MONTGOMERY-The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has partnered with four school systems to reduce
diesel emissions through school bus replacement projects. The projects are utilizing funding under the federal
Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA).
While new school buses must meet tougher emission standards from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, many older school buses continue to emit harmful diesel exhaust. Diesel exhaust from older buses has
a negative impact on human health, especially for children, who have a faster breathing rate than adults and
whose lungs are not yet fully developed.
ADEM, using its 2020 DERA funding, has awarded $496,795 to the Clay County Board of Education, the
Lauderdale County Board of Education, the Randolph County Board of Education, and the Winston County
Board of Education to assist in the purchase of new, cleaner school buses to replace some of their older buses.
In the last 13 years, more than $2.49 million has been made available for grant projects and programs to
reduce air pollution in Alabama. The projects have involved school buses, trains, as well as on-road and offroad vehicles. Many of the projects included the installation of retrofit devices such as diesel oxidation catalysts
on vehicles and anti-idling devices installed on trains in order to reduce particulate emissions.
Media Release/Alabama Department of Environmental Management
