Temecula School officials have netted two grants aimed at eventually fueling their bus fleet with compressed natural gas (CNG), a conversion process aimed at cutting air pollution and transportation costs. But those state and federal funds, which together total about USD 245.000, fall far short of the amount needed to design, permit and construct a fueling station for the Temecula Valley Unified School District.

   “We’re glad to be moving in a direction where we can run all our buses with CNG,” Melanie Norton, a school district spokeswoman, said in an interview.

   A USD 150.000 grant – the second of two such allocations – was announced late last month by U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Palm Springs). She was a co-sponsor of legislation that reauthorized funding under the Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program.

   “I am pleased this funding will help the district take advantage of clean natural gas to power the many school buses traveling throughout our community,” Bono Mack said in a news release. “Not only will this help facilitate cleaner air, but it will also make this clean fuel more accessible and affordable for our local school district. To reduce our dependence on foreign oil and better protect the air we breathe, we need to look toward clean energy technologies such as natural gas, propane, electricity and bio-diesel,” she added.

   The initial USD 90.000 grant was allocated to the school district by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Norton said. As a result of state air quality regulations, school districts are steadily converting their buses from gasoline to compressed natural gas fuel, Norton said.

   Temecula currently has two buses that use compressed natural gas fuel and three more have been ordered, she said, leaving about 56 remaining buses that would eventually be replaced or converted from fossil fuel.