Environmental News

Contact: Martin Kessler
(913) 551-7003
kessler.martin@epa.gov

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

October 4, 2004

GOVERNOR JOHANNS TO JOIN EPA ADMINISTRATOR FOR PRESENTATION OF $150,000 CLEAN SCHOOL BUS GRANT TO LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

What: EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt will present a $150,000 grant Tuesday to Lincoln Public Schools for its Clean School Bus for Kids project. The money will help pay for the retrofitting of approved pollution control devices on all its 106 school buses. The school district is partnering with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, Community Asthma Education Initiative and Educational Service Unit #18, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on this project. The check will be presented to Dennis Van Horn, Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs, Lincoln Public Schools, who also will host the event.
Who: Leavitt will be joined by Gov. Mike Johanns; Van Horn; Roger Reinhardt, Principal, Everett Elementary School; Rick Thorson, Air Quality Supervisor, Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department; EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford; and other dignitaries.
Details: More than 2,700 students had active asthma out of the nearly 32,000 students enrolled in the Lincoln Public Schools during the 2002-2003 school year. Students spend an average of one hour per day on school buses.
When:	Tuesday, October 5, 11:45 a.m.
Where:	Everett Elementary School, 1123 C Street, Lincoln

For more information on EPA Region 7’s Clean School Bus Program, visit www.epa.gov/region07/citizens/cleanschoolbus/index.htm

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