EPA Announces 2022 Recipients for Clean School Bus Awards Including Two Oregon School Districts
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to offer rebates to replace existing school buses with clean and zero-emission models. The Clean School Bus Rebate Program provides $5 billion for the replacement of existing school buses with clean and zero-emission school buses. For each fiscal year between 2022 and 2026, $500 million is available to fund zero-emission and clean school buses, and $500 million is available to fund only zero-emission school buses. School bus upgrades funded under this program will provide numerous benefits, including cleaner air on the bus, in bus loading areas, and in the communities where they operate.
The application period for the 2022 Clean Bus Rebate Program closed in August and awardees were announced October 26. The program is awarding just under $1 billion to 391 school districts for electric and low-emission school buses – and two of those school districts are in Oregon! Banks and Prospect school districts were awarded a total of $5.5 million for 14 electric buses between the two.
The EPA received around 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for over 12,000 buses. The applicant pool included submissions from all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and federally recognized Tribes. The 2022 rebate program will fund approximately 2,500 school bus replacements. Due to the outstanding response from school districts seeking to purchase electric and low-emission school buses across the country, the EPA also published a wait list for funding that includes 27 additional Oregon school districts. If any 2022 rebate selectees are deemed ineligible, drop out of the program, or otherwise reduce their funding request, the EPA will offer their leftover funds to previously unselected applicants.
Oregon school districts interested in electrifying their fleets can use the Oregon Department of Energy’s Guide to School Bus Electrification for information and recommendations for vehicle electrification. In addition to the guide, ODOE, ODOT, and DEQ created the Electric and Alternative Fuel School Bus Lifecycle Cost Analysis Tool, which provides a summary of the estimated costs for different alternative fuel buses. The tool is available on ODOE’s website.