WARRENVILLE, Ill. — The price of school buses made by IC Bus will increase by $6,000 per unit next year to meet the EPA’s more stringent emissions standards.

The manufacturer’s buses will use advanced exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to reduce nitrogen oxides by 83 percent, as required by the EPA for on-highway diesel engines beginning in 2010.

“IC Bus understands that many bus customers have fixed budgets, and we recognize that a price increase will have an impact on them,” said John McKinney, president of IC Bus. “Through more efficient sourcing and manufacturing operations, we have worked diligently to minimize the design and development costs so that 2010 engine prices are as manageable as possible for our customers.

McKinney said that the company has invested heavily in developing a solution that doesn’t require diesel exhaust fluid and added aftertreatment equipment, and “meeting the stricter emissions levels carries a higher price.”

The Maxxforce advanced EGR engines in IC buses will be, McKinney said, “a simple and straightforward solution that places the burden of emissions compliance on us, not the customer.”

The price increase applies to all IC Bus school bus models (the BE, CE, FE and RE series) as well as commercial models (including the HC and LC series).