COLUMBUS, Miss. — Navistar International Corp. has delivered to Columbus Municipal School District the first IC school buses certified by the EPA to be compliant with 2010 diesel emissions requirements.

The 28 IC Bus CE Series school buses were purchased by the district with funding received earlier in the year from the EPA in conjunction with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’s National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program.

The buses were built with MaxxForce DT Advanced Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) engines. Company officials said that the engines are clean-burning from startup to shutdown and comply not only in the test environment with prescribed operating cycles, but also on the road under every operating condition.

"We’re proud to deliver these buses with 2010-certified engines to the Columbus School District,” said John McKinney, president of IC Bus. "The delivery of these buses, powered by our EPA-certified MaxxForce Advanced EGR engines, marks our first step in the launch of our 2010 engines.”

The delivery of the buses was a welcome and anticipated event for the district.

“We’re excited to work with IC Bus and our dealer, Waters Truck and Tractor, to put these funds to work and to upgrade a large portion of our school bus fleet to meet the next level of emissions standards,” said Dr. Del R. Phillips, district superintendent. “The new standard set for these 2010 buses will significantly reduce emissions each day as we transport students in our city. It's truly a win-win situation for our community and school district.”