Four Eastern Oregon school districts are beneficiaries of the Biden-Harris administration’s latest initiative aimed at improving air quality and student health.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday, May 29, 10 school districts will receive more than $22.6 million with the Pendleton School District and First Student receiving $4.165 million in rebate funding to buy 13 electric school buses.
The EPA in 2023 announced the availability of at least $500 million for its 2023 Clean School Bus rebates. Due to an overwhelming response from school districts across the nation, the EPA doubled the funding to nearly $1 billion. The Pendleton School District partnered with First Student Bus Co. in applying for the funds.
Student First will own and maintain the buses, which will operate primarily for routes within the Pendleton city limits, according to Matt Yoshioka, director of student transportation for the Pendleton School District.
“We look forward to seeing these new buses being added to the Pendleton fleet and hope to see more new and innovative ideas and opportunities happen for our district and students in the future,” Yoshioka said in a press release.
The school district does not have a timeline for when the buses will be purchased and in use. It will take at least a year for the buses to arrive and for the needed infrastructure to be completed.
The Morrow County School District is receiving $2.8 million in rebate funding to purchase 14 electric school buses, and the Umatilla School District is to receive $1.6 million to purchase eight electric buses. The La Grande School District is receiving $2.02 million in rebates to acquire 10 buses.
The nice thing about this for us is we had a number of buses set for rotation,” Umatilla School District Superintendent Heidi Sipe said. “This allows us to have electric buses for use in our district where charging stations aren’t going to be a concern, especially given the smaller geographic region of our school district. We’re a fairly small busing system there in Umatilla, so then we will have our fossil fuel buses for longer trips and cross-state travel where electric buses might not be feasible.”
Sipe said she hopes to have the new buses added to the fleet when the 2024-25 school year begins in September.
“EPA’s Clean School Bus Program is a breath of fresh air for our students, schools, and communities,” EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller said in a press release. “Diesel pollution is linked to asthma and other conditions that harm students’ health, with impacts felt disproportionately in communities of color and tribal communities.”
This allocation from the federal government is part of the broader effort by the EPA to distribute more than $1 billion in rebates, doubling the initial funding due to high demand. The initiative seeks to address concerns over the health effects of diesel pollution on students and surrounding communities. Older diesel buses have been associated with conditions such as asthma, particularly affecting communities of color and tribal nations.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley emphasized the importance of such investments.
“Every child — regardless of the color of their skin, their ZIP code, or how much money their parents make — should be able to travel to and from school without having to be exposed to toxins and dangerous air pollution that drives asthma and other diseases,” he said.
