EPA grants to help purchase buses for Royal Valley

Royal Valley has received a $40,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to help purchase two new school buses for the district.

USD 337 is one of six districts in the state, and one of 76 in the nation, that will use the funds to upgrade its bus fleet to new, cleaner buses through the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act. The district received $40,00 to help with the purchase of two buses.

During the school board’s meeting last week, board members approved the purchase of two 2015 school buses from Midwest Transit Equipment of Kankakee, Ill., at a cost $81,658 per bus.

With the grant, the district will pay a total of $123,316 for the buses, it was reported.

Jeff Gustin, district transportation coordinator, presented bids for the buses. The “stock” buses are manufactured by IC Bus and will have space for 72 passengers.

The buses also include a 200 amp alternator, a 65-gallon fuel tank, brown seat covers, a five-year tow warranty and a seven-year 100,000 mile brake warranty.

Gustin said that an external speaker and a security camera system will have be to installed on both vehicles.

Additional bids included $85,924 per bus from Kansas Truck Equipment, $90,319 per bus from Midwest Bus Sales and $83,688 per bus from Midwest Transit.

Gustin told board members that 500 school districts applied for the grant, and that if the district had decided not to purchase any buses due to the current financial reductions at the state level, the grant funds would have been deferred to a different district.

 Gustin said that the grant requires the district to purchase and take possession of the new buses by Oct. 17. The older buses being replaced also must be disposed of by then.

“We’re not planning on taking possession of them (the new buses) until July 1, which is the start of our fiscal year,” Gustin said. “Then we’ll be reimbursed by the EPA after that time.”

 Superintendent John Rundle said the recent cuts to the district’s current school year would not affect the bus purchases.

“The events of the last two weeks have affected our general fund and, to date, have not affected our capital outlay, which is how we would fund these purchases,” Rundle said. “These funds would not go toward salaries or school supplies.”

Rundle called the low bus bid a “terrific” price, and board member Ann Kelly agreed.

“We definitely have the need,” Kelly said. “It sounds like a really good deal even though the financial future is a little uncertain.”

Six Kansas schools, including RV, received a total of $355,000 in rebates from the EPS program. Additional district receiving funds included:

* Neodesha Public Schools, $100,000 for five buses.

* Haysville Unified School District, $60,000 for three buses.

* Uniontown Public Schools, $20,000 for one bus.

* Central Plains Unified School District 112, $60,000 for three buses.

* Haven Unified School District 312, $75,000 for four buses.

“Americans put their children on school buses for a safe ride to school. They shouldn’t have to worry about harmful pollutants emitted from these buses,” said Janet McCabe, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “This funding will help keep our children safe and improve the health of those in communities across the country.”

The new buses are more than 90 percent cleaner, reducing pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter that are linked to health problems including asthma and lung damage, according to the EPA.

Nationally, 76 school bus fleets in 30 states will receive rebates through EPA’s DERA funding. Since 2008, the DERA program has funded more than 600 clean diesel projects across the country. These projects have reduced emissions for more than 60,000 engines.

The EPA has implemented standards to make diesel engines more than 90 percent cleaner, but many older diesel school buses remain in operation and predate these standards.

Selectees must maintain ownership of replacement buses for three years from the date of purchase, and the buses must be used for the purpose of transporting 10 or more preprimary, primary or secondary students to schools or homes during that three-year period.

According to the EPA, applicants were randomly selected and placed in order on a list until a total of $3 million was allocated. This was EPA’s second round of the rebate program aimed at replacing older diesel school buses.

Public and private school bus fleets were eligible to apply for rebates for the replacement of school buses with engine model years of 2006 or older.