Five Georgia school systems, including Stephens County's, were recently awarded $335,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency for use in replacing 30 older diesel school buses. No other northeast Georgia school systems are on the list.
Each of the school districts will receive rebates through EPA's Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funding. EPA officials say the new buses will reduce pollutants that are linked to health problems such as asthma and lung damage.
Georgia 2018 DERA school bus rebate recipients are:
Fulton County Schools 6 buses $120,000
Pierce County Board of Education 2 buses $40,000
Putnam County Charter School System 4 buses $75,000
Stephens County Board of Education 2 buses $40,000
Worth County Board of Education 3 bus $60,000
Over the last seven years, EPA has awarded approximately $39 million in rebates to replace almost 2,000 school buses. Bus replacements funded through the rebate program reduce emissions and exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen oxides for children at schools, bus stops, and on the buses themselves.
School buses travel over four billion miles each year, providing the safest transportation to and from school for more than 25 million American children every day. However, exhaust from diesel buses can harm health, especially in children, who have a faster breathing rate than adults and whose lungs are not yet fully developed.
EPA has implemented standards to make newer diesel engines more than 90 percent cleaner, but many older diesel school buses are still operating. These older diesel engines emit large amounts of pollutants, which are linked to instances of aggravated asthma, lung damage and other serious health problems.
