Fifteen school districts, charter schools and tribal schools will share nearly $27 million in federal dollars to purchase 114 electric buses as part of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Grant Program, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday.

Cooper said in a statement that electric buses help protect children from harmful diesel fumes, cut carbon emissions, save money on bus maintenance and repairs, and create good jobs.

“This investment is good for our students, schools, economy and planet and I appreciate the Biden Administration for investing in our communities across North Carolina,” Cooper said.

The state was awarded 31 buses under the Clean School Bus Program in 2022. Cooper’s administration funded 43 electric buses in 2022 through a settlement with Volkswagen. North Carolina received $92 million as part of a nationwide multi-billion-dollar penalty assessed by the EPA on the car company, which violated the Clean Air Act by cheating on millions of emissions tests.

North Carolina has added 188 electric buses within the past two years. The majority of the new buses will be sent to low-income, rural and/or tribal communities that serve more than 300,000 students in 13 counties.

Durham Public Schools will receive 38 buses, which is the largest share of the 114. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will receive 27, Cherokee Central schools 15 and Kannapolis City Schools eight. Five buses have been awarded to two Durham charter schools — Maureen Joy Charter School will receive four, and Reaching All Minds Academy was awarded one bus.

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Two Idaho school districts will receive more than $5 million in total grant funding for electric buses as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Bus Program, the first round of a five-year, $5 billion federal initiative that was approved through the , according to a press release.

Genesee School District in North Idaho requested funding for three buses, totaling $1.185 million, and McCall-Donnelly Joint School District requested funding for 10 buses, totaling $3.95 million. The Idaho districts were eligible to apply for the funds after the Idaho Legislature in the 2022 legislative session extending the acceptable contract length for school buses from five years to 10 years.

Both of Idaho’s Republican senators in Congress, Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, voted in favor of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, while the state’s two Republican U.S. Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson voted against it.

The Clean School Bus Program aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money for school districts and produce cleaner air, the release said. Diesel air pollution is linked to asthma and other conditions, the release said, and can cause a student to miss school, particularly in communities of color and tribal communities. The program is also meant to save school districts money as they upgrade school bus fleets, replacing older diesel buses with brand new clean school buses, while freeing up resources for schools.

“President Joe Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is accelerating our nation’s transition to electric and low-emission school buses while ensuring a brighter, healthier future for our children,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in the press release. “As many as 25 million children rely on the bus to get to school each day. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, we are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution.”

The span all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and were chosen by a lottery system. The total grant amount to be distributed is $913 million, which will support the purchase of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric. More applications are under review, the release said, for a final total of $965 million in funding.

The EPA will distribute awards to school districts and several federally recognized tribes and U.S. territories. School districts identified as priority areas serving low-income, rural or tribal students make up 99% of the projects that were selected. More applications are under review, and the release said the agency plans to select more to reach the full $965 million in the coming weeks.

Those school districts who received an award can now proceed with purchasing new buses and eligible infrastructure, according to the release. The EPA is also partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Transportation to provide school districts with robust technical assistance to ensure effective implementation.

The next rounds of program funding are expected to launch in the coming months, which will include a grant competition for another $1 billion in funding in fiscal year 2023, the release said. School districts not selected in the first round of rebates, and those that did not apply this funding cycle, are encouraged to participate in future rounds.

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U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, and EPA officials introduced the which will allocate $5 billion over the next five years to replace school buses around the country, thus reducing emissions.

Escobar was joined by EPA Region 6 Administrator Earthea Nance at the March 21 announcement.

The EPA is still building the program, Nance said, so many of the details and rules for application will be clarified after the final guidelines are released in April.

The $5 billion federal budget for the program dwarfs the agency’s spending on the traditional school bus replacement program, as the $1 billion annual budget is 100 times greater than the for the last five years.

Nance said the program will mitigate public health problems for millions of people caused by burning diesel, and reduce climate change impacts.

“Students are particularly vulnerable to air pollution inside and near older diesel school buses, these pollutants increase children’s (risk) of asthma and other respiratory illnesses,” Nance said. “Children are not the only ones at risk, bus drivers and other school staff are also exposed to diesel exhaust pollution.”

Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in November 2021 which funds the EPA’s Clean School Bus program. The EPA will dedicate half of the funding — about $438 million a year — to purchasing zero-emission electric buses. The other half will support purchasing “clean school buses” encompassing both fully electric options but also buses that burn alternate fuels to diesel (such as propane, liquefied natural gas, hydrogen or biofuels).

The federal government will pay up to 100% of the cost for replacing the buses, as well as installing charging or refueling stations. Eligible recipients include local governments, school districts, tribal schools, and contractors (for profit and nonprofit) that sell buses.School districts that have already invested in clean buses can apply for electric buses, Nance said.

Unlike previous programs, Nance said one requirement of the program requires that 40% of the benefits go to disadvantaged minority, rural or poorer districts.

“For far too long, too many communities in particular, low-income communities and communities of color, suffer disproportionately from poor air quality and high levels of air pollution, and the devastating health impacts from breathing unhealthy air,” Nance said.

In an interview, Nance said she couldn’t answer if El Paso’s school districts would be prioritized in funding considerations until the final rules are released in April.

“We don’t have all the components of the program yet, but we’re getting that buy-in and excitement, but then not have all the details for you,” Nance said. “We’re walking that line right now.”

Officials from Anthony, Canutillo, San Elizario, Tornillo, Ysleta, Clint and Socorro school districts attended the March 21 session.

No representatives from El Paso Independent School District, the region’s largest public school system, attended because of late notice of the event, spokesperson Gustavo Reveles said. He added that the district is “excited about the potential” of the program.

“(EPISD) will further look into the program to determine the feasibility and requirements to apply for funding,” Reveles wrote in an email.

EPISD has a fleet of 285 buses, all in operation. Those buses are “low-emission” propane powered with the exception of 12 small activity buses, Reveles said.

Many of those buses are new, purchased in 2016  when the district spent $8.4 million of its to buy 81 new buses. The average age of the fleet is five years old, Reveles said.

Nate Carman, who started as the superintendent at Socorro Independent School District last week, said the meeting was exciting for the district.

“I feel hopeful that there are funds available for us to be able to get some buses that will help with the clean air initiative and operate more efficiently,” he said.

Socorro ISD has 299 buses, with 36 currently out of service, according to SISD spokesperson Daniel Escobar. The buses range in age from 24 years to just under a year.

Escobar said the district purchased 30 lower-emission buses two years ago. Ten of those were bought with district funds to serve students with disabilities, costing $950,000. The remaining 20 buses used a mix of grant and district funds to split the $2.1 million cost, he said.

YISD Superintendent Xavier DeLaTorre said last month that the district needed more information before applying.

“The devil is in the details, of course,” DeLaTorre said. “We have to take inventory of our current bus supply and see how many of the buses would actually qualify and how many buses we’d actually be willing to dispose of to secure an electric bus.”

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