SCHOOL BUS RETROFITS ARE A GOOD FIT FOR NEW JERSEY SCHOOL
CHILDREN
On September
7, 2005, Acting Governor Codey signed into law
a bill that would establish a program to cut exposure
to harmful diesel soot emissions in school buses
and to reduce diesel soot from garbage trucks, transit
buses and publicly owned on-road and off-road diesel
vehicles and equipment.
On November 8, 2005, voters approved
Ballot
Question #2, a constitutional amendment that
will fund the diesel program and will be paid for
with a portion of revenue from the existing Corporate
Business Tax.
UPDATE: March 5, 2007. NJEJA Press Release
(10/28/04) TRENTON - Advancing
its work to reduce children's exposure to
diesel exhaust from school buses, Department of Environmental
Protection
(DEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell today announced
a one-of-a kind
retrofit project for New Jersey school buses. Public
Service Enterprise
Group Incorporated (PSEG) has joined forces with Camptown
Bus Lines to
install retrofit devices on up to 46 school buses in
Newark, marking the
first time retrofit technology has been installed on
school buses in New
Jersey.
"We are pleased that companies like PSEG and Camptown
Bus Lines have
voluntarily stepped up to the plate to achieve cleaner
air for our
school children," said Commissioner Campbell. "On
average, children
spend an hour and a half each weekday riding in school
buses. That
amounts to more than 300 hours every year that Newark
school children
will be breathing cleaner air."
Commissioner Campbell made today's announcement at
the Clinton Avenue
School in Newark, one of 19 schools that will be served
by the
low-emissions buses. Joining Campbell were PSEG President
Frank Cassidy
and Newark school officials. Assemblyman John McKeon,
a co-sponsor of
legislation with Senator Bob Smith to reduce diesel
emissions from
on-road and off-road vehicles, was also present.
The retrofits will reduce particulate emissions by
over 50 percent.
Diesel emissions are a likely carcinogen, and include
fine particles,
commonly called soot. These pollutants are known to
cause asthma,
bronchitis, lung cancer, heart disease and premature
death. Diesel
exhaust ranks among the air pollutants that pose the
grea test risk to
public health. Research has shown that fine particles
are harmful
because they bypass the body's natural defense mechanisms
and penetrate
deep into the lungs.
Children are particularly susceptible to the harmful
effects of soot
because their respiratory systems are still developing
and they have a
faster breathing rate. The incidence of asthma among
school children in
urban areas is especially high and increasing at an
alarming rate.
DEP's support for the voluntary installation of retrofits
in school
buses is just one element of a campaign by the Department
to reduce
children's exposure to diesel exhaust. In early October,
2004, DEP
kicked-off its anti-idling campaign, urging school
districts and school
bus operators to voluntarily eliminate school bus idling
while waiting
to load and unload students.
PSEG is contributing $100,000 to retrofit the 46 buses
owned and
operated by Camptown Bus Lines. MJ Bradley As sociates
of Cambridge,
Massachusetts developed and is managing the retrofit
project.
Environmental Services Worldwide (ESW) is providing
the emissions
reduction technology and Environmental Systems Products
(ESP) is the
provider of remote emissions measuring technology that
will monitor and
document the emissions reductions. The retrofit, according
to the NJ DEP, will be done in two
phases. Work on approximately 14 buses has been completed
so far. (Source: NJ DEP News Release, 10/28/04)
To learn more about diesel emissions and public health,
visit DEP's Web
site: www.stopthesoot.org
###
>>> UPDATE: NJEJA
Press Release 3/5/07
