CHICAGO — EPA Region 5 has presented two school systems in the Midwest with funds to implement projects that will reduce the amount of exhaust emitted from their school buses.

The Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton School District in Ontario, Wis., was awarded $86,353 as part of the EPA’s Clean School Bus USA program. The money will be used to retrofit nine school buses with diesel oxidation catalysts and crankcase filtration systems.

In addition, the district will utilize idle-reduction technologies on 10 buses, replace one bus with a new, low-emission bus and educate its staff on the importance of clean-air practices.

The Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker School District in Pigeon, Mich., was awarded $59,120, which will be used to replace the district’s heaviest-polluting bus with a low-emission bus and retrofit 12 buses with diesel oxidation catalysts.

The district will also begin using B20 biodiesel fuel and hold a workshop for other Huron County school districts on the benefits of B20 and the benefits of installing diesel oxidation catalysts on school buses.

The grant money was provided for both districts through the Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative, a collaboration of government, industry and non-profit organizations to reduce diesel emissions in the Midwest.