Up until now, a student's ride to school was full of more than
paper airplanes and spit balls. It was loaded with toxic fumes.
Thanks to an open exhaust system in some older versions of city
school buses, a student riding to school could be exposed to
more exhaust than someone riding in a car outside, according to
the Natural Resources Defense Council. To plug up those fumes,
the City Council unanimously approved legislation Thursday,
which will require all school buses to retrofit their exhaust
systems. The bill would also require the city to retire school
buses at an earlier age -- at 16 from 19 years old. In addition,
the council also approved legislation mandating standpipe and
sprinkler alarm systems to detect breaches similar to those
during the Deutsche Bank fire of 2007 and a tax credit for
biotechnology small businesses. Greener School Buses Unlike
regular vehicles and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's
buses, older school buses have an open casing system for its
exhaust, meaning the fumes t