NDEE to provide rebates for replacement of 46 school buses

August 31st, 2020 | Beth Rogers

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Director Jim Macy announced Aug. 28 that the state is awarding approximately $2 million in rebates to schools across Nebraska to aid in the replacement of older diesel school buses.

The funded projects include 45 public school districts and one bus contractor serving a public school district. Each project will replace one older diesel bus with a new bus with much lower emissions. A list of grant recipients is below.

“The department received a large number of applications from schools across the state,” Macy said. “The funds available for this program give us the opportunity to provide financial assistance to schools that will help reduce harmful diesel emissions. We received more applications than we had funds for, so our staff will continue to explore other avenues of funding the program as it is effective in reducing our children’s exposure to potentially harmful emissions.”

These rebates will be funded from Nebraska’s share of the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Mitigation Trust for State Beneficiaries, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia (VW State Trust). Trust funds may be used to replace diesel vehicles and engines in order to reduce emissions of harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx), which may have direct adverse health effects as well as contributing to the formation of harmful ozone. This year’s projects are expected to reduce NOx emissions by 6.5 tons. Six school districts are planning to replace diesel buses with propane-fueled buses that meet California NOx emissions standards, which are much stricter than the current federal standard.

This is the third round of school bus replacement rebates that the department has funded through the VW State Trust. Over this three-year period approximately $6.37 million has been awarded to replace 147 diesel school buses, reducing harmful NOx emissions by over 34 tons. Below is a list of the 2020 School Bus Rebate recipients. Below the list of recipients is a map showing the locations of all recipients over the three-year period of the program.

 

Recipient
City
Rebate
New Bus Fuel
Amherst Public School
Amherst
$57,000
Propane
Banner County School
Harrisburg
$42,000
Diesel
Bayard Public Schools
Bayard
$42,000
Diesel
Bertrand Community School
Bertrand
$42,000
Diesel
Bloomfield Community Schools
Bloomfield
$41,270
Diesel
Centura Public School
Cairo
$42,000
Diesel
Chambers Public School
Chambers
$42,000
Diesel
Eustis-Farnam Public Schools
Eustis
$42,000
Diesel
Fillmore Central Schools
Geneva
$42,000
Diesel
Freeman Public Schools
Adams
$42,000
Diesel
Fremont Public Schools
Fremont
$42,000
Diesel
Giltner Public Schools
Giltner
$42,000
Diesel
Gretna Public Schools
Gretna
$42,000
Diesel
Harvard Public Schools
Harvard
$42,000
Diesel
Hemingford Public Schools
Hemingford
$42,000
Diesel
Hershey Public Schools
Hershey
$42,000
Diesel
High Plains Community Schools
Polk
$42,000
Diesel
Humboldt Table Rock Steinauer PS
Humboldt
$42,000
Diesel
Kearney Public Schools
Kearney
$57,000
Propane
Lyons-Decatur Northeast Public School
Lyons
$42,000
Diesel
Mid States School Bus
Wayne
$16,947
Diesel
Minatare Public Schools
Minatare
$42,000
Diesel
Minden Public Schools
Minden
$56,341
Propane
Mullen Public Schools
Mullen
$42,000
Diesel
Oakland-Craig Public Schools
Oakland
$42,000
Diesel
Ogallala Public Schools
Ogallala
$42,000
Diesel
Osmond Community Schools
Osmond
$55,753
Propane
Overton Public Schools
Overton
$57,000
Propane
Pawnee City Public School District
Pawnee City
$42,000
Diesel
Perkins County Schools
Grant
$42,000
Diesel
Randolph Public Schools
Randolph
$56,292
Propane
Raymond Central Public Schools
Raymond
$42,000
Diesel
School District of Seward
Seward
$42,000
Diesel
Schuyler Community Schools
Schuyler
$42,000
Diesel
Shickley Public Schools
Schickley
$42,000
Diesel
Silver Lake Public Schools
Roseland
$42,000
Diesel
South Central Nebraska USD #5
Fairfield
$42,000
Diesel
Southern Public Schools District #1
Wymore
$42,000
Diesel
Stanton Community Schools
Stanton
$42,000
Diesel
Stapleton Public Schools
Stapleton
$42,000
Diesel
Tekamah-Herman Schools
Tekamah
$42,000
Diesel
Wakefield Community Schools
Wakefield
$42,000
Diesel
Wauneta-Palisade Schools
Wauneta
$42,000
Diesel
Waverly School District 145
Waverly
$42,000
Diesel
Wilcox-Hildreth Public School
Wilcox
$42,000
Diesel
York Public Schools
York
$42,000
Diesel
Total
$1,993,604

 

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