II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1750 

To establish the Clean School Bus Grant Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2019 

Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. SMITH, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Clean School Bus Grant Program, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Clean School Bus Act 

5 of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLEAN SCHOOL BUS GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘elec9 tric school bus’’ means a school bus that is pro10 pelled— 


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1 (A) to a significant extent by an electric 

2 motor that— 

3 (i) draws electricity from a battery; 

4 and 

5 (ii) is capable of being recharged from 

6 an external source of electricity; or 

7 (B) by 1 or more hydrogen fuel cells. 

8 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti9 ty’’ means— 

10 (A) 1 or more local, regional, or State gov11 ernmental entities responsible for— 

12 (i) providing school bus service to 1 or 

13 more public school systems; or 

14 (ii) purchasing school buses for use by 

15 1 or more public school systems; 

16 (B) 1 or more contracting entities that 

17 provide school bus service to 1 or more public 

18 school systems; 

19 (C) a nonprofit school transportation asso20 ciation; or 

21 (D) a tribally controlled school (as defined 

22 in section 5212 of the Tribally Controlled 

23 Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2511)). 


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1 (3) FUEL CELL.—The term ‘‘fuel cell’’ has the 

2 meaning given the term in section 803 of the Energy 

3 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16152). 

4 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

5 the Clean School Bus Grant Program established 

6 under subsection (b)(1). 

7 (5) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’ has 

8 the meaning given the term ‘‘schoolbus’’ in section 

9 30125(a) of title 49, United States Code. 

10 (6) SCRAP.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘scrap’’ 

12 means, with respect to a school bus engine re13 placed using funds awarded under the program, 

14 to recycle, crush, or shred the engine within 

15 such period and in such manner as determined 

16 by the Secretary. 

17 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘scrap’’ does 

18 not include selling, leasing, exchanging, or oth19 erwise disposing of an engine described in sub20 paragraph (A) for use in another motor vehicle 

21 in any location. 

22 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Energy. 

24 (b) CLEAN SCHOOL BUS GRANT PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Re3 newable Energy of the Department of Energy a pro4 gram, to be known as the ‘‘Clean School Bus Grant 

5 Program’’, for awarding grants on a competitive 

6 basis to eligible entities for the replacement of cer7 tain existing school buses. 

8 (2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

9 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 

10 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

11 in such manner, and containing such information as 

12 the Secretary shall require, including— 

13 (A) a certification that no public work or 

14 service normally performed by a public em15 ployee will be privatized or subcontracted in 

16 carrying out a project under the grant; and 

17 (B) to ensure a fair assessment of total 

18 workforce impact, a detailed accounting of the 

19 workforce of the eligible entity at the time of 

20 application, including— 

21 (i) the number of employees, orga22 nized by salary; 

23 (ii) the bargaining unit status of each 

24 employee; 


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1 (iii) the full- or part-time status of 

2 each employee; and 

3 (iv) the job title of each employee. 

4 (3) PRIORITY OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

6 give highest priority under the program to pro7 posed projects of eligible entities that— 

8 (i) serve the neediest students, as de9 scribed in subparagraph (B); and 

10 (ii) will most reduce emissions, as de11 scribed in subparagraph (C). 

12 (B) NEEDIEST STUDENTS DESCRIBED.— 

13 The neediest students referred to in subpara14 graph (A)(i) are students who are eligible for 

15 free or reduced price lunches under the Richard 

16 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 

18 (C) MOST EMISSIONS-REDUCING PROJECTS

19 DESCRIBED.—The projects that will most re20 duce emissions referred to in subparagraph 

21 (A)(ii) are projects that— 

22 (i) will replace the most polluting die23 sel school buses with the cleanest running 

24 electric school buses, as indicated by— 


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1 (I) the age of the school buses to 

2 be replaced; 

3 (II) the emissions control tech4 nologies on the school buses to be re5 placed; 

6 (III) the annual vehicle miles 

7 traveled by the school buses to be re8 placed; 

9 (IV) the source of electricity or 

10 hydrogen used to power the electric 

11 school buses; and 

12 (V) any other factors the Sec13 retary determines to be relevant; or 

14 (ii) will complement the use of grant 

15 funds through other activities that— 

16 (I) will enable broader deploy17 ment of electric vehicles, such as se18 curing additional sources of funding 

19 through public-private partnerships 

20 with utilities, grants from other enti21 ties, or issuance of school bonds; or 

22 (II) will achieve further reduc23 tions in emissions, such as installing 

24 solar panels to power electric school 

25 buses purchased with grant funds. 


