EPA, State and Local Officials Celebrate Award of Over $8.8M in Rebate and Infrastructure Funding for 28 Zero-Emission Buses in Connecticut
Publilshed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
NEW BRITAIN, CONN. (June 15, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New England Regional Administrator David Cash and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory joined elected officials and school leaders in New Britain, Conn. to celebrate the award of 25 zero emission school buses to DATTCO Inc. to provide school transportation services for the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS). These new buses will be used in New Britain and eight surrounding communities. The buses were part of over $8.8 million in rebates awarded to Connecticut school districts last year under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Clean School Bus Program that will provide funding for 28 zero-emission buses and charging infrastructure in 12 communities throughout Connecticut.
Recently, EPA also announced the next round of funding under the BIL Clean School Bus Program. Four hundred million ($400 million) in grants are currently available for cleaner school buses, as part of the unprecedented $5 billion investment to transform the nation’s fleet of school buses. The new buses purchased under this program will reduce harmful pollution and help to protect children’s health, especially in communities already overburdened with air pollution. Under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, funding from EPA’s BIL Clean School Bus Program will improve air quality in and around schools and communities. These projects save schools money, create good-paying clean energy jobs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution, protecting people and the planet.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is delivering significant funding to Connecticut school districts for clean electric school buses, with a particular focus on reducing air pollution in disadvantaged communities overburdened by dirty air,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “These zero-emission vehicles will help provide cleaner and healthier air for school children, reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, and save money for our communities. Investing in America means investing in communities so that a parent waiting at the bus stop with their kid is not worried what their child is breathing.”
“President Biden believes every child deserves clean air, a healthy environment, and economic opportunity,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are making historic investments in clean transportation that will make that vision of a more equitable future a reality for communities in Connecticut and across the nation.”
“This $8.8 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will allow New Britain to purchase 28 zero emissions buses—saving the school district money, improving air quality and helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. I am thrilled to see this investment in the City of New Britain and will keep fighting to deliver more funds so that all school districts can convert from dirty diesel to zero emissions environmentally friendly buses,” said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal.
“Transportation emissions are the biggest contributor to climate change and can cause asthma and other serious health issues for our kids. We have to get serious about finding alternatives that are more efficient and less polluting. Thanks to federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, cities like New Britain can start replacing gas guzzling vehicles with zero-emission school buses that are better for the environment and for the health of our kids and communities,” said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy.
“I am so proud to have voted for investments that grow our clean economy and ensure a healthier future for our children here in Connecticut,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. “After years of disinvestment, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law committed funding to reduce carbon emissions in buses and other types of transportation. This $8.8 million dollars in rebates provided under the law, encourages bus companies like DATTCO to provide reliable, safe, sustainable, and clean energy systems for our communities.”
“Connecticut’s children deserve clean air to breathe, and we must make every effort to ensure a healthy future for them. This funding from infrastructure legislation we passed in Washington is coming right back to Connecticut to support our effort for cleaner air, healthier communities, and to combat climate change,” said Congressman John B. Larson.
“Thanks to federal infrastructure law, zero-emission school buses are coming to the state–providing clean transportation services and infrastructure to 12 communities, including Norwich and Groton. This is the latest example of the federal infrastructure law investing in the health of our children, parents, workers, and communities,” said Congressman Joe Courtney.
“Thanks to the enormous investment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and through the Clean School Bus Grant Program, Bridgeport will be able to transform part of their school bus fleet to electric vehicles, reducing exposure to harmful emissions from diesel engines, providing cleaner air for our kids, and safeguarding our environment. I am glad these federal funds are going to what matters: protecting the health of our children and the future of our planet.” said Congressman Jim Himes.
It was a long fight to secure clean school bus funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but we accomplished our goal and now communities in the Fifth will feel the impact of this legislation. When I first began pushing for school-busing reform as a freshman member, I knew it was paramount that funding be included in any legislative action. Connecticut students will be provided additional transportation services creating better access to educational opportunities while protecting our environment for decades to come,” said U.S. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes.
“Transportation emissions are the leading source of smog-forming air pollution, which leads to respiratory illnesses such as asthma,” said CT DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes. “Our children riding buses to and from school feel the impacts of diesel exhaust acutely, which is why the EPA’s Clean School Bus program is so impactful. I’m thrilled that the majority of this funding will provide cleaner emitting buses, benefitting high school-age children and adult learners in high need school districts and environmental justice communities that are disproportionately burdened by air pollution from transportation. Thank you to our federal delegation, and our partners at EPA for providing this important funding.”
The funding going to the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS), including the E.C Goodwin Technical School in New Britain, will provide clean transportation for students traveling to their hands-on learning and vocational activities.
In addition, this funding to CTECS will provide clean transportation services and infrastructure to the communities of Ansonia, Bridgeport, Groton, Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, Norwich, Torrington, and Waterbury as well as the Cornwall School District, Regional School District 01, and the Sharon School District.
About the Clean School Bus Grant Competition
EPA recently announced the second round of funding under the BIL Clean School Bus program. The application period is open until August 22, 2023 for $400 Million in competitive grant funding, under which schools can apply for funding for 15 to 50 buses, or transportation contractors (that work with four or more schools) can apply for between 25 and 100 buses.
The $400 million grant opportunity through EPA’s Clean School Bus Program will fund electric, propane, and compressed natural gas (CNG) buses that will produce either zero or low tailpipe emissions compared to their older diesel predecessors.
These emission reductions will result in cleaner air for students riding the buses, bus drivers, school staff working near the bus loading areas, and the communities the buses drive through each day. 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.
EPA is prioritizing applications that will replace buses serving high-need local education agencies, Tribal school districts funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or those receiving basic support payments for students living on Tribal land, and rural areas. In addition, EPA is committed to ensuring the Clean School Bus Program delivers on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative to ensure that at least 40% of the benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Large school districts with communities of concentrated poverty also will be prioritized if their proposal focuses on clean school buses serving those communities.
Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity are (1) state and local governmental entities that provide bus service; (2) public charter school districts, (3) Indian Tribes, Tribal Organizations, or Tribally-controlled Schools, (4) Nonprofit School Transportation Associations, and (5) Eligible Contractors (including OEMs, Dealers, School Bus Service Providers, and Private Bus Fleets).
This 2023 Grant Program is separate from the earlier 2022 Rebate Program, and interested applicants must apply to the Grant Program if interested in this funding opportunity. Grant applicants may submit proposals through grants.gov after reading the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) which is publicly posted at EPA’s Clean School Bus Program webpage. This is a competitive program where applicants will be scored based on how well their proposal meets the criteria set forth within the NOFO. The Clean School Bus Grant Program application period will close on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. Questions about applying may be directed to CleanSchoolBus@epa.gov. The next round of rebate funding under the Clean School Bus Program is scheduled for late 2023.
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
To learn more about the grant program, applicant eligibility, selection process, and informational webinar dates, visit EPA’s Clean School Bus Program webpage.
Read the full article at: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-state-and-local-officials-celebrate-award-over-88m-rebate-and-infrastructure
