Larisa Manescu, larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the launch of the 2024 Clean School Bus Rebates Program, which will offer funding for school districts to move dirty diesel buses off their routes and transition to a cleaner school bus fleet. EPA will accept applications through January 9, 2025 and expects to award $965 million for new, zero-emission and clean school buses.
The Clean School Bus program was established through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021. The program is funded for five years and will distribute a total of $5 billion to swiftly help school districts across the country replace their fleets of dirty diesel buses and transition to cleaner buses.
Every day, millions of schoolchildren ride in a dirty diesel bus to get between their homes and schools. Research has shown that this frequent exposure can cause kids to miss school and impact their learning. Diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen and can cause or worsen respiratory illnesses like asthma, and kids are especially vulnerable to these health impacts due to their developing lungs.
Today’s announcement coincides with Climate Week, an annual celebration that brings together policymakers, business leaders, and advocates from all over the world focused on accelerating the transition to zero-emission technology and promoting climate action.
The Sierra Club is a founding member of the Alliance for Electric School Buses (AESB), a national network of advocates urging the Biden-Harris administration to prioritize school bus electrification so that every child in the U.S. has a clean commute to school. The AESB is working to ensure that the 25 million children who take a school bus each day get there on an electric school bus, starting with the communities most harmed by air pollution.
In response to today’s EPA announcement, Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign, released the following statement:
“Sierra Club is thrilled that America’s school bus fleet is going through an electric revolution. The EPA’s Clean School Bus program continues to deliver clean buses and clean air to school districts across the country, benefiting children and bus drivers each day. All too often, young people in underserved communities are exposed to diesel-spewing buses and burdened by respiratory illnesses. Shifting to electric school buses is a perfect example of how we can improve the health of millions of students and take climate action.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.