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1 (D) TIE.—In the event that 2 or more eli2 gible entities seeking grants to purchase electric 

3 school buses under the program meet the prior4 ities described in subparagraph (A), the Sec5 retary may consider— 

6 (i) whether the grant will benefit stu7 dents in a region that is in nonattainment 

8 of a national ambient air quality standard 

9 under section 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 7409); and 

11 (ii) whether the eligible entity, or 

12 whether the school system or school that 

13 would be served by the eligible entity, has 

14 taken other action to reduce emissions dur15 ing the transportation of students, such as 

16 instituting a no-idling policy. 

17 (4) USE OF SCHOOL BUS FLEET.—Each electric 

18 school bus acquired with funds provided under the 

19 program— 

20 (A) shall be operated as part of the school 

21 bus fleet for which the grant was made for not 

22 less than 5 years; 

23 (B) shall be maintained, operated, and 

24 charged according to manufacturer rec25 ommendations or State requirements; and 


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1 (C) may not be manufactured or retro2 fitted with, or otherwise have installed, a power 

3 unit or other technology that creates air pollu4 tion within the school bus, such as an unvented 

5 diesel passenger heater. 

6 (5) GRANT AWARDS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use 

8 funds made available to carry out the pro9 gram— 

10 (i) to award grants for— 

11 (I) the replacement of existing 

12 diesel school bus fleets with electric 

13 school buses; 

14 (II) the implementation of re15 charging infrastructure or other infra16 structure needed to charge or main17 tain electric school buses; 

18 (III) workforce development and 

19 training, to support the maintenance, 

20 charging, and operations of electric 

21 school buses; and 

22 (IV) planning and technical ac23 tivities to support the adoption and 

24 implementation of electric school 

25 buses; and 


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1 (ii) to develop resources to inform, en2 courage, and support eligible entities in ap3 plying for and fulfilling the requirements 

4 of grants awarded under the program, in5 cluding materials to support the workforce 

6 development and training described in 

7 clause (i)(III) and the planning and tech8 nical activities described in clause (i)(IV). 

9 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—In order to receive 

10 a grant under the program, the Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 (i) require that grant recipients— 

13 (I) replace diesel school buses 

14 with electric school buses; 

15 (II)(aa) not later than 1 year 

16 after receiving the electric school bus 

17 purchased using a grant under the 

18 program, scrap the diesel engine of 

19 the school bus being replaced; or 

20 (bb) receive a waiver under para21 graph (6); 

22 (III) do not, as a result of receiv23 ing the grant— 

24 (aa) lay off, transfer, or de25 mote any current employee; or 


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1 (bb) reduce the salary or 

2 benefits of any current employee 

3 or worsen the conditions of work 

4 of any current employee; and 

5 (IV) provide current employees 

6 with training to effectively operate, 

7 maintain, or otherwise adapt to new 

8 technologies relating to electric school 

9 buses; and 

10 (ii) permit grant recipients to receive 

11 and retain any funds or benefits received 

12 from— 

13 (I) scrapping a diesel engine; 

14 (II) transferring or repurposing a 

15 diesel school bus as authorized under 

16 a waiver under paragraph (6); and 

17 (III) the resale or reuse of other 

18 parts of a school bus replaced using 

19 grant funds. 

20 (C) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

21 (i) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The max22 imum amount of a grant under the pro23 gram is $2,000,000. 

24 (ii) AMOUNTS FOR PURCHASE OF

25 ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES.— 


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1 (I) IN GENERAL.—For any grant 

2 under the program, the amount of 

3 funds awarded for the purchase of an 

4 electric school bus shall not exceed 

5 110 percent of the amount equal to 

6 the difference between— 

7 (aa) the cost of an electric 

8 school bus; and 

9 (bb) the cost of a diesel 

10 school bus. 

