EPA Wins Suit, 2007 Standards Stand

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal appeals court rejected attempts May 3 by some engine makers and fuel refiners to squelch the Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 emissions requirements for diesel trucks and buses, adding yet another chapter to the long-running debate over diesel fuel and school buses.

Cummins, Inc., led the suit alleging the EPA acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in mandating its latest emission standards. The National Petroleum Refiners' Association (NPRA) objected to the EPA's deadlines, saying that substantial reductions in the sulfur content of diesel fuel should occur in a "reasonable timeframe." The court discarded the claims, however, dealing an across-the-board rejection to petitioners' complaints.

The standards, which were issued in the final weeks of the Clinton administration and supported by the Bush administration, require diesel engines to cut particulates and nitrogen oxides by more than 90 percent. It also mandates a 97% reduction in the sulfur of diesel fuel. The new fuel will go into use in mid-2006, and manufacturers are expected to begin rolling out new models next year to burn the new diesel in 2004.

Engine manufacturers argued the technology is not available to meet the more stringent tailpipe emission requirements by 2007, when they will begin to be phased in. The NPRA said the fuel requirements would lead to shortages.

The ruling was praised by unlikely bedfellows - environmentalists, auto manufacturers and diesel engine maker International Truck and Engine Corp. Environmentalists view the tougher bus tailpipe rules as key to tackling a major source of dirty air. Auto manufacturers want refiners to produce more low-sulfur fuel, which is necessary for meeting auto emission standards in diesel cars they hope to sell. International, which signed on to the government's case as an Intervenor, already is EPA-certified for meeting the 2007 standards in school buses with its Green Diesel Technology.

Studies determining the health impact of school bus diesel emissions have reached contradictory conclusions. While diesel manufacturers have fended off the attacks, they've been focused on meeting tough emission standards that go into effect in October. Originally slated for 2004, these requirements were moved to 2002 after a comprise between the EPA and engine makers stemming from a 1998 lawsuit over the issue of NOx emissions from heavy-duty diesel engines. Once the 2002 standards are met, manufacturers now, thanks to the court's ruling, will have to focus on the 2007 standards.

The case, filed in the District of Columbia Circuit, can be read at http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/Fed-Ct/Circuit/dc/opinions/01-1052a.html.

Source: School Transportation News, May 2002.

Return to top

EPA Proposes New 2007 Diesel
Engine and Fuel Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With less than a month left in the Clinton Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a plan to combine cleaner diesel fuel and more stringent diesel engine emission requirements for trucks and buses. The plan will take effect in 2007.

"Vehicles will be 95 percent cleaner than today's trucks and buses," said EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner. "By addressing diesel fuel and engines together as a single system, this action will produce the clean-air equivalent of eliminating air pollution from 13 million of today's trucks (and buses.)"

The unprecedented action is the Administration's first formal acknowledgement of so-called green diesel. Green diesel contains significantly lower amounts of sulphur, a key ingredient of diesel emissions.

Starting in 2006, the rule requires the sulfur content of diesel fuel be lowered to 15 ppm from 500 ppm - a reduction of 97 percent. EPA predicts that once the program is fully implemented it will reduce particulate matter by 90 percent and eliminate more than 2.6 million tons of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions.

"These are unprecedented requirements that anticipate unprecedented technological innovation for the diesel industry," said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, an industry trade group. "Today's heavy-duty diesel engines emit only one-eighth the levels of nitrogen oxides and particulates compared to an engine built in 1988. These new requirements come on top of further reductions in nitrogen oxide emissions that will take place in the 2002-2004 time frame," he said.

Because the diesel industry has an annual output of $85 billion a year to the U.S. economy, these new standards promise a significant impact.

The rule requires advances in catalyst and exhaust filter systems, as well as improved cracking methods by oil refiners.

Click here to access the EPA proposal.

Source: School Transportation News, December 2000.

Return to top

Court Denies EPA Appeal
to Tighten Emission Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's new limits on ozone and particulate matter, meaning the impact of the agency's emission standards on diesel engine builders is likely to be minimal.

On May 14, a three-judge panel called parts of the EPA's 1997 smog regulations "arbitrary and capricious" and sent them back for further review. The agency's new ozone measurement would have changed the existing ozone standard to 0.085 parts per million from the present 0.12 ppm. It also proposed a standard for measuring particulate matter smaller than 10 microns in diameter which the court also threw out. The EPA can appeal the decision but regardless of what action takes place as a result, it will likely not affect diesel engine builders until 2003.

