School buses in Utah are running cleaner and idling less, which means children who ride them aren't breathing as much dirty air as they were just a few years ago.

Utah Clean Cities Coalition director Robin Erickson told members of the Utah Air Quality Board in their meeting that growing numbers of school bus drivers have committed to idling less while picking up and dropping off their charges. As a result, Erickson added, the drivers are carrying over the practice into their personal lives.

The catalyst for the bus drivers' changes was the Utah Clean School Bus Retrofit Project, which began in 2007 as a collaboration between the Utah Division of Air Quality and Utah Office of Education, school districts and other local public and private agencies. Erickson told board members that another $1 million may be needed to keep the project going.

The groups that are part of the project have secured over $2.5 million in federal, state and local funding to upgrade exhaust systems on older diesel school buses. The upgrades cost about $2,000 per bus and reduce particulate matter, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds coming from the vehicles by 40 to 75 percent.

In the first two phases of the project, both currently under way, exhaust systems on over 600 buses are being upgraded. At least 22 school districts are involved in the initial three phases of the project.

Murray and Washington school districts were among the first Wednesday to begin retrofitting their buses with an oxidation catalyst and crankcase ventilation system intended to reduce tailpipe emissions.

When funding becomes available, as early as September 2009, buses in the Granite and Jordan school districts will receive the upgrades.

Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake, who sponsored the legislation that provided the state funding for cleaning up the school buses, said Wednesday that she is interested in running legislation that will advance interests in cleaning up the state's fleet of vehicles. "We should be an example for the rest of the state," Johnson said.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com