II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3590 

To provide grants for use by rural local educational agencies in purchasing 

new school buses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide grants for use by rural local educational agencies 

in purchasing new school buses. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bus Utility and Safety 

5 in School Transportation Opportunity and Purchasing Act 

6 of 2008’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

9 (1) school transportation issues remain a con10 cern for parents, State and local educational agenVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:43 Sep 28, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3590.IS S3590

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1 cies, lawmakers, the National Highway Traffic Safe2 ty Administration, the National Transportation 

3 Safety Board, and the Environmental Protection 

4 Agency; 

5 (2) many rural local educational agencies are 

6 operating outdated, unsafe school buses that are 

7 failing inspection, resulting in a depletion of the 

8 school bus fleets of the local educational agencies; 

9 (3) many rural local educational agencies are 

10 unable to afford newer and safer buses; 

11 (4) the rising cost of fuel has further strained 

12 the budgets of local educational agencies across the 

13 country; and 

14 (5) millions of children face potential future 

15 health problems because of exposure to noxious 

16 fumes emitted from older school buses. 

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab18 lish within the Department of Transportation a Federal 

19 cost-sharing program to assist rural local educational 

20 agencies with older, unsafe school bus fleets in purchasing 

21 newer, safer school buses. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) RURAL LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

25 The term ‘‘rural local educational agency’’ means a 


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1 local educational agency, as defined in section 9101 

2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), with respect to which— 

4 (A) each county in which a school served 

5 by the local educational agency is located has a 

6 total population density of fewer than 10 per7 sons per square mile; 

8 (B) all schools served by the local edu9 cational agency are designated with a school lo10 cale code of 7 or 8, as determined by the Sec11 retary of Education; or 

12 (C) all schools served by the local edu13 cational agency have been designated, by official 

14 action taken by the legislature of the State in 

15 which the local educational agency is located, as 

16 rural schools for purposes relating to the provi17 sion of educational services to students in the 

18 State. 

19 (2) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’ 

20 means a vehicle the primary purpose of which is to 

21 transport students to and from school or school ac22 tivities. 

23 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Transportation. 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 

3 under section 5311(j) of title 49, United States Code, for 

4 a fiscal year, the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec5 retary of Education, shall provide grants, on a competitive 

6 basis, to rural local educational agencies to pay the Fed7 eral share of the cost of purchasing new school buses. 

8 (b) APPLICATION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each rural local educational 

10 agency that seeks to receive a grant under this Act 

11 shall submit to the Secretary for approval an appli12 cation at such time, in such manner, and accom13 panied by such information (in addition to informa14 tion required under paragraph (2)) as the Secretary 

15 may require. 

16 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

17 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

18 (A) documentation that, of the total num19 ber of school buses operated by the rural local 

20 educational agency, a majority of these buses 

21 entered service prior to 1998; 

22 (B) documentation of the number of miles 

23 that each school bus operated by the rural local 

24 educational agency traveled in the most recent 

25 9-month academic year; 


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1 (C) documentation that the rural local edu2 cational agency is operating with a strained 

3 fleet of school buses; 

4 (D) a certification from the rural local 

5 educational agency that— 

6 (i) authorizes the application of the 

7 rural local educational agency for a grant 

8 under this Act; and 

9 (ii) describes the dedication of the 

10 rural local educational agency to school 

11 bus replacement programs and school 

12 transportation needs (including the num13 ber of new school buses needed by the 

14 rural local educational agency); and 

15 (E) an assurance that the rural local edu16 cational agency or State educational agency will 

17 pay the non-Federal share of the cost of the 

18 purchase of new school buses under this Act 

19 from non-Federal sources. 

20 (c) PRIORITY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In providing grants under 

22 this Act, the Secretary shall give priority to rural 

23 local educational agencies that, as determined by the 

24 Secretary— 


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1 (A) are transporting students in a bus 

2 manufactured before 1977; 

3 (B) have a strained fleet of school buses; 

4 or 

5 (C) serve a school that is required, under 

6 section 1116(b)(9) of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 6316(b)(9)), to provide transportation to stu9 dents to enable the students to transfer to an10 other public school served by the rural local 

11 educational agency. 

12 (d) PAYMENTS; FEDERAL SHARE.— 

13 (1) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall pay to 

14 each rural local educational agency having an appli15 cation approved under this section the Federal share 

16 described in paragraph (2) of the cost of purchasing 

17 such number of new school buses as is specified in 

18 the approved application. 

19 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

20 the cost of purchasing a new school bus under this 

21 Act shall be 75 percent. 

22 (e) FORMULA GRANTS UNDER SAFETEA–LU.— 

23 Section 5311 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

24 by inserting at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(j) RURAL SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION.—The Sec2 retary may expand not to exceed 5 percent of amounts 

3 made available under this section to carry out the Bus 

4 Utility and Safety in School Transportation Opportunity 

5 and Purchasing Act of 2008.’’. 

Æ 


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