Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $1 Billion from EPA’s Clean School Bus Program for 389 School Districts
Historic investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law headed to all 50 states in effort to transform America’s school bus fleet
WASHINGTON (October 26, 2022) — Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the Fiscal Year 2022 recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, awarding nearly $1 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 389 school districts spanning 50 states, Washington, DC, and several Tribes and U.S. territories. The grants will help school districts purchase over 2,400 clean school buses that will accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles and produce cleaner air in and around schools and communities.
Vice President Kamala Harris and EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will join schoolchildren, district leaders and community members in Seattle, Washington, later today to make the announcement and highlight how it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save schools money, and better protect children’s health. The investment will also drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, boost domestic manufacturing, and create good-paying jobs.
“President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is accelerating our nation’s transition to electric and low-emission school buses while ensuring a brighter, healthier future for our children,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “As many as 25 million children rely on the bus to get to school each day. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, we are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution. This is just the beginning of our work to build a healthier future, reduce climate pollution, and ensure the clean, breathable air that all our children deserve.”
In May, EPA announced the availability of $500 million for its Clean School Bus Program. Given overwhelming demand from school districts across the country, including in low-income communities, Tribal nations, and territories, EPA nearly doubled the amount of funding that will be awarded to $965 million. The rebate application period closed in August with an outstanding response from school districts seeking to purchase electric and low-emission school buses across the country.
At this time, through a lottery system, the agency has selected 389 applications totaling $913 million to support the purchase of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric. EPA will distribute awards to school districts in all 50 states and Washington D.C., along with several federally recognized Tribes and U.S. territories. School districts identified as priority areas serving low-income, rural, and, or Tribal students make up 99% of the projects that were selected. More applications are under review, and the agency plans to select more to reach the full $965 million in the coming weeks.
Those school districts who received an award can now proceed with purchasing new buses and eligible infrastructure. Selectees will need to submit Payment Request Forms with purchase orders demonstrating they have ordered new buses and eligible infrastructure. EPA is also partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Transportation to provide school districts with robust technical assistance to ensure effective implementation.
These awards are the first $1 billion of a five-year, $5 billion program created by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. EPA is also designing the next rounds of program funding to launch in the coming months, which will include an ambitious grant competition. Through future rounds of funding, EPA will make available another $1 billion for clean school buses in Fiscal Year 2023. EPA encourages school districts not selected in the first round of rebates – and those that did not apply this funding cycle – to participate in future rounds.
About the Clean School Bus Rebate Program
The Clean School Bus Program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money for school districts and produce cleaner air. Diesel air pollution is linked to asthma and other conditions that harm students’ health and cause them to miss school, particularly in communities of color and Tribal communities. Phasing out these diesel engines will ensure cleaner air for students, bus drivers, and school staff working near the bus loading areas, and the communities through which the buses drive each day. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from these bus replacements will also help to address the outsized role of the transportation sector in fueling the climate crisis. The program will also save school districts money as they upgrade school bus fleets, replacing older, heavily polluting buses with brand new clean school buses, while freeing up needed resources for schools.
The 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates prioritize low-income, rural, and Tribal communities. The vast majority of applicants met the priority definition under the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates criteria, resulting in access to more funds for buses and electric vehicle infrastructure for schools in areas that need them the most. The program also delivers on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution.
“What kinds of investments fall within the Justice40 Initiative? The categories of investment are: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, affordable and sustainable housing, training and workforce development, remediation and reduction of legacy pollution, and the development of critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure.”
View the full list of Clean School Bus award recipients here.
Question? Does under-served communities include the communities where the local school district has failed to teach the kids how to read, write, do basic math, and know the history of the country??
Training Courses
Redvector – As part of our education efforts and because of our professional background at KnowYourH20, we have partnered with Red Vector (through the BF Environmental affiliate portal) to facilitate online training courses for individuals, licensed professionals, facility managers, construction, and citizen scientists.
pDH ENgineer -PDHengineer.com, located in Houston, TX, is the leading provider of continuing education exclusively for professional engineers.
Udemy’s mission is to create new possibilities for people and organizations everywhere by connecting them to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a changing world. The education website offers over 183,00 online training videos.
audioEARTH, a podcast from the American Geosciences Institute – Greenhouse
audioEARTH, a podcast from the American Geosciences Institute
Listen now to Episode 6: “Greenhouse“
The word “greenhouse” brings to mind a few different ideas. Agriculture and growth, for starters. Protection from the cold, perhaps. Glass walls. Glass ceilings. Greenhouse also refers to a fundamental idea in climate science – the greenhouse effect. But did you know that the greenhouse effect was first discovered by a woman? In this episode we’re telling the story of this discovery by geoscientist Eunice Foote, and we’re talking with some of the people and organizations that are promoting women in the geosciences.
