WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Three East Texas school districts have received federal funding to go toward electric school buses.
The Environmental Protection Agency offers rebates to replace existing school buses with clean and zero-emission models to reduce harmful emissions from older, dirtier buses.
This funding is offered because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021.
Kilgore and Martinsville ISDs will each receive $1.58 million to get four electric buses. Cushing ISD received $790,000 to get two electric buses, according to the EPA.
This is the first round of funding from the EPA Clean School Bus Program that President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established with a historic $5 billion investment for low- and zero-emission school buses over the next five years, the EPA website said.
The agency received about 2,000 applications asking for nearly $4 billion for over 12,000 buses from across all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and federally recognized tribes.
Last year's rebate program will fund around 2,500 school bus replacements, the EPA said.