The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded $5.4 million to reduce diesel emissions from school buses, trucks and other vehicles in western states.

The Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) funding will be administered by EPA’s West Coast Collaborative, a clean air partnership that uses public and private funds to cut emissions in impacted communities.

The grant money will go toward retrofitting and replacing old diesel vehicles and equipment.

Several school bus-related projects are among those that were awarded DERA grants:

• The California Air Resources Board received $416,000 to retrofit 20 school buses with diesel particulate filters.

• The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection received $123,000 to replace four model year 1995 school buses.

• The Washington Department of Ecology received $212,000 to install idle-reduction technologies in 76 diesel-powered school buses.

• The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality received $193,000 to replace seven older school buses.

• The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality received $119,000 to retrofit 14 school buses with exhaust and idle-reduction technologies.

The funding is part of EPA’s DERA fiscal year 2015 allocation. Since 2008, the DERA program has awarded more than 700 grants across the country. According to the EPA, these projects have reduced emissions from more than 60,000 engines.

For more information about this year’s West Coast Collaborative DERA projects, go to www.westcoastcollaborative.org.