Guests are Mackenzie Cremeans, Ph.D. (Association of Women Geoscientists), Professor Collin Roesler, Ph.D. (Bowdoin College), and Heather Houlton (American Geosciences Institute).
This is the final episode of season 1! If you’ve enjoyed listening, please consider leaving a review on iTunes. It helps others find the show. Thanks!
audioEARTH connects Earth, science and people by sharing compelling audio stories about geoscience.
Suggested Reading:
Geologists uncover Antarctica’s fossil forests
“Prehistoric polar forests were built for survival, but were not hardy enough to live in ultra-high concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. A geologist is studying the tree fossil record in Antarctica from a mass extinction 250 million years ago, looking for clues to how greenhouse gases affected plants — then and now.”
By the trip’s end, the geologists had found fossil fragments of 13 trees. The discovered fossils reveal that the trees are over 260 million years old, meaning that this forest grew at the end of the Permian Period, before the first dinosaurs.
“People have known about the fossils in Antarctica since the 1910-12 Robert Falcon Scott expedition,” said Gulbranson, a paleoecologist and visiting assistant professor in UWM’s Department of Geosciences. “However, most of Antarctica is still unexplored. Sometimes, you might be the first person to ever climb a particular mountain.”
Learn More – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee- Erik Gulbranson,
Featured Course – Restoring Urban Ecosystems
“The geologic record shows us the beginning, middle and end of climate change events,” Gulbranson said. “With further study, we can better understand how greenhouse gases and climate change affect life on Earth.” (Question- Does his statement put the cart before the horse?)
National Pipeline Mapping System – National Gas and other Hazardous Liquids Pipeline
The U.S. Department of Transportation offers the public access to their National Pipeline Mapping System via a free online, interactive map and an iPhone app. It displays general information for pipelines carrying gas and hazardous liquids, liquefied natural gas plants, and breakout tanks within a county-wide zone.
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While the mapping system is not to be used as a precise identifier of pipelines in a location, the public can access general knowledge about potential sources of contamination in their area. By turning on the visual indicators for accidents and incidents in the area, it’s possible to judge remediation efforts based on past events. Watershed organizations can submit a data request report or find the companies that are operating pipelines in your area. The system is also a useful tool for community outreach and education efforts, whether you’re simply identifying topics for public forums and workshops or looking critically at local remediation efforts.
Featured Training Program
Could plate tectonics be tied to the development of life on Earth?
Could plate tectonics be tied to the development of life on Earth?
Earth is the only planet known to sustain life. It is also the only planet with active plate tectonics. Coincidence? Most geoscientists think not. In part two of EARTH Magazine’s feature on plate tectonics, EARTH correspondent Mary Caperton Morton examines the links between two phenomena that are unique to our planet.
Although other planets in our solar system possess active volcanoes, faults, and other evidence of surface deformation, Earth’s global plate tectonics is “a very rare animal,” according to Chris Hawkesworth, a geochemist at the University of Bristol in England. And life beyond our planet is rarer still.
The key ingredient for both seems to be water: Aqueous environments spawned the first single-celled organisms, and minerals become weaker when water is embedded in their crystalline structure – weak enough for Earth’s eggshell crust to crack. The development of complex life appears even more closely tied to tectonics, and that may just be a missing piece in the evolutionary puzzle.
Read part two of the plate tectonics double-feature in EARTH Magazine, now online.
The July issue of EARTH is now available online. Read the cover story, “Burying the Sky,” to learn how two projects – one in Iceland, the other in eastern Washington state – are taking advantage of their common underlying geology to capture and store greenhouse gases as carbonate rock. For these stories and more, The Conversation
Forestry Training and Tree Planting Grants in Pennsylvania PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
TreeVitalize state-wide 2017 grant applications available
The Pennsylvania Urban & Community Forestry Council has secured funding for tree planting grants and innovative projects grants throughout the state through our partnership with the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Tree planting grants will be available to Pennsylvania municipalities and non-profit agencies throughout the state for projects related to tree plantings with a strong volunteer base. Applicants are required to have the assistance of their local service forester and/or Penn State extension forester in developing a planting plan. Interested applicants should begin by contacting their local DCNR service forester or Penn State Extension Forester and include them in any conversations concerning proposed tree plantings. Those foresters can provide necessary guidance pertaining to grant opportunities as well as native species and sustainable projects. Applications are due September 30, 2016. Notifications will be posted by November 1st with grant terms to include January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017.
For more information, or for a copy of the grant application, please contact Jessica Cavey, Development and Grants Coordinator, at (717) 599-8650 or c-jcavey@pa.gov.
