AEA Announces Volkswagen Settlement School Bus Grants
Program to replace thirty-three older diesel buses for eight school districts
The Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) announced that eight school districts will receive approximately $4.4 million to replace thirty-three older diesel school buses with new clean-burning buses under the Volkswagen (VW) Settlement School Bus Replacement Program:
- Alaska Gateway School District
- Anchorage School District
- Juneau School District
- Kake City School District
- Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
- Kodiak Island Borough School District
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
- Southeast Island School District
Buses were ranked based on the amount of ambient nitrogen oxides (NOx) and diesel particulate matter in the areas that the buses operate, as well as the presence of at-risk communities exposed to these pollutants, cost effectiveness at reducing NOx, and voluntary matching funds.
“By replacing older engines with new technologies, the school buses will help improve air quality in these areas of the state,” said AEA Executive Director Curtis W. Thayer. “The new buses will result in a reduction of 24.6 short tons of NOx and 1.8 short tons of fine particulate matter over the remaining lifetimes of the replaced school buses.”
VW was sued by the US Environmental Protection Agency for its installation of software in diesel vehicles that masked actual in-use emissions of NOx. The parties reached a settlement, and AEA was designated the lead agency to administer Alaska’s allocation.
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