EPA awards school districts nearly $1 billion for clean school buses

Having clean buses will mean more than just a trip to the car wash for 280 school districts receiving federal grant money to purchase low- and zero-emission vehicles that will transport more than 7 million students daily.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $965 million to applicants across 37 states through its Clean School Bus Grants program.

Funds are slated to support the purchase of approximately 2,700 buses, 95% of which will be electric. Prioritized school districts in low-income, rural and tribal communities make up approximately 86% of the projects selected for funding.

The program’s purpose is to clean up the environment and make the air safer for students.

Air pollution from older diesel engines is linked to asthma and other conditions that harm students’ health and can cause them to miss school, the EPA said. Phasing out diesel engines also ensures cleaner air for bus drivers, school staff working near bus loading areas and the communities through which the buses drive each day.

The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $2 billion and funded approximately 5,000 electric and low-emission school buses nationwide since the program began in 2022. The awards follow over $875 million obligated to new buses from the Clean School Bus Program’s 2022 Rebates, which funded the replacement of 2,366 buses at 372 school districts.

The application process for the Clean School Bus Rebates program — which began in 2022 — wraps up on Jan. 31. The EPA will announce projects selected for rebates in April.

Several school districts received funds to purchase 50 electric buses, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Clayton County Public Schools in Georgia, DeKalb County School District in Georgia, City of Chicago School District 299, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board in Louisiana, Boston Public Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and Beaverton School District 487 in Beaverton, Oregon.

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