Electric school buses get EPA boost
Rebate program helps pay for new vehicles
A half-dozen school districts from the Adirondacks to Chatham, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes have purchased 17 electric school buses with the help of a federal Environmental Protection Agency rebate program that is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed earlier this year in Congress.
The rebates totaling $6.25 million enabled the districts to purchase the buses through the Capital Regionbased Leonard Bus Sales.
EPA Regional Administrator Lisa Garcia spoke of the e-bus program during a Wednesday news event at Leonard Bus Sales.
“Protecting our kids and tackling the climate crisis is a win-win. Transitioning away from dirty diesel and toward clean electric buses is a smart investment in our children’s future,” Garcia said.
“Cleaner air and less pollution are a net positive for the community, and thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law this is just the beginning. Beyond the community, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from these bus replacement projects will help to address the outsized role of the transportation sector on climate change,” she added.
“Thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the EPA Clean School Bus Program, Leonard Bus Sales was able to work with our school district partners to secure grant funding for 17 all-electric IC Bus school buses for six school districts across the state — including Chatham Central School District,” added Jon Leonard of Leonard Bus Sales.
“We’re proud of the public-private partnership we have with our school districts and look forward to supporting them as they transition to a zeroemissions future.”
The six school districts getting buses in this round of funding are Adirondack Central School District with three buses; Chatham Central
School District with five buses; Fabius-pompey Central School District with five buses; Monticello Central School District with one bus; Naples Central School District with two buses and Norwood-norfolk Central School District with one bus. More purchases should be on the way, as the EPA in April announced a new Clean School Bus grant program opportunity.
They are accepting applications for this new round of grant funding through August and expect to award approximately $400 million nationally.
The money can fund electric, propane and compressed natural gas buses that will produce either zero or low tailpipe emissions compared to their older diesel predecessors.
EPA is prioritizing applications that will replace buses serving high-need school districts and low-income areas, tribal school districts funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as rural districts.
Based on a law passed in the 2022-23 state budget, all of ,New York’s school buses are supposed to be emission-free by 2035.And starting in 2027, new bus purchases are supposed to be emissionfree.
The Bethlehem Central School District has already started the transition, purchasing five electric buses last year with the assistance of a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.