Clean School Bus USA

Tomorrow’s 

Buses for Today’s 

Children

National Clean Diesel Campaign

www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/schoolbus
America’s School Buses: 

Graduating to Cleaner Fleets for Kids

School buses transport more than 25 million American 

students every day, and they provide the safest transportation for children to get to and from school. However, 

many older school buses emit harmful diesel exhaust 

that directly affects children. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 

ensuring that all new buses meet tighter standards 

developed to reduce diesel emissions and improve 

safety. Today’s new buses are cleaner—60 times cleaner 

than buses built before 1990—and feature additional 

emergency exits, improved mirror systems, and pedestrian safety devices. But replacing America’s school bus 

fleet will take time because diesel school buses can 

operate for 20 to 30 years. 

Clean School Bus USA is a national, innovative program 

designed to help communities reduce emissions from 

diesel school buses. It provides resources and assistance 

to fleet owners and operators as well as educators, 

transportation officials, and community partners committed to improving school bus fleets and protecting 

children’s health.

Improving Air Quality Across the Country 

for Children

Clean School Bus USA focuses on helping to clean up 

school buses in use today by providing resources and 

assistance to school districts and fleet owners and 

operators across the country. Clean School Bus USA 

provides: 

■ Funding and financial incentives for retrofitting and 

replacing diesel school buses.

■ Information about approved retrofit devices and 

other technologies. 

■ Tools to inventory school bus fleets and calculate 

potential emission reductions.

■ Materials, publications, and related resources.

■ Idle reduction materials and school bus driver 

awareness program. 

The Effects of Diesel Emissions 

on Children

Diesel exhaust produces harmful air contaminants such as ozone-forming nitrogen 

oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). 

Breathing these emissions is harmful to 

everyone, but especially to children 

because they have a faster breathing rate 

than adults. Exposure to these emissions 

can also lead to respiratory diseases—and 

aggravate conditions such as asthma, 

which affects nearly 6.3 million U.S. children, making it the most common longterm childhood disease in America.

www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/schoolbus

Through NCDC, EPA provides grants and 

innovative financing mechanisms to assist eligible partners in building diesel emission reduction programs. The Diesel Emissions Reduction 

provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 are 

a significant funding source to bring verified 

and emerging, cost-effective technologies to 

communities nationwide. 
Delivering Health and 

Environmental Benefits

Since its launch in 2003, EPA’s Clean School Bus USA 

program has worked to reduce children’s exposure 

to diesel exhaust by reducing the amount of pollution created by diesel school buses. As a result, 

more than 3 million students are riding on cleaner 

buses. It is estimated that more than 45,000 buses 

are using emission reduction technologies and 

cleaner fuels. School districts across the United 

States are implementing idle reduction programs, 

reducing air pollution, and saving money on fuel 

costs. 

We can reduce harmful emissions from today’s 

older school buses by 90 percent or more by taking 

advantage of clean diesel technologies, clean burning fuels, and smart driving practices. To achieve 

these reductions, owners and operators of school 

buses can: 

■ Retrofit current school bus fleets with PM filters, 

oxidation catalysts, or other new technologies. 

■ Switch to cleaner fuels, such as biodiesel or 

compressed natural gas.

■ Reduce school bus idling, deploy the cleanest 

buses on the longest routes, and minimize time 

students spend outside when buses arrive and 

depart. 

■ Replace older buses with new models that meet 

more stringent standards.

Case Study: Pinellas County

You won’t find school buses idling within the Pinellas County School District in Florida. The 22nd largest public school district in the country—seventh 

in Florida—recognized that idling engines were 

not only driving up fuel costs, but also generating 

harmful pollution that affects children’s health. 

With funding from Clean School Bus USA and a 

local Air Pollution Recovery Trust Fund, Pinellas 

County retrofitted 270 school buses in 2006 with 

clean diesel technology and began an idle reduction outreach campaign. 

By training bus drivers in the importance of idle 

reduction, posting “No-Idle” signs in bus circles 

of each school, creating a voluntary pledge for 

drivers, and formulating a district-wide idle reduction policy, the school district reduced idle times 

to less than 30 minutes per day—well below the 

90 minute national average. Reduced idling and 

retrofits have decreased emissions by more than 

177 tons and saved more than 38,000 gallons of 

fuel per year.

www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/schoolbus
Recycled/Recyclable — Printed with vegetable oil based inks on 100% postconsumer, process chlorine free recycled paper.

August 2010

EPA-420-F-10-019

About the National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC)

EPA established NCDC to promote strategies that reduce harmful emissions from 

America’s diesel engines. Through regulatory and innovative approaches, NCDC 

addresses new diesel engines as well as the millions already in use.

For More Information

To learn more about Clean School Bus USA, visit 

www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/schoolbus.