EPA Announces $400 Million Grant Program to Fund Clean School Buses
April 24, 2023
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of at least $400 million in grants for cleaner school buses, reducing harmful pollution and protecting children's health. Under President Biden's Investing in America agenda, funding from EPA's Clean School Bus Program will improve air quality in and around schools and communities, save schools money, create good-paying clean energy jobs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution, protecting people and the planet.
The grants are made possible by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides an unprecedented $5 billion to transform the nation's fleet of school buses. This is the first round of funding available as grants and follows the nearly $1 billion the Biden-Harris Administration awarded through the rebate competition last year to fund electric and low-emission school buses across school districts.
The $400 million grant opportunity through EPA's Clean School Bus Program will fund electric, propane, and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses that will produce either zero or low tailpipe emissions compared to their older diesel predecessors.
These emission reductions will result in cleaner air for students riding the buses, bus drivers, school staff working near the bus loading areas, and the communities the buses drive through each day. Beyond the community, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from these bus replacement projects will help to address the outsized role of the transportation sector on climate change.
Technical Assistance for School Districts to Help Deploy Clean School Buses
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) offers technical assistance to school districts on electric bus basics, charging equipment, utility connections, bus performance, and operational considerations like routing and maintenance. Technical assistance offered through the Joint Office provides school districts with the knowledge, tools, and information needed to successfully plan for and deploy clean school buses.
Recently, the Joint Office published the Electric School Bus Charging Station Planning Form, which is a tool to assist school bus fleets in organizing their site information to share with their utility and charging station provider.
Read the full news release and explore the technical assistance offered to school districts by the Joint Office.