Tribes getting new clean energy school bus

Washington state school districts and entities were awarded nearly $8.4 million in grants this week to replace diesel school buses with zero-emissions models – including funds for one new bus for the Colville Tribes.

One EPA grant for $260,000 will replace a Class 6 diesel refuse hauler on the reservation with a new zero-emissions school bus.

The Colville Reservation is considered a “Justice 40 neighborhood,” an environmental justice designation stemming from a Biden administration executive order. The order set a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, and affordable housing initiatives will go to disadvantaged communities, marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

According to the EPA, exhaust from diesel-powered buses not only contributes to air quality problems, but has negative health impacts, particularly for children, whose lungs are not yet fully developed and who have a faster breathing rate than adults.  Switching to electric buses from diesel buses not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but results in cleaner air on the bus for kids and drivers, in bus loading areas, and in communities where buses are driven, and lowers maintenance costs for school districts.

The remainder of the $8 million distributed within Washington state will go to several school districts in the Puget Sound region with notably poor air quality.  

Funding for these grants comes from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant program, which was established by the Inflation Reduction Act. The grants were awarded by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, of which Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell serves as chair.