Tree Tenders on-site classes
Join thousands of other concerned citizens like yourself. Become a Tree Tender and help increase tree canopy cover in your community. Tree Tenders® is a training program that empowers concerned residents to make dramatic strides towards restoring and caring for the tree canopy in their communities. The course is designed for lay people and experts alike. Become one of the Tree Tenders restoring and tending your part of the forest. Instruction is provided by DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry, in partnership with Penn State Extension, PHS, and other local urban forestry experts.
Tree Tenders training includes: Tree Biology, Urban Stresses on Trees, Tree Identification,Tree Pruning and Root Care, Tree Planting Techniques, Community Organizing
Upcoming classes offered by Pennsylvania Horticultural Society:
September 21, 28, and October 5 – Philadelphia, PA – 5:45 PM to 9 PM
September 22, 29, and October 6 – New Hope, PA – 5:45 PM to 9 PM
September 28 and October 5 and 19 – Haverford, PA – 5:45 PM to 9 PM
Register online at http://phsonline.org/programs/tree-tenders
Stay tuned for next month’s email for dates and locations of other Tree Tenders classes around Pennsylvania this fall.
Managing Invasive Plants
August 19, 2016, 8:30 AM to 3 PM
Williamsport, PA
Invasive weeds and pests are a major threat to our natural and cultivated landscapes, spreading quickly and displacing or killing native plants. The Managing Invasive Plants program will provide participants with the knowledge and skills to properly identify invasive plants and develop strategies for treatment and control. Topics discussed will include invasive species identification, invasive plant control, and herbicide application methods, equipment, and safety. A morning classroom session will be followed by an afternoon field demonstration.
PDA pesticide applicators update credits will be offered: Category 05 (4 credits), Category 06 (4 credits), Category 10 (4 credits), Category 23 (4 credits), Core (4 Credits)
ost: $35
Online registration is available at http://extension.psu.edu/invasive-plants
For more information, contact Vincent Cotrone at (570) 825-1701 or vjc1@psu.edu.
2016 Tree Canopy Conference: Preserving Trees in Our Communities
October 13, 2016, 9 AM to 5 PM
Haverford College, Stokes Hall Auditorium
Why is Tree Canopy So Important? A healthy tree canopy provides important ecosystem services including air pollution removal, storm water runoff reduction, and energy conservation. Tree canopy provides habitat for wildlife, and also has a positive impact on human wellbeing, community cohesion, and economic stimuli. In this conference, we will look at tree canopy preservation and reduction, and consider some of the greatest threats communities are facing as they try to preserve canopy cover.
Featured Speakers:
- Joseph Townsend, University of Delaware – The important benefits of trees in the urban environment
- Jason Henning, USDA Forest Service – Computerized tools, like iTree, to measure canopy cover
- Scott Wade, Longwood Gardens – Pennsylvania Champion Trees
Cost: $125 (includes lunch and break refreshments)
Continuing Education Units: This conference carries CEUs for ISA certified arborists and PA landscape architects.
Register online at https://online.morrisarboretum.org/canopy
For more information or to register by phone, call the Morris Arboretum Education Department at (215) 247-5777.
This conference sponsored by Morris Arboretum School of Arboriculture and Haverford College Arboretum. Co- Sponsored by John E. Ward & Company Tree Experts.
| Brian Wolyniak
Extension Urban Forester Email: bjw229@psu.edu (412) 482-3455 The Penn State Center – Pittsburgh Extension and Outreach 1435 Bedford Avenue, Suite A Pittsburgh, PA 15219 |
Julianne Schieffer
Extension Urban Forester Email: jxs51@psu.edu (610) 489-4315 Penn State Ecosystem Science & Management 1015 Bridge Rd Collegeville PA 19426 |
More Training Courses in Water Resources and Ecology.
Webinar Identifying Urban and Industrial GHG Sources Using Continuous d13C Observations
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) come from a variety of natural and anthropogenic sources and have a powerful global warming impact. Understanding the magnitude and distribution of these emissions spatially and temporally is critical to evaluating present and future climate impacts. Stable isotope signatures of methane and carbon dioxide are often employed to investigate the relative importance of various sources (and sinks).
Picarro invites you to a webinar on Identifying Urban and Industrial GHG Sources Using Continuous d13C Observations. This live webinar, featuring Felix Vogel (Researcher, LSCE) and David Kim-Hak (Product Manager, Picarro), will focus on GHG source identification. Felix will share his experiences in monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane concentrations and stable isotopes. David will present information about how Picarro technology has enabled continuous and in-situ measurements of stable isotopes, including providing information on the Picarro G2201-i for best-in-class greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration and isotopic measurements. If you are interested in learning about urban and industrial GHG source identification, this is the webinar for you!
