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The Bus Emissions Education Program (BEEP) is proud to announce the eighth and final new school bus purchased with a matching grant of $30,450 from BEEP’s current grant program will be delivered to Western Dubuque Community School District October 14.
The other school districts to have benefited from a BEEP matching grant include Creston, George-Little Rock, SE Webster, West Hancock, Camanche, Independence, and Cardinal.
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West Hancock School District Superintendent Richard Keith accepts $30,450 check from BEEP representative Mindy Kralicek toward the purchase of the new school bus in the background.
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Each school district has permanently disabled a bus model from the years 1981 through 1992 that had been used on a regular bus route.
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Cardinal Community School District’s new 2010 school bus will emit 95 percent fewer emissions than the old bus it replaced.
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The new diesel buses are running 95 percent cleaner than the buses they replaced. Bus models 2007 and newer meet much more stringent emission requirements.
All eight school districts have adopted reduced idling policies at their schools, making the air for children riding and entering or departing their school buses much safer to breathe.
The BEEP mission is to have the cleanest school bus fleet in the United States and to help educate Iowa’s school students on air quality and mobile source pollution and its health effects.
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Diesel fuel contains 40 toxic air contaminants, including cancer-causing substances. It also contains fine particles as small as red blood cells that attack lung tissue and enter the bloodstream causing inflammation in the lungs and increased intensity of asthma attacks.
Since its inception in 2002, BEEP has funded the installation of 541 diesel oxidation catalysts on school buses and supported the use of biodiesel through two grants provided by the EPA. This third grant offered eight recipients matching funds of $30,450 to purchase new buses and retire some of Iowa’s most polluting school buses.
BEEP partners include the School Administrators of Iowa, the Iowa Association of School Boards, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Department of Education, and the Iowa Pupil Transportation Association.
For more information about the BEEP program contact Mindy Kralicek, air quality information specialist, at (515) 281-7832 or Mindy.Kralicek@dnr.iowa.gov.
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