One of Kamala Harris' most high-profile duties as vice president was spearheading the federal government's multibillion-dollar effort to deploy thousands of electric buses in hundreds of school districts across the country.
But years into the program, only a fraction of it has been completed, while dozens of school districts have dropped out of the program entirely. [emphasis, links added]
As part of the first tranche of funding for a clean school bus program two years ago, Harris and EPA Administrator Michael Regan issue nearly $1 billion in federal tax rebates Covers 389 school districts in all 50 states Helped deliver a total of 2,463 electric school buses.
According to data reviewed by the F.B.I. washington free beacon, Only 27 of these districts certified to the EPA that their buses had been delivered and that the replacement diesel buses had been discarded.
In general, A total of 60 battery-electric or low-emission propane-fueled school buses are deployed in these districts.
Another 55 regions have withdrawn from the programbased on other federal data shared with federal agencies free beacon, Various technical and infrastructure issues were cited.
in other words: More school districts have dropped out of the program than have completed it.
“EPA anticipates that the transition to newer technology school buses will take time, which is why the project term is two years, with the option to extend if needed and justified,” said EPA spokesperson Shayla Powell.
Powell did not deny that 60 school buses had been deployed as part of the program, but she explained Three months left until EPA deadline Either submit closing documents showing they have acquired the bus and scrap the old bus, or apply for an extension.
The broad time frame is intended to give districts time to test and integrate the new buses into their fleets. Powell did not say how many buses were deployed in total in districts that have not yet submitted closure materials.
Slow progress on clean school bus program is a blow to the Biden-Harris administration as it tries to Fast access to billions of dollars in green energy and climate funding—Exclusions specified in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 signed by President Biden.
It's also a blow to Harris, who takes much of the credit for the plan, which she described earlier this year as “an investment in our children, their health and their education.”
The Clean School Buses program was created nearly three years ago as a provision of the 2021 Infrastructure Act, which earmarked $5 billion for the EPA to be distributed over five years in the form of rebates and grants.
Since Harris' initial announcement, Agency unveils one $1 billion grant and second rebate for 280 school districts $900 million worth for another 530 districts. None of these areas have any buses deployed under the scheme.
Jeff Dicks, superintendent of the Newell-Fonda and Albert City-Truesdale school systems in northern Iowa, told the New York Times: “It will only happen if the bus fares are as high as what we charge. That makes economic sense. free beacon. “The costs are so high that the cost savings are not worth it.”
The Dix School District is one of the districts receiving funding for a clean school bus program—Albert City-Truesdale was awarded $395,000 as part of a partial rebate in October 2022.
The money was used Funding a new electric bus and corresponding charging stations. Dix said the district will be able to save money on fuel, but only because the buses are getting them for free.
Based on EPA funding calculations, The average cost of a new school bus under the Clean School Bus Program is as high as $370,000, more than three times the cost of a traditional diesel bus.
This means the cost Replacing all 547,000 yellow school buses in the United States with electric buses would exceed $202 billion.
Kenny Bell, superintendent of the Wolfe County School District in central Kentucky, also said he was pleased with the vehicles after they were made available for free. An electric bus. “We love our electric buses,” Bell said.
However, for districts that have yet to deploy any buses or have dropped out of the program, the problem is far less simple.
“Ultimately, all we solve is performance issues“, Tom O'Malley, superintendent of the Modoc Union Unified School District in northern California, said in an interview.
Modoc School District exits clean school bus program in March 2023, five months after electing it Received $2.4 million to purchase six electric buses.
O'Malley says EPA's funding gap is about $50,000 per vehicle,mean The bus is more expensive than expected and Even though the plan is intended to provide free buses, it will still cost his school district hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But he emphasized Performance issues are a bigger hurdlespecifically pointing out the performance of electric buses in rural and cold weather conditions.
“We get very cold in the winter – it's below freezing and it's cold here for about nine months of the year,” he continued. “basically, We're told you can't run the heater, which means you can't defrost the windows because they use too much battery power. So, we were told they could go 200 miles on a charge, but people on site told us a fully loaded bus could go 70 miles. That won't work.
The superintendent of the Fall River Unified School District, also about 90 miles west of the Modoc School District in California, echoed O'Malley's concerns. Fall River does not receive any EPA funding for electric buses.
“We don’t want to put our kids on a bus that’s not guaranteed to get there, Especially in rural areas,” Fall River Superintendent Morgan Nugent told reporters. free beaconadding that relying on electric buses would return his district to the “Pony Express era.”
“Those who make policy need to leave [and actually] Look at how this affects the rest of the country.
The Lakeland Union High School District in northern Wisconsin withdrew from the program for similar reasons, namely Questions about infrastructure, range and cold weather performance, Robert Smudde, the district's chief executive, told Free beacon.
“We cannot afford to 'test' this type of technology,” Smulders said. A year after Harris named Lakeland the winner, Lakeland ultimately turned down a federal rebate worth nearly $4 million for 10 electric buses.
The Wayne City School District in southern Illinois declined a $1.2 million rebate for three new buses, Superintendent Nicole Henson said in an email. Her district dropped out of the program over mileage issues.
Energy experts and industry groups have long warned that pushing too quickly toward electric buses and electric heavy-duty vehicles would encounter a series of obstacles.
In addition to the shorter driving range of electric vehicles than traditional vehicles, Charging infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles requires significant grid upgrades and increased generation.
Curt Macysyn, executive director of the National School Transportation Association, said: “As with a comprehensive plan of this nature, there are certainly going to be some challenges, and frankly, those who don't operate yellow buses are going to be aware and Fully understand these challenges. The development of electric school buses creates a new ecosystem that requires collaboration with power companies and charging infrastructure companies.
Overall, the EPA said in its annual report on the program that most divestments were due to “The challenge of coordinating with power companies, sometimes requiring lengthy and expensive power infrastructure upgrades to install [electric vehicle supply equipment]or concerns about the maintenance and range of electric buses.
Internal spreadsheet shared with EPA free beacon show Cold climate concerns, technology issues and increased infrastructure costs were also cited as reasons for withdrawal.
“I suspect many school districts are reconsidering purchasing electric school buses because they cost about three times as much as traditional buses,” said Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.Oversight Subcommittee told Free beacon. “Additionally, I presume the local school system is hesitating due to concerns Cost of installing charging infrastructure and Cost and reliability of maintaining charging stations.“
“Apparently, the district chose to withdraw from the program because many projects were not completed, and the program performed well below expectations,” he continued.
Griffith, along with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Kathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.) and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), sent a letter to EPA Administrator Regan in April expressing Concerns about the feasibility of the plan and its implementation.
Lawmakers further highlighted the findings of the December 2023 EPA Inspector General report, This exposes the possibility of fraud.
Inspector General Investigation The Clean School Bus Project concluded Some school districts don't even know they've applied for rebates on their 2022 subsidies.
The report states that, on the contrary, Third-party contractors applied for funding on behalf of these districtsthe issue “extended program timelines and created confusion and inconsistency within the program.”
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