The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality announced it is seeking applications from those wanting to take part in two recently-funded vehicle emission-reduction programs for school buses.
The two programs are funded with recent grants totaling more than $3 million. The Alternative Fuel School Bus program received $2.6 million from the Volkswagen State Environmental trust.
Money will be used to replace 2009 or older Class 4-8 diesel school buses with new alternative fuel buses including all-electric, propane and natural gas. Funding will also include electric charging infrastructure if an application is for an electric bus replacement.
A grant of $704,000 was made to fund the Clean Diesel/DERA program where the money can be used to replace EMY 1996-2009 Class 5-8 diesel school buses with new diesel or gasoline buses.
Applications for either of the programs will be taken until Dec. 9, 2019.
A factsheet that compares the two programs can be found here: https://www.deq.ok.gov/wp-content/uploads/air-division/VWDERA_FY19_Comparison_factsheet.pdf
To find more information on the Alternative Fuel School Bus Program, please visit: https://www.deq.ok.gov/air-quality-division/volkswagen-settlement/alternative-fuel-school-bus-program/ or email questions to: VWSettlement@deq.ok.gov