New Program Aims to Improve Children's Health
by Significantly Reducing School Bus Emissions
Boulder County - In celebration of National Children's Health Month
(October), the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) and 16 Front Range
school districts launched a new program to significantly reduce harmful
diesel emissions from school buses throughout the region.
Both Boulder
Valley and St. Vrain Valley School Districts are participating in the program,
receiving more than $319,000 in grant funds. The Clean
Yellow Fleets for Blue Skies (CYFBS) school bus emission reduction project
aims to retrofit up to 1,250 school buses with pollution reduction
technology and fund the purchase of lower-polluting diesel fuel in hopes
of improving children's health throughout the 10-county Front Range
region. Nearly 200 buses will be retrofitted in Boulder County.
The project is being funded through two federal grant
programs - the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean
School Bus U.S.A. Program and the Federal Highway Administration's
Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality Program. The funds are being used to
install pollution control devices, such as diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs)
and anti-idling block heaters, and to use a lower-polluting diesel fuel
throughout their fleet of school buses to achieve significant emissions
reductions.
Additionally, St. Vrain Valley School District in
Longmont recently received a $150,000 Supplemental Environmental Project
(SEP) grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
(CDPHE). The school district plans to purchase additional
pollution-reduction equipment and biodiesel fuel in hopes of retrofitting
its entire school bus
 fleet. The SEP grant is a result of an agreement
signed late last year between the CDPHE and Cemex, Inc., over air pollution
violations at the company's Lyons facility.
Rick Ring, transportation director for St. Vrain
Valley School District, said the program is bringing needed financial
assistance to our schools. "Through this funding, we're improving the
environment, getting needed funding support to purchase clean burning
biodiesel fuels."
The oxidation catalysts that will be used on the school
buses are similar to those found on modern gasoline-powered vehicles and,
according to EPA are estimated to reduce hydrocarbon (HC) emissions by
49 to 66 percent, carbon monoxide (CO) emissions by 38 to 41 percent, and
particulate matter (PM) emissions by 20 to 26 percent, depending on the
particular make, model, and year of each school bus. The engine block
heaters are designed to warm up the engine without running the vehicle,
therefore eliminating the need to idle.
It is estimated that this device reduces CO, PM, and nitrogen oxide emissions
by up to 80 percent during its typical two-hour
period of use. The school buses will also be running on a cleaner-burning
diesel fuel called biodiesel (B20). Biodiesel is a blend of 80 percent
petroleum diesel and 20 percent vegetable oil (typically produced from soy
or rapeseed crop). It is estimated to reduce HC emissions by up to 20
percent and CO and PM emissions by up to 12 percent, according to EPA.
Bob Young, transportation director for Boulder Valley School
District
says this is an investment that will keep on giving. "The engine preheaters reduce our electricity demand because we no longer will have to
use the old block heaters and will save fuel resources by reducing
idling."
Pam Milmoe, Air/Waste Coordinator for Boulder County Public Health, is
supportive of the initiative for the air quality benefits. "We're pleased
that Boulder County schools are taking advantage of this important
opportunity to improve air quality and reduce the exposure of children and
employees to these emissions."
The RAQC has been working with the other participating school districts
for the past year to secure total program funding and to develop a
strategy for the installation of equipment. Phase I of the installation
started in mid-October and will continue through the end of the year.
Phase II is scheduled to begin in January 2005 and will continue through
next summer. The launch of the CYFBS program coincides with
CDPHE's annual wintertime High Pollution Advisory Program. This
five-month program begins Nov. 1 by issuing the season's first daily air
pollution advisory. The advisory is intended to inform citizens of the potential for
elevated pollution levels and encourage behavior change, such as using
alternate modes of transportation.
The RAQC has been an active partner in the CDPHE's
efforts, helping to inform residents and municipalities in the
seven-county Denver-metropolitan area about the current advisory.
For more information on RAQC's Clean Yellow Fleets for
Blue Skies or Clean Air Fleets programs, visit the official Web site at
http://www.cleanairfleets.org
or call (303) 629-5450.
For more information on CDPHE's High Pollution
Advisory Program, visit their Web site
http://apcd.state.co.us/psi/advisory.html or call one of the two
telephone hotline numbers maintained by the CDPHE at (303) 758-4848 or
(303) 782-0211.
For more information on the EPA's Clean School Bus USA
Program, visit their Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/schoolbus/index.htm.
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