New implementation plans are scheduled to be enacted in 2003 at which time there may be an effect on diesel engine builders.

Source: School Transportation News, June 1999.

Return to top

CARB Study: Low Sulfur Diesel Produced
Lower Emissions than CNG

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A transit bus equipped with a particulate filter running on low sulfur diesel fuel produced lower emissions than a compressed natural gas bus, according to a study released April 18 by the California Air Resources Board.

The particulate-filtered bus released lower amounts of particulate matter (PM) and toxic organic compounds, but produced an increase in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emitted as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) compared to the CNG bus, CARB said.

However, while the study, which also examined a low sulfur fuel bus without a diesel particulate filter (DPF), said both CNG and DPF buses are "significantly superior" to conventional diesel buses, "no single technology is clearly superior to the others."

"Both technologies are proven and offer a verified benefit for reduction of total PM mass emissions," the report said.

CARB studied emissions from a CNG 40-passenger transit bus; a diesel 40-passenger transit bus running on low-sulfur ECD-1 Arco diesel fuel; and the same diesel bus retrofitted with a Johnson Matthey Continuously Regenerating Technology DPF and running on ECD-1.

The DPF bus performed better in eight of 11 emission categories tested. The CNG bus only recorded lower levels of NOx, NO2 and CO2. Furthermore, the report said the mutagenicity findings suggest that "CNG PM is not inert and may pose a toxic risk." Mutagenicity is the measure of mutations in an organism and evidence of substance's potential toxicity. The report cautioned, however, that the mutagenic numbers cannot be used directly to determine cancer risk by inhalation.

The CNG NOx emissions were approximately a third lower than diesel vehicle emissions, but, the report said, the "modest" increase in NO2 emissions in DPFs was offset by the significant beneficial reductions in PM and non-methane hydrocarbon.

According to CARB, the data also suggested levels of some toxic pollutants, such as benzene, in CNG exhaust "require further study and may warrant additional control."

The CNG bus, however, was not equipped with a particulate filter or other after-treatment equipment, such as an oxidation catalyst. The agency plans to conduct additional tests with the CNG bus refitted with an oxidation catalyst and a new CNG bus equipped with an installed oxidation catalyst. Results are expected in mid-2002.

Officials from the CNG and low sulfur fuel camps both reacted positively to the study, though for obvious different reasons.

"CARB's research suggests the possibility of significant adverse health impact from widespread use of natural gas vehicles," said Dr. William B. Bunn, Vice President, health, safety and productivity of International Truck and Engine Corporation, which manufacture's a low sulfur fuel-compatible bus engine. "Assertions that natural gas exhaust is not toxic are not credible. In fact, as this new study corroborates, low-emitting diesel exhaust may include fewer pollutants than natural gas exhaust."

CNG officials took a different tack, saying the research shows that yesterday's natural gas technology compares with tomorrow's diesel technology.

"This comparison might be valid if the natural gas engine producers were not already equipping engines with pollution controls, but the fact is-they are," said Michael Eaves, chairman of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition. "The natural gas industry is committed to being the cleanest transportation fuel, and we are working continually to improve our engines so that all Californians can benefit."

Read the report here.

Source: School Transportation News, May 2002.

Return to top

California Board May Dump Diesel for Good

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Caifornia Air Resources Board will vote in March whether to repeal the current diesel-bus option and require state transit agencies to buy only natural gas and other alternate-fuel buses, venturing yet again into the sticky issue of diesel vs. natural gas.

The question is similar to one that Southern California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD ) answered last year by forcing schools to purchase alternative-fueled vehicles, typically natural gas, when adding or replacing buses. Many in the school transportation industry argued for the agency to preserve the choice of clean diesel (so-called "Green Diesel") or natural gas busses. But the agency decided, largely based on a now-debunked National Resources Defense Council report that said diesel exhaust was a cancer risk for children, to require natural gas.

The California Air Resources Board almost followed suit last year. The board considered banning diesel buses in favor of cleaner-burning natural gas – and ultimately hydrogen fuel cells – but, unlike SCAQMD, lobbying from transit operators and engine manufacturers persuaded the board to give transit agencies the choice of which bus type to purchase.

