US announces $900 million for electric school buses

The US government has announced nearly $900 million to replace diesel field school buses with new electric buses. The funding is announced for the recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 Clean School Bus Program rebate competition. EPA selected nearly 530 school districts covering different states and communities.

This $900 million grant will help district schools purchase more than 3,400 buses, including 92 percent electric and 8 percent other clean energy buses. It will cover funds for school districts in 47 states and Washington D.C. and several federally recognized Tribes and U.S. territories.

It prioritizes low-income school districts and rural and tribal communities accounting for around 45 percent of the selected projects and receiving approximately 67 percent of the total funding.

As of May 29, the EPA has awarded around $3 million in funding for 8,500 school buses for more than 1,000 schools. Last September, the EPA announced $500 million for its 2023 Clean School Bus rebates. This rebate closed in February 2024 and collected many applications from schools interested in buying electric and clean energy buses.

EPA then doubled the initial amount to $1 billion to fulfill the demand including low-income communities, tribal nations, and U.S. territories.

The latest funding aligns with the previous $2 billion investment under the Clean School Bus Program’s 2022 Rebates and 2023 Grants. These findings aim to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas, and fuel pollution, and improve the EV market.

EPA says it is still reviewing selected applications and may add more award recipients under this program. The selections will be made through additional rounds of funding and other programs.

The application submission is active for the 2024 Clean Heavy-duty Vehicles Grant Program until 11:59 PM ET on July 25, 2024. This program has $932 million available gran funding and anticipates nearly 70 percent of the available funding to support new, zero-emission Class 6 and 7 school bus purchases.

Overall, the EPA Clean Bus Program has $5 billion in funds to support the transformation of school transportation with clean energy vehicles.

(source)