A member from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is stopping by Cincinnati Wednesday to award money that will be used to improve school bus transportation for local school districts.
Lisa Jackson will stop by Monfort Heights Elementary to award the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners $1 million to help purchase 60 clean diesel technology school buses for seven Hamilton County school districts.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Grant was submitted on behalf of the Board by the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services (HCDOES). The total project amount for purchasing the 60 new school buses is $4,320,000 ($1,080,000 from the ARRA Grant and $3,240,000 from the school districts). By purchasing 60 clean diesel technology school buses, 15,000 pounds of air pollutant emissions will be reduced annually.
The Hamilton County School Districts who will be receiving grant funds to purchase clean diesel technology school buses are:
Forest Hills School District, six buses
Loveland City School District, four buses
Mt. Healthy City School District, 20 buses
Northwest Local School District, six buses
Oak Hills Local School District, four buses
Princeton City School District, 15 buses
Three Rivers Local School District, five buses
HCDOES began the Southwest Ohio Clean Diesel Campaign in 2004 to work with school districts to secure funding to retrofit district-owned school buses that are 1993 and older. To date, HCDOES’ Clean Diesel Campaign has received $500,000 in grant funding and retrofitted 460 district-owned school buses with clean diesel technology. This has resulted in an estimated 28,000 pounds of air pollutants removed annually, meaning tens of thousands of school children riding the retrofitted buses in Southwest Ohio enjoy a cleaner, healthier commute to and from school.
