This week, the Beneficial Electrification League sent comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on its Clean School Bus program. Our message was simple and straightforward:
"We urge EPA to commit to fully fund the first electric school bus and related infrastructure in all eligible rural school districts applying for grants. For many school districts, especially small school districts, still struggling with the challenges of COVID 19, applying for a grant to purchase its first electric school bus is an effort that could result in diverting resources from other priorities. Therefore, it is critical to minimize the potential financial burden by assuring the first electric bus in a school district, as well as the charging infrastructure and warranty or maintenance, is covered in total by the grant."
We want to reduce barriers to participation because once the students, the drivers, the parents and the school officials experience these buses first-hand, there is no going back.