EPA awards millions to Texas school districts to purchase electric school buses

AUSTIN – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today the selection of 67 applicants to receive nearly $1 billion through EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. The awards will help selectees purchase over 2,700 clean school buses in 280 school districts serving over 7 million students across 37 states. Nineteen school districts in Texas, including Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio ISDs, will receive funding to purchase electric school buses.

In response Luke Metzger, Executive Director of Environment Texas, released the following statement:

“Electric school buses protect students’ health, reduce emissions that are fueling the climate crisis and benefit school districts by saving money in fuel and maintenance costs. This new round of federal funding is a chance for school districts to better serve their students and their communities – and to become more environmentally sustainable. The number of grant applications for this program shows us that schools are ready to go electric- they just need the resources to get there.”

The school districts receiving awards are:

Alief ISD ($7.9 million for 20 buses)
Austin ISD ($6.26 million for 25 buses)
San Antonio ISD ($5.9 million for 15 buses)
Fort Worth ISD ($6.1 million for 15 buses)