Some operators complained that converting to natural gas only to have to convert later to hydrogen was a waste of money. Natural-gas buses cost $40,000 more than a $280,000 diesel bus. Others argued that cleaner-burning diesel fuel and more efficient diesel engines could be developed that would reduce harmful emissions.

A compromised was reached wherein the board allowed diesel buses to live, but required agencies to create plans outlining how they eventually will curb diesel pollution.

The compromise has come to be known as the "Bay Area Exemption," as the San Francisco-Oakland vicinity is among the few regions where transit agencies have not elected to dump diesel and utilize cleaner-burning fuels. Five of six transit agencies in San Diego and 11 of 18 in the Los Angeles area moved to alternative-fuel buses. Progress has been much slower, and the source of much consternation for the board, in the Bay Area, however, where 13 of 15 transit agencies still use diesel buses.

Among Bay Area agencies, only Sonoma County Transit and Union City Transit embraced the non-diesel buses. The Bay Area bus fleet is 88 percent diesel, whereas Los Angeles is 50 percent.

Particularly frustrating for the board is that some agencies have failed to submit the required plans in reducing diesel emissions, which health officials claim is the worst source of air pollution. And now manufacturers say producing cleaner-burning diesel buses by the 2007 state requirement is not feasible, as research and development to satisfy stringent California rules are not cost effective while federal rules are more lax.

Source: School Transportation News, March 2002.

Return to top

California Air Resources Board
Reverses, Approves Green Diesel

By Wendy Broffman
STN Associate Editor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Gov. Gray Davis approved a $50 million allocation plan to help solve the possible hazard that school bus emissions pose to children's health. Diesel buses have been targeted as part of the problem, but the efforts of at least one engine manufacturer have turned a problem into a solution.

Plan Amends Earlier Proposal

On December 7, the California Air Resources Board recognized "green diesel" as part of the clean air solution, allowing $12.5 million of the $50-million budget for the purchase of OEM low-sulfur "green" diesel school bus engines, and another $12.5 million to retrofit old buses with low emission diesel technology. The remaining $25 million is allocated to the purchase of new natural gas buses. The final plan amends the Board's earlier proposal that excluded the new diesel technology from the spending program aimed at protecting children from cancer-causing emissions. Under the plan proposed in September, only natural gas buses that cost $25,000 more than their new diesel alternatives were to be subsidized. The decision is a victory for the health of all Californians, especially children, said Tom Trueblood, manager of public affairs for International Truck and Engine Corp.

Two Categories Created

In it's final guidelines; the Board has created two categories for OEM school buses. Natural gas buses must be certified to ARB's optional, reduced-emission NOx standards (2.5 g/bhp-hr or lower) and a PM emission level of 0.03 g/bhp-hr; and low sulfur diesel buses will be required to meet 3 grams of NOx and a 0.01 g/bhp-hr PM level. International is on target to bring to market in mid-2001 a new school bus fueled by ultra-low sulfur fuel, and equipped with a catalyzed particulate trap and a special low-NOx engine calibration certified to meet the latter, Trueblood told the Board.

Although green diesel technology does not meet ARB's optional, reduced-emission NOx standards, the Board called its inclusion "an intermediate step in the introduction of lower-emission diesel engine technology," and attributed its decision to recent advances in diesel technology, plus economic benefits.

Ruling Maintains Balance

We made our decision based on several points," said Jerry Martin, spokesman for CARB. "One is the lack of infrastructure in many parts of the state. In those same areas where there is heavy snowfall and mountainous roads, CNG doesn't have the power of diesel.

Third, is cost! What seems to escape some people is that school boards and school bus companies don't have public funding and the federal backing that public transit has. Even with this program, where 75% of the purchases will be subsidized, the school board or bus company has to come up with the remaining 25%."

Because clean diesel buses are much cheaper than their CNG alternatives, school districts can retire more older buses by replacing them with OEM's using the new diesel technology.

Martin added that though CARB would like to see the cleanest emissions vehicles on the road, "we try to maintain a balance. There are only a few companies that make school buses. International happens to be somewhat cleaner than its competitors on NOx and cleaner than even CNG on PM. ARB is the only government agency in the U.S. to identify PM as a toxic air contaminate. We are keenly aware of the health threat from diesel. But there have been some questions about CNG particulate as well. A definitive answer as to any health risks from CNG particulate may still be years off," Martin concluded.

