DIAMOND BAR, Calif. — In one of its largest school bus funding awards, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) on May 7 awarded $16.6 million to help school districts replace older diesel school buses with new, cleaner-burning compressed natural gas (CNG) buses.

The agency also awarded $8.8 million to help private operators retrofit 545 diesel school buses with particulate traps to reduce diesel emissions.

The action will allow six school districts to replace a total of 96 pre-1987 diesel school buses with cleaner-burning CNG buses, as well as provide funding for the necessary fueling infrastructure.

The school bus awards and retrofits approved by AQMD include:

Private School Bus Operator

# of PM Traps

Total Funding Award

Aerocoach

1

$20,000

Alliance Bus lines

2

$40,000

Certified Transportation

20

$400,000

Durham Services

32

416,000

First Student

291

$4,514,500

Richmond

1

$20,000

Tumbleweed

68

$884,000

Atlantic Express

130

$2,600,000

Since 2000, AQMD has approved more than $177 million to replace more than 1,000 older diesel school buses with cleaner models and retrofit 3,536 newer diesel school buses with particulate traps.

AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.