EPA Deputy Administrator Visits Minneapolis to Announce $4 Million in Recycling Funding and New Electric School Buses under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda
Publilshed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
CHICAGO (April 9, 2024) — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe participated in two events with state and local officials to announce a $4 million recycling infrastructure grant to the city of Minneapolis and new electric school buses coming to Minneapolis Public Schools. Both funding opportunities were made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which delivered unprecedented funding to support national infrastructure, improve people’s health and safety, create good-paying jobs, and reduce carbon emissions throughout the country.
“Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, EPA is funding critical projects that are protecting human health and the environment, strengthening infrastructure, and combatting the climate crisis,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “It was an honor to join so many of our partners in Minneapolis to highlight two exciting grants that will increase access to recycling across the city and bring cleaner and safer transportation to Minneapolis students.”
During the first event, Deputy Administrator McCabe and EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore joined Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Katrina Kessler and Mayor Jacob Frey to highlight a recent $4 million recycling grant to the city of Minneapolis. The grant will be used to redevelop the North Transfer Station into a new residential self-haul resource recovery and waste drop-off site, increasing recycling capacity and equity for local residents. The EPA previously announced the recipients for the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grants, more info can be found on the agency’s website.
“We’re bringing the North Transfer Station to life – giving Northsiders a convenient and accessible place to reduce and recycle, while moving the dial on our Minneapolis Zero Waste goals,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “This $4 million EPA grant will not only help to benefit our residents through this project, but will also help us keep our parks and waterways cleaner at the same time. I’m grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration for their support of this Minneapolis project and their ongoing commitment to tackling climate change at every turn.”
Following the recycling event, the Deputy Administrator, Regional Administrator and Commissioner Kessler joined Minnesota Dept. Of Education Commissioner Willie Jett and local officials at Whittier Elementary School to highlight two electric school buses coming to Minneapolis Public Schools. These buses are part of a $29 million grant to the Highland Electric Fleets company which will purchase 98 electric school buses to serve 15 school districts across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. In January, the EPA announced the selection of 67 applications totaling nearly $1 billion to support the purchase of over 2,700 clean school buses, 95% of which will be electric.
“We are committed to cleaning up school buses. They’re a major source of emissions in neighborhoods around the state and we know that children are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of air pollution,” said Katrina Kessler, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “This important work requires partnerships at local, state, and federal levels, and EPA’s investments in putting more electric school buses on Minnesota roads will help us to reduce carbon emissions and slow the pace of climate change.”
“We know electric school buses will save Minneapolis Public Schools money in operating costs and repairs, but more importantly, research shows clean buses have many benefits for students: Children who breathe lower diesel gas emissions are healthier, miss fewer days in school and tend to have better test scores,” said MPS Superintendent Dr. Lisa Sayles-Adams. “What makes these buses even better is the fact that MPS students wrote letters asking the district to buy them, and explaining how they are better for the environment. We’re inviting those students to be among the first to test ride them on Tuesday.”
“Today schools are called to be more than just a place to get a good education. Our students, families and communities rely on us to care for the whole child, including their social-emotional, physical and overall health needs,” said Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Willie Jett. “The addition of electrified school busses is a win-win.”
“I can’t think of a better time than Earth Month to be sharing the news about school bus electrification at Minneapolis Public Schools,” said Joshua Williams, senior midwestern regional manager at Highland Electric Fleets. “We’re thrilled to join the EPA and local leaders to help bring cleaner, healthier air to more students.”
The EPA’s $5 billion Clean School Bus Program, created by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, includes both a grant program where selected applicants are awarded funds to purchase buses, and a rebate program that allows selectees to receive awards before purchasing eligible buses that replace existing school buses with clean and zero-emission models. The EPA will make more funds available for clean school buses in additional rounds of funding.
About the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program
The Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grant program is a new grant program authorized by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act and funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $275 million for Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grants in support of the National Recycling Strategy, which aims to improve post-consumer materials management and infrastructure; support improvements to local post-consumer materials management and recycling programs; and assist local waste-management authorities in making improvements to local waste management systems.
About the Clean School Bus Rebate Program
The Clean School Bus program funds electric buses, producing zero tailpipe emissions, as well as propane and compressed natural gas buses, resulting in lower tailpipe emissions compared to their older diesel predecessors.
The Clean School Bus program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money for school districts, and produce cleaner air. Air pollution from older diesel engines is linked to asthma and other conditions that harm students’ health and cause them to miss school, particularly in communities of color and Tribal communities. Efforts to minimize the effects of these older diesel engines will ensure cleaner air for students, bus drivers, and school staff working near the bus loading areas, and the communities through which the buses drive each day.
The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from these bus replacements will also help to address the outsized role of the transportation sector in fueling the climate crisis. The program will benefit school districts as they upgrade to cost saving and fuel-efficient school bus fleets, by replacing existing buses with brand new zero-emission and clean school buses and freeing up needed resources for schools.
For more information, please email CleanSchoolBus@epa.gov.
View the full list of Clean School Bus grantees.
Visit Minneapolis Public Schools’ website for more information.
Read the full article at: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-deputy-administrator-visits-minneapolis-announce-4-million-recycling-funding-and
