Report

There’s no warning sign on the back of diesel school buses that the black smoke coming out of the tailpipe could be hazardous to children’s health – but there should be. Diesel fumes can cause or exacerbate asthma, lung disease, and cancer, and have even been linked to premature death.

school bus

UCS’s report, School Bus Pollution Report Card 2006, assesses the pollution performance of school buses by state, gives grades for soot pollution (the most important criteria in assessing the risk to child health), then ranks efforts to clean up their bus fleets as well as the level of smog pollution. While the distribution of grades varies across the country, all states rely upon high-polluting school buses, primarily fueled by diesel, to transport children. Cleaner alternatives do exist from replacing older buses with natural gas or cleaner diesel, to cleaning up newer buses with retrofits. School districts need additional federal assistance getting cleaner buses into our communities. Click here for some personal stories from schools that took part in the most recent grant cycle of the Environmental Protection Agency’s excellent, but underfunded, Clean School Bus USA program.

STATE

SOOT POLLUTION GRADE

CLEANUP PROGRAM RANK

SMOG POLLUTION RANK

Alabama 

Poor 

Above Average 

Alaska 

Above Average 

Above Average 

Arizona 

Above Average 

Poor 

Arkansas 

Poor 

Poor 

California 

Good 

Poor 

Colorado 

Above Average 

Poor 

Connecticut 

Above Average 

Above Average 

Delaware 

Incomplete 

Above Average 

District of Columbia 

Incomplete 

Above Average 

Florida 

Poor 

Average 

Georgia 

Above Average 

Average 

Hawaii 

Incomplete 

Poor 

Idaho 

Incomplete 

Average 

Illinois 

Average 

Average 

Indiana 

Average 

Above Average 

Iowa 

Above Average

Above Average

Kansas 

Incomplete 

Incomplete 

Kentucky 

Poor 

Average 

Louisiana 

Incomplete 

Poor 

Maine 

Above Average 

Above Average 

Maryland 

Poor 

Above Average 

Massachusetts 

Average 

Above Average 

Michagan 

Poor 

Average 

Minnesota 

Average 

Poor 

Mississippi 

Average 

Poor 

Missouri 

Average 

Above Average 

Montana 

Poor 

Poor 

Nebraska 

Average 

Poor 

Nevada 

Above Average 

Above Average 

New Hampshire

Poor 

Average 

New Jersey 

Poor 

Above Average 

New Mexico 

Poor 

Average 

New York 

B

Above Average

Above Average 

North Carolina 

Above Average 

Average 

North Dakota 

Poor 

Poor 

Ohio 

Average 

Average 

Oklahoma 

Incomplete 

Poor 

Oregon 

Above Average 

Average 

Pennsylvania 

Average 

Above Average 

Rhode Island 

Average 

Average 

South Carolina 

Above Average 

Poor 

South Dakota 

Incomplete 

Poor 

Tennessee 

Average 

Above Average 

Texas 

Above Average 

Average 

Utah 

Poor 

Poor 

Vermont 

Incomplete 

Average 

Virginia 

Average 

Average 

Washington 

Good 

Poor 

West Virginia 

Poor 

Average 

Wisconsin 

Average 

Average 

Wyoming 

Incomplete 

Above Average