New York Attorney General Letitia James announced settlements with four school bus companies to put an end to excessive idling.

The four companies with bus yards in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are now required to invest up to $2 million each to purchase new electric buses or electrify some of their current bus fleets.

The Attorney General's Office alleges that the companies - Consolidated Bus, Inc., Logan Bus Company, Pioneer Transportation Co. and Total Transportation Corp., - violated state laws by allowing school buses to idle for extended periods of time in bus yards.

The office says that these instances of idling contributed negatively to the air pollution in New York and the communities surrounding the bus yards in question.