Eleven Missouri school districts will be splitting $535,000 in rebate opportunities to replace 26 older buses with clean-energy models, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announce this month.
The $535,000 in rebates going to Missouri comes from the $10 million in funding for the 2021 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebates, the EPA states in the March 8 announcement. Missouri's 26 new buses are part of the 444 clean-energy buses that DERA rebates will help pay for nationwide, according to the announcement.
“This funding is a vivid demonstration of how local school bus infrastructure can be upgraded," Meghan A. McCollister, administrator of EPA Region 7, said in the announcement, "while also improving air quality in communities."
EPA reports the districts in Missouri marked for DERA funding include Windsor C-1, $160,000 for eight school buses; Charleston R-1, $60,000 for three buses; De Soto Public School District 73, $40,000 for two buses; Hannibal Public School District 60, $75,000 for three buses; Marion County R-II, $20,000 for one bus; Marquand-Zion R-VI, $20,000 for one bus; New Franklin R-1, $40,000 for two buses; North Callaway R-1, $40,000, for two buses; Portageville, $40,000 for two buses; Republic R-III, $20,000 for one bus; and Shelby County R-IV, $20,000 for one bus.
The DERA School Bus Rebates program is one of two EPA programs to fund school-bus upgrades in the nation's school systems, according to the agency. The second program, 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Electric School Bus Rebates, provides $7 million in funding for new buses in lower-income and underserved communities.
"The two rebate awards total approximately $17 million in combined funding for schools and bus fleet owners to replace older, highly polluting diesel school buses," EPA states in the announcement. "Replacing these buses will improve air quality in and around schools and communities, reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and better protect children’s health overall."
The EPA also announced it will launch its Clean School Bus rebate program later this spring, which will provide $5 billion over five years to upgrade all of the country's school buses to low- or zero-emission models. The funding is part of President Joseph R. Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the EPA states.
“This round of school bus grants from the American Rescue Plan is just the beginning,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in announcement. "The unprecedented $5 billion investment that’s on the way for clean and zero-emission school buses from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will transform how millions of children get to school and help build a better America for a new generation.”
