EPA to Reform $5 Billion ‘Clean School Bus’ Program

Approximately $2.7 billion has been disbursed, 90 percent of which went to electric buses.

School buses bring in players from the Burbank Bulldogs and the Pasadena Bulldogs before their game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on March 19, 2021. Harry How/Getty Images

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revamping the Biden administration’s Clean School Bus (CSB) program, which focused on installing electric buses at U.S. schools, the agency said in a statement released on Feb. 19. The overhauled program will focus on providing school districts with “increased choice and affordable options” for school buses.

In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the EPA to create the CSB program and provide $5 billion over fiscal years 2022–2026 to replace existing school buses with zero-emission school buses. The Biden administration distributed about $2.7 billion in these funds, 90 percent of which was to fund electric school buses. The rest went toward propane-fueled vehicles.