Win for Clean Air: EPA Electric School Bus Grants Reduce Air Pollution for Urban School Kids

Union City — This morning, dignitaries including U.S. Senator Cory Booker, U.S. EPA Region II Chief of Staff Olivia Glenn, Rep. Rob Menendez, Union City Mayor State Senator Brian Stack and representatives from Van-Con gathered at the Jose Marti STEM Academy in Union City to celebrate the announcement by EPA of $19 million to New Jersey school districts to purchase electric school buses. The EPA announced the 2023 recipients of nearly $1 billion in Clean School Bus Program grants, funded from President Biden’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The EPA has awarded clean school buses to over 67 applicants, including 42 clean buses headed directly to 5 New Jersey school districts including Union City. Other districts include Bloomfield Township School District, Newark Public School District, Elizabeth Public Schools and the Lakewood Township School District.

The EPA Clean School Bus Program is investing billions of dollars into replacing dirty diesel and propane school buses with clean electric alternatives. The pollutants from fossil fuel buses exacerbate the climate crisis and worsen air pollution, which negatively impact the health of our students, staff, and drivers who are exposed daily on their ride to school. Electric school buses produce zero tailpipe emissions, resulting in better air quality, further safeguarding our most vulnerable populations from air toxics and advancing environmental justice. The EPA grant dollars will make electric buses more accessible to New Jerseyans and provide our students with a safer ride to school.

Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey, released the following statement:

“This is a huge win for the lungs of New Jersey kids in Union City to use federal EPA funds to electrify our school bus fleet so that we can finally dump dirty diesel fumes. This generation of kids should be the last generation that gets a toxic daily dose of diesel fumes on the way to school. This investment of more than 40 electric school buses can be a downpayment to accelerate the rollout of more electric school buses across districts – especially in our cities. We thank the EPA and President Biden for the vision to include school bus electrification as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and for ensuring communities with more air pollution received more electric school bus funding this year, Senator Cory Booker for championing this issue for years in the Senate, Rep. Menendez for ensuring we are investing in reducing air pollution in Hudson County and Mayor Brian Stack for fighting for cleaner city for the kids of his great city.”

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