EPA funds help South Carolina upgrade diesel school buses

By Meg Kinnard

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)– South Carolina is getting nearly half a million in federal funds to upgrade some of the state’s older diesel school buses. State Education Department officials said Thursday that a $480,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is being used to replace 24 buses from 10 districts across South Carolina. The funding is part of $10.5 million the EPA is awarding to 40 states to replace a total of 473 diesel buses, an effort aimed at reducing pollutants that are linked to asthma and lung damage. The upgrades come as Democrats in Washington introduced legislation that would invest $25 billion to convert the nation’s fleet of gasoline- and diesel-powered school buses to electric vehicles.