Utah governor approves idling reduction bill

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Jon Huntsman has signed legislation that requires the Utah Board of Education (BOE) to adopt school bus idling reduction standards and implement an idling reduction program for all school bus drivers.

The bill indicates that the BOE will work with school districts and the Utah Air Quality Board to develop the standards and the program.

It also stipulates that $100,000 from the Uniform School Fund will be appropriated to the BOE for the 2008-09 fiscal year. The BOE will use the money to provide matching funds for grants awarded by the federal government or private sources to school districts for purchasing new, cleaner-burning buses or retrofitting older ones.

The bill will take effect on July 1.