Washington kids breathing easier on clean school buses

 

Sep. 16, 2004 –Thousands of students throughout Washington are returning to school this month breathing easier on clean diesel school buses. To date, more than 1,800 school buses have been retrofitted with equipment that reduces diesel tailpipe emissions by as much as 90 percent, depending on the age of the bus and the type of equipment used.

They are all part of the Washington State Clean School Bus Program, funded by the 2003 Legislature. The funding bill, ESSB 6072, was promoted by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and created the largest, statewide, state-funded, voluntary school bus retrofit program in the country.

The Kent School District is one of 31 school districts in the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s four counties (King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish) enrolled in the program so far, with 563 school buses outfitted with clean-diesel technology and running on ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel so far, and another 442 are scheduled within the next few months.

Kent School District vehicle maintenance staff have been enthusiastic supporters of the program and have installed equipment on 74 of their buses. They are one of the few districts where district staff rather than contractors have installed the devices. In addition to $70,000 in state funding and a $10,000 grant for fuel from Puget Sound Clean Air, the Kent School District received $25,000 from Air Liquide for early retrofits that were done before the state program started.

The Washington State Clean School Bus Program received about $5 million statewide in its first fiscal year. The Legislature has committed to continuing this level of funding for another four years to reach approximately 5,000 of more than 9,000 school buses in the state. The program will reach all areas of the state and will leverage additional federal funding in the hope of reaching nearly all school buses and school children in the state.

“Although school buses have proven to be the safest way to transport our children to and from school, reducing their exhaust emissions will further protect our children,” said Dennis McLerran, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “Thanks to strong support from the Washington State Legislature, school buses in Washington State will be low-polluting to protect the health of children who ride them.”

Recent studies show diesel exhaust is a harmful pollutant, contributing as much as 70 percent of the cancer risk from air toxics in the Puget Sound area. Children breathe more air relative to their body weight than adults, and their lung systems are not fully developed, making them more sensitive to pollutants in diesel exhaust. Breathing diesel exhaust is responsible for increased cases of asthma, increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits, and increased cancer risk over a lifetime.

The buses are being fitted with emission control devices that clean the exhaust before it leaves the vehicle. These devices cost between $1,500 and $8,000 per bus, depending on the type of equipment used.

Particulate filters, which can only be placed on the newest buses and require the use of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, reduce emissions of fine particles, toxic hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by up to 90 percent. Oxidation catalysts, when combined with ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, reduce emissions by up to 50 percent to 70 percent, depending on the pollutant measured. Oxidation catalysts used in areas of the state where ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel is not yet available will reduce fine particle emissions by 30 percent and toxic emissions by up to 50 percent.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has mandated strong new standards for diesel fuels and vehicles, to take effect in 2006 and 2007. But because diesel engines have very long ives, school buses are kept in fleets for 12 to 15 years on average. Thus it would be at least 2015 before the state would see significant benefits from the new federal standards. Early voluntary actions like the Washington State Clean School Bus Program make cleaner air for school kids possible much sooner.

The US EPA has announced a similar program nationally called “Clean School Bus USA” and has helped the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency develop its retrofit programs with grant funding and technical assistance. EPA-funded pilot retrofit projects for school buses have already been completed in Everett, North Kitsap and Chief Leschi, a Puyallup Tribal school.

The retrofit program for school buses is a component of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s Diesel Solutions program, an award-winning, voluntary initiative to retrofit diesel vehicles in private and public fleets and increase use of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel in western Washington.

Contacts:
Alice Collingwood

Becky Hanks, Kent School District
253.373.7524