AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Texas Parent Teacher Association (PTA) have partnered to distribute funding for school bus retrofit projects.

The funds will come from a portion of penalties assessed by the commission that are used to support supplemental environmental projects.

All public school districts and charter schools in Texas are eligible to receive funding, which they can use to install diesel particulate filters, diesel oxidation catalysts, crankcase filters and other pollution-control devices on their buses.

Funding may also be available to replace model year 1991 buses or older with 2007 or newer models.

“Drivers, students, passengers and teachers are all subject to harmful diesel exhaust emissions from school buses on our roadways,” said Kyle Ward, Texas PTA executive director. “We look forward to distributing funds to school districts to reduce these problems through the use of cleaner technology.”

The PTA can receive a maximum of $5 million in funding annually.

The TCEQ received authorization from the state legislature in 2005 to launch and administer a clean school bus program.