Picarro Live Webinar:
Identifying Urban and Industrial GHG Sources Using Continuous d13C Observations
Register
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Other Training Courses
Watershed Management – Stream Ecology-Wetlands
Fracking- Hydraulic Fracturing
Colorado Snowmastodon Mammoths and Mastodons – Global Warming Glacial Interglacial
“While expanding a reservoir in Snowmass Village, Colorado, workers stumbled upon a big bone. And then another, and another, and another. Realizing they found something special, the workers called in the experts at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), who drove several hours to examine the site. Scientists quickly realized that this was no ordinary boneyard. Work on the reservoir halted, as DMNS scientists called in dozens of volunteers and experts from around the country to help excavate the site before construction continued. In a few weeks of excavating, the scientists and volunteers of the Snowmastodon Project uncovered an entire Pleistocene ecosystem, including fossils of giant ground sloths, long-horned bison, North American camels, mammoths, mastodons, insects and ancient plants.
The dig site was as renowned for its geologically unique setting as the community around it is known for skiing. The setting, an ancient alpine lake on top of a terrestrial high-point, meant that it once attracted animals as a watering hole, but was able to evade the destructive processes associated with glaciations. Learn more about what the site is showing scientists about past glacial and interglacial periods and what the site might suggest for the future, and explore the thousands of bones found at this unique site in the January 2016 EARTH Magazine cover story: http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/snowmastodon-project-mammoths-and-mastodons-lived-high-life-colorado.
Alongside exclusive features like the Snowmastodon Project, EARTH Magazine continues to bring you unique and groundbreaking stories, such as new research that suggests intentionally burned floors in African huts can record Earth’s magnetic field, ongoing research that suggests the Midcontinent Rift may be a hybrid rift-large igneous province, and breaking news indicating that treated water from Southern California is so pure that other, more ominous elements are leaching into it from strata surrounding the aquifer. Don’t miss our feature on the great debate about whether mantle plumes exist. All this and more is available at www.earthmagazine.org.”
Education Corner
More on Climate, Geology, Etc
Earth Dynamics: Geologic Time
Plate Tectonics – We are floating on magma.
Global Warming
Valley View Holds First High School Energy Fair Archbald Pennsylvania
“Northeastern Pennsylvania gas companies went to Valley View High School in Lackawanna County to sponsor an energy fair introducing youth to energy careers.
The growth and dedication that has been displayed between the natural gas industry and educational institutions over the years has been staggering. While much of that relationship has been amongst local area colleges, high schools have been becoming closely involved too, as evidenced by the Energy Education Program offered at Valley View High School in Archbald.”
As this blog has noted before, the Energy Education Program offered by Valley View is the first of its kind in the state, as it brings energy-specific curriculum to the high school level and was developed as a collaboration between industry experts and school officials. The course covers nine different types of energy and regularly features speakers from the various industries.
But on Friday, Dec. 18, Valley View took the next big step in its program and hosted its first Energy Fair, which was planned and organized by the Energy Education Program class.
Read More about the Event and Program
We were planning to go to the event, but the presenter became ill. Prior to the event, we did conduct training and educational course on energy conservation and Geothermal Energy.
Presentation on Sustainability Training (pdf)
Our Presentation on Careers in Energy – The Great Earth Engine (pdf)
More training Opportunities in Energy and the Environment
How you can help the Water Science Basics ! Trying to encourage a positive change in Pennsylvania.
Timely Article – Residential Solar and Uniform Commercial Code: A Primer on Solar-Financiers’ Rights in a Foreclosure
Source: Travis Lowder, NREL April 24, 2015
“U.S. residential solar PV has been growing at a breakneck pace. Annual installations have increased nearly five-fold in the past five years and, in 2014, surpassed annual commercial capacity additions for the first time in the history of PV market tracking. Additionally, nearly a third of the entire solar industry’s workforce — comprising over 174,000 employees — works in residential solar.
This article will address these questions, but will first provide some background on the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a critical piece of the puzzle. If you are already familiar with the workings of the UCC, then it may be best to skip to the section on “Why It Matters.
Security Interests and the UCC- Many solar financiers today offer at least the following three products: leases, power purchase agreements (PPAs), and loans.
Why It Matters: Fixtures vs. Personal Property- PMSIs will hold up if the collateral is regarded as personal property under the UCC. This may not be the case if they are regarded as “fixtures.”
What Can Be Done?”
This is a must read article if you are considering a solar or home-based renewable energy system. Words do matter !
Read the full article.
New Program – Healthy Neighborhood Program
Everything we do began with an idea.
We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot. Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us. Follow us on Twitter
Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization. Through our program we can recycle cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras. If your interested, please contact us. Our new PSAs.
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!