TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE REPORT
By Bill Beren • Beren1@verizon.net
Four years of hard work finally paid off for members of the NJ Chapter’s Transportation Committee when Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law A1282 (Stanley) and companion bill S759 (Diegnan, Greenstein). The bill allocates $45 million spread over 3 years to subsidize the cost of electric school buses in the northern, central, and southern regions of the state, with emphasis on funding electric buses in economically challenged or overburdened communities.
The committee worked closely with the Assembly and Senate sponsors to amend the bill to establish minimum standards for the buses, such as minimum mileage, telematics to monitor vehicle performance, operator and maintenance training, and reporting. The Club’s amendments also moved responsibility for managing the grants to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) instead of the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and allocated $750,000 per year to the DEP to administer the grant and make recommendations on how to expand the program to replace the 22,000 diesel- and gasoline-powered school buses in the state. Other amendments require that 50% of the grants go to low income, urban, and environmental justice communities and that districts that do not contract out their bus services are also guaranteed 50% of the funding.
In a joint press release with Environment New Jersey, our director, Anjuli Ramos Busot, stated that “not only will this transition from diesel to electric reduce air pollution and protect our kids’ health, it will also provide an economic benefit to school districts.”
“We look forward to working with the DEP to fast-track the implementation of this legislation so that the $15 million in grants for school districts can be awarded by the end of this year. There is a clear demand from school districts to electrify their school bus fleets and this bill can start to meet that demand,” said Bill Beren, transportation chair with the NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Since February 2020, the state has funded the purchase of 77 electric school buses by 21 school districts, school bus contractors, and private schools using funds received under the Volkswagen settlement and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) proceeds from sales of CO2 . According to a press release from the governor’s office, funding for the electric school buses under this bill will come from the general fund, and we are hopeful that the DEP continues to provide additional funding from RGGI to increase the number of buses that can be purchased.
The committee is also sponsoring, in association with partners Environment New Jersey and the Clean Cities Coalition, numerous workshops around the state to educate school district personnel about various federal and state grant programs. We have arranged with a local school bus dealer to display a school bus at these workshops. And we will once again be an exhibitor at the NJ School Boards Association to promote electric school buses.
Check our webpage for articles, Power Point presentations, a buyers’ guide, and other resources for school districts interested in going electric.