Houston ISD gets $6.2M grant to add 25 'clean' school buses to fleet

Houston ISD will receive a $6.2 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to invest in 25 new low-emissions school buses, including 15 electric buses.

The funding was awarded through the EPA's Clean School Bus Program, which provides money to school districts across the U.S. to replace diesel-powered school buses with electric or low-emissions buses, according to an Oct. 26 press release from the EPA. HISD was among 13 Texas school districts to receive grants from the program, which awarded just under $51 million in total to facilitate the purchase of 144 buses.

The purpose of the program is to accelerate the transition to zero-emissions vehicles and better protect the health of children, bus drivers and school staff by producing cleaner air around schools, according to the EPA. The funding was made available as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021.

"Thanks to the Biden-[Vice President Kamala] Harris administration, we are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution," EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. "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."

With the funding awarded, HISD must submit a payment request form with purchase orders to the EPA to show the new buses have been ordered and are eligible for the grant funding.

Other Texas school districts to receive grants included Dallas ISD and Socorro ISD, which got $7.6 million and $9.9 million, respectively.

The EPA has given out $913 million in funding nationwide so far as part of the first round of the program, which will replace 2,463 buses, according to the release. In future rounds, another $1 billion in grants will be provided is each of the next four years.

The EPA received applications for funding from around 2,000 districts in total. A waitlist published on the EPA's website includes Austin ISD, which is aiming to add three electric buses, as well as several other Houston-area districts—Spring ISD and Alief ISD, which are seeking to add 10 and 12 electric buses, respectively.

Districts were chosen for the first round of funding based on a model that prioritized "high-need" districts, including districts with 20% of more of their students living in poverty.