White House Awards $1 Billion in Grants for Clean School Buses

The EPA on Monday announced nearly $1 billion in grant funding for clean school buses across the US, enough to help school districts buy more than 2,700 buses.

The plan touches 280 school districts in 37 states, including battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan, helping sell the Biden administration’s agenda in the walk-up to the 2024 election.

Low-income, rural, and tribal communities represent 86% of the grant recipients, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan told reporters.

The plan seeks to transform “that iconic yellow school bus to something green,” meaning children will be able to “jump into a bus that no longer pumps those toxics into their lungs,” said Ali Zaidi, the White House’s national climate adviser.

The announcement is the second round of funding under a $5 billion program included in the the 2021 infrastructure law. Overall, the program has awarded close to $2 billion.

In December, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General found that the agency’s plan to deploy clean school buses could be hindered by utility companies’ inability to quickly build and power the needed charging stations.

But Regan said electric utilities are “excited about EVs period, whether it be school buses, whether it be transit, or whether it be cars and trucks. And so I have no doubt that our electricity system can handle this transition.”

Zaidi said federal investment in EVs “helps catalyze new business models and new approaches to finance these types of vehicles,” making the technology more accessible and speeding up the deployment of the needed infrastructure.

To illustrate, he said no US companies were making fast chargers three years ago, but at least 26 are doing so now.

Regan also said the program will boost local economies and create good-paying union jobs.

In 2022, the EPA provided more than $875 million to replace 2,366 buses across 372 school districts.