Let Everyone Know We Are Cleaner!
ROUSH CleanTech has two major developments that every customer should know — our optional low NOx-certified propane engines and our California Air Resources Board heavy duty-onboard diagnostics certifications. We recommend that you use this information in your bids to show our innovation and advancements in propane engine 
technology. This is especially important to include for those states that are focused on emissions reductions and green initiatives. And, for those states that have propane buses included in its Environmental Mitigation Trust (or you’re still pushing to get it), these emissions-reducing improvements can help get those funds. Here is a summary:
First, our propane engines are optional low NOx certified. With motor vehicles being the primary source of nitrogen oxide (NOx), both the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board have set standards for lowering NOx emissions. The EPA lowered NOx emission standards from 5.0 grams per brake horsepower per hour in 1994 to its current 0.20 in 2007. CARB’s optional low-NOx standards fall below the EPA standard at 0.05 g/bhp-hr. We developed the first propane autogas engine in class 4-7 vehicles certified to this optional low NOx level 0.05 g/bhp-hr. That means our propane engines — in every Blue Bird Vision Propane — are 75 percent cleaner than the current emissions standard.
Second, we are the first propane autogas fuel system manufacturer to receive the EPA and CARB heavy duty-onboard diagnostics certification for all its engines. All of ROUSH CleanTech’s propane autogas-fueled vehicles with Ford 6.8L 2V and 3V engines are covered under the CARB HD-OBD certification — which includes every Blue Bird Vision Propane school bus. This HD-OBD certification applies to all vehicles over 14,000 lbs GVWR. The onboard monitors will now track and report out the continuing compliance of the emissions performance of the vehicle, as they have since 2016 for gasoline vehicles.
If you have any questions about low NOx or CARB HD-OBD certifications, please contact Ryan Zic at Ryan.Zic@roush.com.