Back to Business

The issue has been the focus of lobbying and demonstrations by natural gas and clean diesel proponents. International officials, in efforts to be included in ARB's spending plan, demonstrated green diesel technology at locations around California. Natural gas advocates, who wanted only alternative fuel buses to be eligible for funding, hoped to dissuade the ARB's decision before a final ruling was made by enlisting school children to don gas masks. Now that the Board has made its final ruling, school districts have options and advocates of both sides can attend to other matters of consequence

Source: School Transportation News, January 2001.

Return to top

SACRAMENTO -- The California Air Resources Board (CARB) pledged to rid the state of diesel-engine school buses and replace them with Compressed Natural Gas-powered buses. The board cites cleaner emissions on those buses, but are they really cleanier?

Navistar's Dan Herman said while that may be true when compared to the diesel engines of 20 years ago, it is certainly not the case today. Herman compares the emissions of a typical diesel engine vs. a typical CNG engine, breaking down the types of emissions and the amounts of each generated by both engines. The levels of hydrocarbons (HC) emitted are equal, the CNG emits more carbon monoxide (Co), slightly less oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and slightly more particulate matter (PM).

The analysis, Herman said, shows there is no validity to the consistent claims CNG engines are cleaner than today's diesel engines.

Source: School Transportation News, May 1999.

Return to top

Mixed Reactions Greet CARB's Resolution to
Cleanse California of Diesel Buses, Trucks

Source: School Transportation News, December 1998.

Return to top

Los Angeles Community Leaders
Oppose CNG for School Buses

LOS ANGELES -- Community leaders throughout the Los Angeles basin sent a joint letter to the South Coast Air Quality Management District urging them to vote against SCAQMD Rule 1195, which require South Coast school districts to buy natural gas buses.

The leaders assert that the rule would force schools to divert much-needed funds from classrooms to purchase higher priced natural gas buses, when an affordable clean diesel alternative exists. Currently Green DieselT has been certified as a low-sulfur diesel technology by the California Air Resources Board, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Clean diesel is comparable on emissions and less expensive than natural gas, allowing school districts to retire older diesel buses from the road sooner, the letter points out.

One section reads: "If the ultimate goal is to clean the air and get polluting buses off the road, fuel neutral options should exist so that school districts can purchase clean buses without exhausting precious classroom dollars."

Calculations based on a $9.9 million annual cost increase of CNG buses vs. clean diesel buses, show that savings from converting to Green Diesel Technology could purchase 321,211 textbooks, or 3,983 computers, or pay the salaries of 248 teachers annually. (Cost calculations are based on estimated costs of $31 per textbook, $2,500 per computer, and $40,000 per new teacher).

According to the letter, increased cost for converting to natural gas rather than clean diesel in the first year would be nearly $14 million, and over 10 years the total cost balloons to in excess of $197 million. Therefore the number of books, computers or teachers salaries would be significantly higher than estimated based on $9.9 million increase.

The SCAQMD is scheduled to vote on Rule 1195 on April 20.

The Coalition for Books and Buses is a group of school officials, community activists, environmental, labor and business leaders united in support of fuel neutrality, and opposed to Rule 1195 unless amended, in the South Coast air management district. The coalition includes the former president of the Los Angeles Board of Education, executive director of El Centro Del Pueblo, president of the Korean Consumer Protection and Reform Council, chairman of Los Angeles Annenberg Metro Project, a board member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the California Postsecondary Education Commission.

Source: School Transportation News, April 2001.

Return to top

Many in Education Community
Oppose Rule 1195

LOS ANGELES -- Education groups, school districts and education officials are uniting in opposition to South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 1195 that generally limits school districts to the exclusive purchase of natural gas buses.

To date, at least 19 school districts, 12 key educators, and six educational groups and associations, including the Malibu Teachers Association and the Riverside County Schools Advocacy Association, have added their names to a list of those who support a fuel-neutral bus rule. These organizations and individuals in the education community such as Dr. Neil Schmidt and Barbara Winars, both school superintendents, are urging the air management district to give schools a choice between compressed natural gas and California Air Resources Board (CARB) certified clean diesel fuel. They say that by allowing school districts that flexibility means they will be able to replace a greater number of older, dirtier diesel school buses sooner and achieve greater emissions benefits for school children and the community.

The SCAQMD maintains that funds are available to help school districts transition from diesel to compressed natural gas. However, those funds are limited and do not address the additional costs for fueling natural gas buses over CARB-certified Green DieselT buses-the low-sulfur diesel alternative. Moreover, natural gas buses get an average of one half the fuel mileage of Green DieselT buses.

