U.S. Schools Get Nearly $1B For 'Clean' Electric School Bus Fleets

ACROSS AMERICA — Nearly 400 U.S. school districts will receive a share of $913 million in federal funding authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to begin electrifying school bus fleets and cut harmful diesel emissions. More funding will be announced in the coming weeks, bringing the total awards to $965 million, the White House said.

As many as 25 million children ride familiar yellow school buses each school day and will have a “healthier future” with a cleaner fleet, Environmental Protection Agency Director Michael Regan told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s announcement of the funding in Seattle with Vice President Kamala Harris.

School bus fleets are a natural candidate for electrification because they operate on fixed schedules that accommodate the need to switch out batteries, Regan said.

“We are forever changing school bus fleets across the United States,” he said, adding, “This is just the beginning of our work to ... reduce climate pollution and ensure the clean, breathable air that all our children deserve.”

The 400 school districts are in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several tribes and U.S. territories are expected to purchase nearly 2,500 electric school buses under the Biden administration’s Clean School Bus Program.

The new, mostly electric school buses will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money and better protect children’s health, the White House said.

The Biden administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure law provided $5 billion in Clean School Bus Program funding through fiscal year 2026 to replace diesel-engine school buses with zero-emission and low-emission models.

Diesel engines account for about a fourth of the U.S. transportation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Diesel-powered buses are an economical choice for school districts, but exposure to diesel engine emissions has been linked to an elevated risk of lung cancer and exacerbation of asthma. A Yale University study found exposure to diesel emissions was worse inside the bus than for pedestrians walking by as it passes.

Studies also show exposure to diesel fumes and other pollution worsens school performance, The Washington Post reported. The newspaper cited research that shows children who depend on school buses are often students of color and lower-income families, who suffer disproportionately from asthma and other illnesses linked to constant exposure to diesel fumes.

“Transitioning to a clean transportation future means cleaner air and less pollution,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said when the program was announced last spring. “It means healthier kids and a greater focus and productivity.”

Only about 1 percent of the nation’s 480,000 school buses were electric in 2021.

The EPA initially made $500 million available for clean buses in May but increased that to $965 million last month, responding to what officials called overwhelming demand for electric buses across the country. An additional $1 billion is set to be awarded in the budget year that began Oct. 1.

The EPA said it received about 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for more than 12,000 buses, mostly electric. A total of 389 applications worth $913 million were accepted to support purchase of 2,463 buses, 95 percent of which will be electric, the EPA said. The remaining buses will run on compressed natural gas or propane.

School districts identified as priority areas serving low-income, rural or tribal students make up 99 percent of the projects that were selected, the White House said. More applications are under review, and the EPA plans to select more winners to reach the full $965 million in the coming weeks.

Districts set to receive money range from Wrangell, Alaska, to Anniston, Alabama; and Teton County, Wyoming, to Wirt County, West Virginia. Besides Washington, major cities that won grants for clean school buses include New York, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Seattle.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.