It’s All About the Money
From keynotes to classrooms, finding and saving money was the topic of interest at this year’s NAPT conference By Stephane Babcock
Te economy, although not the central theme of
this year’s NAPT conference, was felt throughout the many classes, speeches and the overall mood of at- tendees in late October and early November. It was a popular topic of discussion heard in the halls between classes and in more than one keynote. “We are seeing the interest level rise exponentially,”
said Jim Blubaugh, director of the EPA’s Clean Diesel program, when speaking about the number of ap- plications his office had received during the last few grant opportunity periods. When the program first started in 2003, the total
monies available only added up to $5 million, a drop in the bucket compared to the $300 million tied to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NAPT was the last to receive the funding, a move Blubaugh called “saving the best for last.” Te $5 million dollar grant, entitled the National School Bus Equity Investment Lease Program, will be used to reduce monthly lease payments for repowering approximately 175 school buses with compressed natural gas (CNG) engines. Te last round of applications also showed that
Maybe IC Bus’ BusFormer can help school districts find the money they need to keep their students on the yellow bus. BusFormer was created at the Tulsa , Okla., IC Bus plant by employee Doug Broyles from spare parts and during his spare time.
the industry is really ready to invest in cleaning up the air around school buses, with grant hopefuls ponying up $2 billion in matching funds to the $2 billion in applications. “Competition is fierce,” said Blubaugh. “Our environ- mental and economic futures are inextricably linked.”
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