FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Yesterday, the Southeast Diesel Collaborative presented a $110,000 grant to the Cumberland County School Board. The grant money is part of the EPA's Clean School Bus USA program, and it will be used to fund the installation of pollution-control devices on Cumberland County Schools' buses.

Ninety of the district's buses will be retrofitted with diesel oxidation catalysts and crank case ventilation systems, which are designed to reduce particulate matter and carbon monoxide by 40 percent, and unburned hydrocarbons by 70 percent.

"We are pleased with North Carolina's work to improve the environment by reducing the impact of diesel pollution on children's health," said EPA Regional Administrator Jimmy Palmer. "EPA is committed to working with school systems to cut pollution from school buses and reduce health risks to children."

During the ceremony, Kathy Kennedy, the school system's executive director for elementary education, read The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up, a special-edition book based on the longstanding children’s series, to attendees.

The school system will receive copies of the book as part of the partnership that was initiated last month between the EPA and The Magic School Bus publisher Scholastic Inc. to educate children about clean air and to promote environmentally-friendly school buses.