AQMD AWARDS  6.8 MILLION FOR CLEAN-FUELED SCHOOL BUSES

March 1, 2002

Other Board Action

The Southland’s clean air agency awarded $6.8 million today to help school districts purchase 59 clean-fueled and lower-emission diesel school buses.

"Diesel exhaust from school buses is harmful to children’s health," said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The agency’s Governing Board unanimously approved the funding today.

"Hundreds of older, highly polluting diesel buses remain on the road simply because school districts can’t afford to replace them," Wallerstein said. This program will remove dozens of dirty diesel buses and the cancer-causing pollution they create."

Under a new state law authored by state Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh (D-East Los Angeles), at least half of the funds will go to low-income areas with relatively high levels of air pollution. AQMD’s Governing Board adopted the following criteria last year to determine areas of high pollution and low income:

• School districts that are among areas with the 15 percent highest concentration of particulate matter in the region, and where at least 10 percent of the population is below the federal poverty level; or
• Areas with the highest 15 percent of toxic air pollution exposure.

The remaining funding is dispersed according to a formula adopted by AQMD’s Governing Board, which also places a high priority on areas with low income, high levels of air pollution or both.

Funds will go towards the purchase of 39 natural gas-powered buses and construction of several natural gas fueling stations, as well as 20 lower-emission diesel buses equipped with traps to reduce particulate emissions. (See following list) This year’s funding comes from the state’s Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement Fund, AQMD’s Clean Fuels Fund and an AQMD air pollution penalty settlement.

In other action, AQMD’s Governing Board:

• Allocated $2.6 million from the State Emissions Mitigation Fund to help purchase electric forklifts and install newer, cleaner diesel engines in tugboats, barges, other boats and construction equipment;
• Awarded $50,000 to the University of California, Riverside to assist in a study characterizing particulate pollution in the Mira Loma area;
• Received the annual RECLAIM (Regional CLean Air Incentives Market) audit for the 2000 compliance year;
• Adopted the 2002 Technology Advancement Plan, outlining AQMD’s proposals for research and development of clean air technologies, and approved the Technology Advancement Office’s 2001 annual report;
• Received a status report on the agency’s Mobile Source Pilot Credit Generation Rules, noting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month approved AQMD’s pilot credit generation rules 1612.1, 1631, 1632, 1633 and 2507; and
• Awarded a proclamation honoring the late Dr. Robert M. Zweig, a former alternate member of AQMD’s Hearing Board and founder of the environmental groups Clean Air Now and the Clean Air Institute.

AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

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School District	No. of buses	School match	AQMD contribution	AQMD contrib. for infrastructure
Montebello	3	$75,000	$349,524	Not Requested
LAUSD	12	$300,000	$1,403,844	$140,384
West Covina	6	$90,000	$761,922	$76,192
Arcadia	3	$45,000	$380,961	$38,096
Garden Grove	7	$175,000	$814,359	$81,436
Colton Joint	2	$50,000	$232,674	$23,267
Chino Valley	2	$50,000	$232,674	$23,267
Banning	4	$100,000	$463,444	$46,344

 

School District	No. of buses	School match	AQMD contribution
LAUSD	6	$150,000	$519,180
Bassett	1	$25,000	$90,146
Downey	2	$50,000	$173,060
Rowland	2	$50,000	$165,538
Bonita	1	$15,000	$92,769
Anaheim Union	4	$100,000	$329,100
Cucamonga	1	$25,000	$89,619
Redlands	1	$25,000	$86,020
Coachella Valley	2	$50,000	$172,040