The Biden-Harris Administration announced the recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2023 Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, funded by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. EPA selected a number of Texas school districts to receive funding, including Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD to receive $2,200,000. The overall funding for Texas is $31,510,000, which will be used to purchase a statewide total of 123 new and clean school buses to replace older, diesel-fueled school buses that have been linked to asthma and other conditions that harm the health of students and surrounding communities.
These rebates will help school districts purchase over 3,400 clean school buses—92% of which will be electric— to accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles and produce cleaner air in and around schools and communities. Under the Program’s multiple grant and rebate funding opportunities to date, the EPA has awarded almost $3 billion to fund approximately 8,500 school bus replacements at over 1,000 schools.
In September 2023, the EPA announced the availability of at least $500 million for its 2023 Clean School Bus rebates. The rebate application period closed in February 2024 with an overwhelming response from school districts across the country seeking to purchase electric and clean school buses. Given the level of demand, including from low-income communities, Tribal nations, and U.S. territories, the EPA doubled the initial amount of available funding in this round to a total of nearly $1 billion.
This third round of funding will build on the previous investments of almost $2 billion via the Clean School Bus Program’s 2022 Rebates and 2023 Grants to further improve air quality in and around schools, reduce greenhouse gas pollution fueling the climate crisis, and help accelerate America’s leadership in developing the clean vehicles of the future.
The selections announced will provide funds to school districts in 47 states and Washington D.C., along with several federally recognized Tribes and U.S. territories. Prioritized school districts in low-income, rural, and Tribal communities make up approximately 45 percent of the selected projects and will receive approximately 67 percent of the total funding. The program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution.
The EPA is also partnering with other federal agencies through the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to provide school districts with robust technical assistance to ensure effective implementation.