According to Brett McFadden of the Association of California School Administrators, "Rule 1195 will hinder south coast districts from replacing their aging school bus fleets."

If the rule is adopted, the increased fuel cost for converting to natural gas in the first year will be nearly $1.3 million in the South Coast district alone. Over 10 years, the total cost balloons to $71 million. Meanwhile, SCAQMD has failed to address the issue of skyrocketing natural gas prices that are expected to remain high for years due to California's emerging energy crisis.

"Schools are already paying far more to heat their classrooms-it would go without saying that the SCAQMD should not require school districts to cut further into classroom budgets to convert our large school bus fleet to natural gas," said Delaine Eastin, California state superintendent of public instruction.

In another development, an advocacy group known as Books and Buses says that the $30,000 cost differential between the price of a CNG bus and a clean-diesel bus, calculated across the number of buses that are expected to be purchased, will cost the equivalent of 321,000 textbooks, 2,500 computers, or 248 teachers at $40,000 per year.

Source: School Transportation News, April 2001.

Return to top

SCAQMD Adopts CNG-only
Rule 1195, Rejects Clean Diesel

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. - After almost five hours of testimony from 72 persons in public hearing, the governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) voted unanimously April 20, 2001, to adopt Rule 1195 - "Clean On Road School Buses."

Under the amended ruling, beginning in 90 days and extending to 2003 depending on fleet size, schools and private school bus fleet operators with 15 or more buses are required to purchase alternative fueled vehicles, typically natural gas, whenever adding or replacing buses in their fleets.

A definition of terms in the rule does not include clean diesel (or Green Diesel(tm)) as an alternative fuel, but refers to the low sulfur diesel technology as intermediate diesel.

Using a tiered approach to requiring the cleanest bus affordable, school districts will be exempt if outside funds are unavailable to cover the cost of an alternative fuel bus and $13,000 per bus to build new alternative fuel infrastructure. Then, they may purchase an intermediate diesel, if funds are available. If not, they may purchase a conventional diesel fitted with a California Air Resources Board (CARB)-approved emissions control device.

Prior to the vote, seven amendments were made to the ruling. A proposed amendment by Supervisor Mike Antonovich to allow school districts to choose either Green Diesel(tm) buses or natural gas buses received only one vote, from board member James Silva-and ultimately failed.

The atmosphere at the AQMD was intense, even in the parking lot prior to the hearings. A coalition including environmental groups and school children wearing buttons with the words Dump Diesel, set up a microphone and podium in front of a CNG-powered public transit bus.

Those giving testimony on both sides of the issue included school transportation officials, members of environmental groups, a high school teacher and her government class, school bus contractors, school bus dealers, vendors and special interest groups.

As the hearings lapped over into the afternoon, the emotionally charged testimonials were shortened from three minutes to one minute. SCAQMD Governing Board Chairman Burke noted that the issue is a very complicated one. "In my seven years on the board, I listened to, and received, more pre-hearing testimony on this issue than any other," he said.

The AQMD is said to have available $16 million this year to help schools purchase cleaning burning school buses. AQMD staff will prioritize fund distribution according to severity of air pollution, community income level and other factors.

Visit the website of the South Coast Air Quality Management District to read or download Rule 1195 in its entirety.

Source: School Transportation News, April 2001.

Return to top

Diesel Technology Forum Urges
SCAQMD to Keep Clean Diesel Option

HERNDON, Va. -- In a letter to South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Chairman Bill Burke, the Diesel Technology Forum urged the SCAQMD to include clean diesel technology as an option for future school bus purchases. The SCAQMD is poised to vote at a hearing April 20 on its Rule 1195 that would require school districts under its jurisdiction to purchase only natural gas-powered buses.

Along with school districts and coalitions, the Forum questioned the SCAQMD's promises that "other state funding-not classroom dollars"-will be available to offset the far higher costs for CNG buses and new refueling stations. The South Coast Clean Air Partnership, representing nearly 20 Southland school districts, has questioned the truthfulness of the AQMD's promises for providing funding.

In the letter, the Forum cautioned the AQMD against relying on the February 2001 study by the NRDC to support its rule, pointing to inherent scientific flaws in the study such as linking diesel particulate emissions to asthma. The letter cites a more scientific analysis done by the school district in Fairfax County, Virginia that concluded "diesel exhaust inside its buses poses no threat health risks to our students and staff."

