Tennessee Project Selected for EPA Clean School Bus Grant

Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has partnered with the Tennessee Diesel Working Group and Sumner County Schools to secure a $250,000 Clean School Bus Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. The grant will help retrofit part of Sumner County’s school bus fleet in order to reduce particulate emissions both in the atmosphere and bus interiors.

EPA Regional Administrator Jimmy Palmer presented the grant award to Environment and Conservation Deputy Commissioner Paul Sloan at a ceremony today in Oak Ridge. Representatives of the Tennessee Department of Education, Sumner County Schools and the Tennessee Highway Patrol were also in attendance.

“Any time we can work together to reduce health risks to children and help protect the quality of the air we breathe, it signifies positive progress,” said Governor Phil Bredesen. “We appreciate EPA recognizing this project with a Clean School Bus grant and will continue to work with our federal partners and local school districts to build upon this success.”

The grant will pay to retrofit 40-50 buses in Sumner County’s 220-bus fleet with a combination of technologies, including closed crankcase ventilation systems and diesel particulate filters. Diesel particulate filters reduce particulate matter from bus emissions by approximately 85 percent. The retrofit technology reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide between 60 and 80 percent.

“We’re pleased to have such strong partners in the Tennessee Diesel Working Group and Sumner County Schools,” said Sloan. “Sumner County is part of an ozone non-attainment area, so these emissions reductions are even more meaningful.”

Sumner County is represented in the General Assembly by Representative Mike McDonald and Senator Diane Black.

“This grant will help Sumner County significantly reduce emissions from school buses for the benefit of the children who ride them,” said McDonald. “I’m appreciative of the work the Tennessee Diesel Working Group and the school district contributed to make this happen.”

The Tennessee Diesel Working Group is a collaboration of diverse stakeholders with a mutual interest in reducing air pollution from diesel engines in Tennessee through voluntary programs and the use of innovative market-based strategies. The Working Group is facilitated by Environment and Conservation, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board. It also includes representatives from the trucking industry, the construction industry, business and manufacturing, agriculture and retrofit and engine manufacturers.