*»EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency


Office ofTrarisportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-21-075
December 2021
Clean School Bus
Program
Building a Better America
with the 2021 Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law
School buses travel over four billion
miles each year, providing the safest
transportation to and from school for
more than 25 million American children every
day. However, diesel exhaust from these buses
can contribute to air quality problems and has
a negative impact on human health, especially
for children, who have a faster breathing rate
than adults and whose lungs are not yet fully
developed.This funding to support low- and
zero-emission vehicles that transport our nation's
children will benefit communities across the
United States, especially communities that have
been historically underserved. Schools bus fleets
will benefit by using the newest and cleanest
technologies available.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provides
$5 billion over five years (FY22-26) for the
replacement of existing school buses with low-
and zero-emission school buses. Under the Clean
School Bus Program, half of the available funding
is dedicated for zero-emission school buses and
half is for clean school buses.
Zero-emission school bus: a school bus that
produces zero exhaust emission of any air
pollutant and any greenhouse gas.
Clean school bus: As defined by the BIL, a
school bus that reduces emissions and is
operated entirely or in part using an alternative
fuel or is a zero-emission bus.
Eligible Recipients
Eligible recipients are defined as:
State or Local Governmental Entities
That are responsible for:
•	Providing school bus service to one or more
public school systems; or
•	Purchase of school buses.
Eligible Contractors
For profit, not-for-profit, or nonprofit entity that
has the capacity to:
•	Sell clean school buses, zero-emission buses,
charging or fueling infrastructure, or other
equipment needed to charge, fuel, or maintain
clean or zero-emission school buses; or
•	Arrange financing for such a sale.
Nonprofit School Transportation
Associations

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Tribes,Tribal Organizations, andTribally-
Controlled Schools
That are responsible for:
•	Providing school bus service to one or more
Bureau-funded schools; or
•	Purchase of school buses.
Funding
Awards up to 100% of the cost of the replacement
bus and charging or fueling infrastructure are
possible, and EPA may award funding for bus
replacement and infrastructure through grants,
rebates, or contracts.
EPA may prioritize applications that propose to
replace buses that serve:
•	High-need local education agencies;
•	Tribal schools;
•	Rural schools;
•	Low-income area schools; or
•	Applications that provide cost share through
public-private partnerships, grants from other
entities, or school bonds.
In making awards for low- or zero-emission
clean school buses, EPA will consider the
following criteria without preference to any
individual criterion:
•	Lowest overall cost of bus replacement;
•	Local conditions, including the length of bus
routes and weather conditions;
•	Technologies that most reduce emissions; and
•	Whether funds will bring new technologies
to scale or promote cost parity between old
technology and new technology.
Usage Requirements
All replacement low- and zero-emission school
buses must:
•	Be operated as part of the school fleet for which
the award was made for not less than 5 years;
While new buses meet EPA's tougher
emission standards, many older buses
continue to emit pollutants that can be
harmful to health like nitrogen oxides (NOx)
or particulate matter (PM). Students are
particularly vulnerable to air pollution inside
and near older diesel school buses, and these
pollutants increase their risk of asthma
and other respiratory illness. Bus drivers
and other school staff are also exposed to
diesel exhaust.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides
an unprecedented amount of funding to
clean a substantial portion of the nation's
fleet of nearly 500,000 school buses.These
new cleaner school bus replacements will
produce either zero or low tailpipe emissions
compared to their older diesel predecessors.
School bus upgrades funded under this
program will result in cleaner air on the bus,
in bus loading areas, and in the communities
in which they operate.
•	Be maintained, operated, and charged or fueled
according to manufacturer recommendations
or state requirements; and
•	Not be manufactured or retrofitted with a
power unit or any other technology that creates
pollution within the school bus, such as an
unvented diesel heater.
Learn More
Coming soon! EPA is developing a new website
and will post more information in the coming
months about the Clean School Bus Program
at https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus.This
new page will feature information about electric
and alternative fuel buses, technical resources
for fleets about infrastructure considerations,
information about upcoming funding
opportunities, and details about how to apply.

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