U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5’s Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative announced it expects to award some $700,000 this year in grants for school bus diesel-emission reduction projects in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Proposals may include, but are not limited to, diesel exhaust retrofits, vehicle replacement, engine replacement, idle reduction technologies or strategies, and use of cleaner burning fuels such as biodiesel.

Grant funds come from EPA’s Clean School Bus USA program. Program goals are to reduce school bus idling, retrofit existing buses with emission-control devices, use cleaner fuels and replace the oldest buses with new, cleaner buses.

The Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative is a collaboration of federal, state and local agencies, along with communities, non-profit organizations and private companies working to reduce emissions from diesel engines in the Midwest.

A copy of the request for proposals is at www.grants.gov and www.epa.gov/midwestcleandiesel. The title of the announcement is "Region 5 Clean School Bus USA." For more information, contact Julie Henning by e-mail at henning.julie@epa.gov.