10 Mar

Leonard Bus Sales Congratulates Two New York Customers for Winning DERA Grants from the EPA

March 11, 2013, Deposit, N.Y. – Leonard Bus Sales would like to congratulate Averill Park Central School District and Mechanicville City School District for being among just 30 winners of the EPA’s School Bus Rebate program, authorized through the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA). The EPA received over 1,000 applications from across the country for the program that helps local bus fleet owners replace their older buses with new, clean diesel school buses.

“The DERA grant program does what we encourage schools to do, and that is replace their decade old buses with new, clean diesel buses,” said Mike Leonard, President of Leonard Bus Sales. “Today’s clean diesel buses are 20 times cleaner than the buses of ten years ago, and now operate with near zero emissions. We are very excited for our customers, who will use the EPA funds to replace the oldest bus in their fleet with a reliable and environmentally-sound clean diesel bus.”

Pictured above are Averill Park Central Schools Assistant Superintendent for Business Michael Ouimet, Supervisor of Transportation Mark Premo, and Superintendent Dr James Hoffman who recently received four new buses from Leonard Bus Sales.

The Diesel Emission Reduction Act was reauthorized in January 2011 with a significant change, allowing the EPA to award rebates toward new buses. Compared to just a decade ago, today’s modern clean diesel buses have more efficient engines, more effective emissions control technology, and now also run on ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. Each time a ten year old bus is replaced by a new, cleaner diesel bus, the emissions on that bus route are cut by 95%.

Over 1000 districts applied for the rebates, with three of the 30 winners from New York State. Leonard Bus Sales is working with Averill Park Central School District and Mechanicville City School District to get the new buses on the road.

About Leonard Bus Sales, Inc.: Leonard Bus Sales, Inc. is owned and operated by the Leonard family, a recognized leader in the distribution and support of quality, environmentally-friendly school and commercial buses. A third generation family-owned business, Leonard Bus Sales has nearly 50 years of experience providing cost-saving fleet management and award-winning customer support services. Leonard Bus Sales is a leading-distributor of IC BusTM brand buses, and several other lines. The company is headquartered in Deposit, NY and operates three additional full-service facilities in Saratoga Springs, Rome and Bergen, NY. www.leonardbus.com