Source: School Transportation News, April 2001.

Return to top

California's SCAQMD Continues
to Move for CNG-only School Buses

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. -- The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) remains poised to vote on its Proposed Rule 1195-Clean On-Road School Buses, despite EPA and CARB certification of clean diesel engines, based on low-sulfur diesel fuel, in California.

Proposed Rule 1195 would require school bus fleet operators to purchase CNG models when acquiring new buses, unless outside funds are unavailable to cover the $30,000 cost of a CNG bus over clean diesel alternatives, and unless at least $8,000 is not available to pay for a CNG fueling station.

The measure would apply to some 8,800 school buses in the SCAQMD's three-county region - about 3,700 operated by school districts, 4,900 operated by private firms and 200 by private schools.

This year, $22 million is available to operators under SCAQMD regulation for the purchase of lower-emission school buses, including $16.6 from California's $50 million Lower-Emission School Bus Program. The California Air Resources Board (CCARB) has ruled that school buses fueled by either clean diesel or CNG are eligible for subsidy under the state program, giving operators throughout California a choice between the two alternatives to conventional diesel. The SCAQMD is the only one of 15 air management district in the state seeking to limit OEM school bus purchases to CNG only.

For more than a year, the clean diesel engine technology that has been at the center of this controversy has been International Truck and Engine's Green DieselT technology, that uses low-sulfur diesel in conjunction with particulate traps. It is currently the only such engine certified in California to date.

Although recent studies point to some advantages of clean diesel over CNG, including safety, fuel efficiency and cost, the SCAQMD supports its proposal by citing its 1999 Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study II, which concluded that conventional diesel exhaust is responsible for about 71% of total cancer risk posed by all air pollutants. The air district does note that while green diesel buses emit a 27 percent higher NOx, particulate emissions are less than that of CNG buses. It fails to add that NOx emissions of clean diesel are 83% lower than those of 1988 conventional diesel. And, while the SCAQMD also notes that there are currently close to 40 CNG fueling stations accessible to the public - only some of which are capable of fueling full-size buses, while some such as the one in Torrance, Calif. closed recently - it is silent on the number of fueling stations capable of supplying low-sulfur diesel fuel.

The SCAQMD's position was bolstered recently when the school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to ban future purchases diesel engine school buses.

The SCAQMD, manages air pollution control for urban portions of Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Bernardino and Riverside counties, is scheduled to vote on Proposed Rule 1195 on April 20.

Source: School Transportation News, March 2001.

Return to top

South Coast AQMD Thumbs its
Nose at CARB's Approval of Green Diesel

SACRAMENTO, Calif.- School districts in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside and San Bernardino would be limited to purchasing new CNG buses unless they prove that the cost of CNG over diesel would negatively impact their budget, under a proposed rule by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The ruling flies in the face of CARB's decision to allow $12.5 million of Gov. Gray Davis' $50-million budget for the purchase of OEM low-sulfur "green" diesel school bus engines, and another $12.5 million to retrofit old buses with low-emission diesel technology. CARB allotted the remaining $25 million to the purchase of new natural gas buses.

CARB reversed an earlier proposal that excluded new diesel technology from the spending program and allowed only natural gas buses that cost $25,000 to $30,000 more than their new diesel alternatives were to be subsidized. The Board called its inclusion of clean diesel "an intermediate step in the introduction of lower-emission diesel engine technology," and attributed its decision to recent advances in diesel technology, plus economic benefits.

"Because clean diesel buses are much cheaper than their CNG alternatives, school districts can retire more older buses by replacing them with OEM's using the new diesel technology," noted Jerry Martin, CARB spokesman.

In spite of CARB's position, the SCAQMD believes that "only the purchase of alternative-fueled buses will meet the needs of our district," said Sam Atwood, SCAQMD spokesman.

Under California's school bus allotment program, the individual Air Quality Management Districts will distribute the funds. To be eligible, school districts must apply in April. The SCAQMD plans to adopt its ruling in March. Also under discussion is a proposed study of the toxic equivalencies of CNG Vs diesel. According to Atwood, only regular diesel would be part of the study. In addition, a study of greenhouse gas equivalency levels (of which CNG is suspected of being high in) will not be studied. A hearing at SCAQMD headquarters in Diamond Bar is slated for January 19.

