WARRENVILLE, Ill. (Dec. 7, 2009) – In a ceremony held earlier today at the Columbus, Mississippi Municipal School District, Navistar (NYSE: NAV) delivered the first school buses certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be compliant with 2010 diesel emissions requirements.

The 28 IC Bus™ CE Series school buses were purchased by the Columbus Municipal School District with funding received earlier in the year from the EPA in conjunction with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’s (ARRA) National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. The buses were built with EPA-certified MaxxForce® DT Advanced Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) engines. These engines represent just one of Navistar’s designs to meet the challenge of the emissions requirements of 2010 and beyond.

“We’re proud to deliver these buses with 2010-certified engines to the Columbus School District,” said John McKinney, president, IC Bus. “The delivery of these buses, powered by our EPA-certified MaxxForce Advanced EGR engines, marks our first step in the launch of our 2010 engines.”

The school buses delivered to the Columbus Municipal School District are powered by some of the cleanest diesel engines ever built, in full compliance with the EPA’s emissions standards under all operating conditions.

Navistar is proud to deliver these IC Bus school buses with MaxxForce advanced technology engines knowing that the Columbus Municipal School District recognizes the value these buses bring to the community in terms of both child safety and clean air benefits for the people of Columbus.

Navistar’s MaxxForce Advanced EGR engines are clean burning from startup and comply not only in the test environment with prescribed operating cycles, but also on the road under every operating condition. With Navistar’s Advance EGR technology, there are no environmental operating lapses, as Navistar’s system is the only one that is not reliant on high operating temperatures to control NOx emissions.

With the stop-and-go, short-haul nature of school buses, competitive emissions technologies are unlikely during normal operations to consistently reach the high temperatures required to control NOx emissions. The technology of Navistar’s Advanced EGR engines assures that IC buses meet the latest emissions requirements throughout the vehicle’s duty cycle from startup to shut down.

“Our IC Bus school buses provide school districts with the smarter, easier and cleaner option for meeting 2010 EPA emissions requirements because our MaxxForce Advanced EGR engines place the responsibility of emissions compliance on us, the manufacturer, not the customer,” added McKinney.
Delivering these latest clean technology buses to the Columbus School District’s fleet is a welcome and much anticipated event for the local community.

“We’re excited to work with IC Bus and our dealer, Waters Truck and Tractor, to put these funds to work and to upgrade a large portion of our school bus fleet to meet the next level of emissions standards,” said Dr. Del R. Phillips, Columbus School District superintendent. “The new standard set for these 2010 buses will significantly reduce emissions each day as we transport students in our city. It's truly a win-win situation for our community and school district.”

“Columbus School District’s energy-efficient buses will create a cleaner environment for our children and communities,” said Congressman Travis W. Childers, (D-MS). “The Recovery Act funds that went towards making these upgrades represent an important investment in public and environmental health, student safety, and economic development. It’s essential that North Mississippi schools have buses with the latest technology they need to safely serve our students and our communities.”

“We are pleased to work once again with the Columbus School District and it’s great to see this funding provide them with the most technologically advanced and cleanest bus fleet available,” said Trudy Fisher, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. “The Columbus School District is a leader in the state in seeking out grants to protect the health of their children. School buses are the safest and most efficient way to transport students and with these buses meeting the latest and most stringent emissions requirements, it’s a healthy trip as well.”