Washington – School Bus Emissions Need State, US Attention.

Washington – Day in and day out, children across the United States are riding to school on aging buses, breathing what some activists say is a dangerous brew of pollutants up to five times dirtier than the air outside.

It is a situation Congress and many states have sought to fix in recent years. In fact, in 2005 federal lawmakers passed a measure to replace or retrofit the dirtiest diesel engines across the nation.

But little has been done.

Around the country, state officials are struggling to find the money to carry out clean school bus initiatives. And Congress has yet to deliver on the $1 billion it promised over five years to help states clean up diesel fleets, including school buses. About 390,000 diesel school buses are on the road in the United States according to the EPA. Most newer buses were manufactured to meet stricter emissions guidelines and do not need filters. But about one-third of the nation’s diesel school bus fleet, or more than 100,000 buses, were manufactured before 1990 and are big polluters, according to EPA.

Congress passed the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, a bipartisan initiative that authorized $1 billion to help states clean up diesel fleets. But states have seen none of that money. The Bush administration proposed modest funding for DERA in its last two budget requests, but Congress has not acted [AP]