Source: School Transportation News,January 2001.

Return to top

SCAQMD Releases Environmental
Assessment of Engine Conversion

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. - The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is proposing to eliminate diesel fuel-powered vehicles from California's roads. On March 9, the district released an environmental assessment of that proposal which affects all public agencies operating 15 or more vehicles, including school bus operators.

Initially, the AQMD developed Rule 1190 which in effect grouped all operators in a single entity. It has since divided that rule into six separate rules for different vehicle groups in order to provide "time to more closely tailor the requirements to individual fleet operations."

Among those rules is Rule 1195 Clean On-Road School Buses which is due in part to the lobbying efforts of Southern Californian school bus operators who argued the proposal would create significant financial difficulties for school districts. An AQMD spokesman said the specific guidelines of Rule 1195 however, would likely not be established until a public hearing slated to take place in July.

Several California school transporters noted the AQMD has been receptive to their financial concerns since requiring those fleets to switch to alternative fuels could force cutbacks in service. The result would put many student passengers back into passenger cars, lowering safety while increasing pollution and traffic - exactly what the AQMD is seeking to reduce. In addition, there were concerns the original proposal would pit environmental improvements against books in the classroom.

Source: School Transportation News, March 2000.

Return to top

Engine Manufacturers Question
Study of Diesel Emissions

CHICAGO -- The South Coast Air Quality Management District, a strong advocate of removing diesel-powered buses and trucks from California roads, is scheduled to release a critical report on toxic emissions but before that occurs, major revisions are needed according to the Engine Manufacturers Association. The association states "major revisions are needed to improve the accuracy and usefulness" of the AQMD's Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study (MATES II).

"Our main concern is that the public will be misled," said EMA executive director Glenn Keller. "The methods used in the draft MATES II report incorrectly estimate cancer risks and describe them as 'average risks' to the public. That's simply not true."

The EMA, which represents worldwide manufacturers of internal combustion engines, including Caterpillar, Cummins, GMC and International, claims scientific researchers have identified significant uncertainties and errors in the way AQMD staff determined the health risks of toxic air contaminants in the report. In particular, EMA cited inaccurate estimates of diesel particulates, noting the calculation is based on "outdated and incomplete data from the early 80s." The association also states the risk levels are not real-life exposure levels.

Source: School Transportation News, February 2000.

Return to top

SCAQMD Proposes Replacemt of
Diesel Fuel Buses, Trucks

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. -- The South Coast Air Quality Management District, the air pollution control agency for much of Southern California, has proposed a rule requiring government agencies and their contractors, including school bus operators, to make a gradual shift to "clean burning" fuels.

All fleets of 15 or more vehicles operated by public agencies or private businesses to transport passengers and cargo under contract to a government agency would be required, beginning in 2002.

Clean-burning fuel includes compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas, methanol, electric batteries and gasoline. AQMD's Proposed Rule 1190 - Clean On-Road Vehicles for Government and Airport Operations will be brought before the district governing board in February and a public workshop on the matter is scheduled to take place Feb. 19.

Source: School Transportation News, January 2000.

Return to top

Montebello USD to Use New Diesel
Emission Reduction Service

LOS ANGELES -- The Montebello Unified School District will now utilize a newly developed technology from Krupp-Bilstein of America which reduces the toxicity of diesel engine exhaust. The Bilstein Industrial Engine Flush System circulates environmentally safe detergents within the fuel injection system, oil passages, oil galleys, and crank case area of a diesel engine, and through a series of "wash, soak, and rinse" cycles and ultra-fine filtration, evacuates sludge, particular matter, contaimants, and soot. These foregn elements can burn off during combustion, fume out the exhaust, and circulate into the air.

Soot was determined to be a cancer-causing carcinogen by the California Air Resources Board in 1998. The California Highway Patrol was ordered to issue citations to heavily polluting diesel vehicles by spot-checking vehicle opacity. Opacity is the percentage of light obstructed from passage through an exhaust smoke plume as measured by a test developed by the Socity of Automotive Engineers.

School buses, along with other buses in public transit services, have not been heavily fined by the CHP. It was determined that of all diesel vehicles, buses of all types contribute less than two percent of soot and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

To help kick off the program, State Farm Insurance Company has made arrangements with the MotorLife Corp., the company supplying the school district with the system, to supply the equipment at no charge to the school district.

Source: School Transportation News, May 2001.