses to be replaced are all model year 2001 to 2005 diesel school buses. This investment will reduce about 22.5 tons of nitrogen oxides and will increase the number of propane buses in the school fleet to 272.

The replacement and retrofit of diesel vehicles will reduce harmful diesel emissions, providing important public health and air quality benefits. Exposure to diesel exhaust can lead to serious health conditions like asthma and respiratory illnesses and can worsen existing heart and lung disease, especially in children and the elderly.

For more information about EPA's National Clean Diesel campaign and DERA program, visit www.epa.gov/cleandiesel.