11 (II) DETERMINATION OF COST

12 OF SCHOOL BUSES.—In determining 

13 the amount of funds under subclause 

14 (I), the Secretary may determine the 

15 cost of a school bus for the purpose of 

16 calculating the marginal cost under 

17 that subclause through— 

18 (aa) a competitive solicita19 tion process for the manufacture 

20 of the school bus; 

21 (bb) a cooperative purchase 

22 agreement permitted by the laws 

23 of the State in which the grant 

24 recipient is located; or 


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1 (cc) another method that the 

2 Secretary determines to be ap3 propriate. 

4 (iii) AMOUNTS FOR SUPPORTING AC5 TIVITIES.—For any grant under the pro6 gram, the amount of funds awarded for 

7 the purposes described in subclauses (II) 

8 through (IV) of subparagraph (A)(i), or 

9 other purposes related to those subclauses, 

10 as determined by the Secretary, shall not 

11 exceed $600,000. 

12 (D) BUY AMERICA.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

14 in clause (ii), any electric school bus pur15 chased using funds awarded under the pro16 gram shall comply with the requirements 

17 described in section 5323(j) of title 49, 

18 United States Code. 

19 (ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 

20 (I) WAIVER.—The Secretary may 

21 provide any waiver to the require22 ments described in clause (i) in the 

23 same manner and to the same extent 

24 as the Secretary of Transportation 

25 may provide a waiver under section 


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1 5323(j)(2) of title 49, United States 

2 Code. 

3 (II) PERCENTAGE OF COMPO4 NENTS AND SUBCOMPONENTS.—The 

5 Secretary may grant a waiver in ac6 cordance with section 5323(j)(2)(C) of 

7 title 49, United States Code, when a 

8 grant recipient procures an electric 

9 school bus using funds awarded under 

10 the program for which the cost of 

11 components and subcomponents pro12 duced in the United States— 

13 (aa) for each of fiscal years 

14 2020 through 2024, is more than 

15 60 percent of the cost of all com16 ponents of the school bus; and 

17 (bb) for fiscal year 2025 and 

18 each fiscal year thereafter, is 

19 more than 70 percent of the cost 

20 of all components of the school 

21 bus. 

22 (6) WAIVER.—On request of a grant recipient, 

23 the Secretary may grant a waiver under paragraph 

24 (5)(B)(i)(II)(bb) to authorize a grant recipient— 


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1 (A) to transfer a diesel school bus replaced 

2 using grant funds under the program under an 

3 agreement— 

4 (i) between— 

5 (I) the grant recipient; and 

6 (II) an entity described in sub7 section (a)(2) that serves an area that 

8 is in attainment of national ambient 

9 air quality standards under the Clean 

10 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); 

11 (ii) that provides that— 

12 (I) not later than 1 year after the 

13 transfer subject to the agreement, the 

14 entity receiving a school bus from the 

15 grant recipient will scrap a number of 

16 diesel engines of school buses that is 

17 equal to the number of school buses 

18 being received; and 

19 (II) any diesel engines described 

20 in subclause (I) are older and more 

21 polluting than the diesel engines in 

22 the school buses being received; and 

23 (iii) provided to the Secretary; or 

24 (B) to delay the requirement under para25 graph (5)(B)(i)(II)(aa) for not more than 3 


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1 years after receiving the school bus purchased 

2 using a grant under the program for the pur3 pose of using the school bus being replaced for 

4 a use determined by the Secretary to be appro5 priate. 

6 (7) DEPLOYMENT AND DISTRIBUTION.—In car7 rying out the program, the Secretary shall, to the 

8 maximum extent practicable— 

9 (A) achieve nationwide deployment of elec10 tric school buses through the program; and 

11 (B) ensure a broad geographic distribution 

12 of grant awards, with no State receiving more 

13 than 15 percent of the grant funding made 

14 available to carry out the program for each fis15 cal year. 

16 (8) ANNUAL REPORTING.— 

17 (A) DATA RELEASE.—The Secretary shall 

18 make available to the public on the website of 

19 the Department of Energy a downloadable elec20 tronic database of information with respect to 

21 each grant made under the program, includ22 ing— 

23 (i) the name and location of the grant 

24 recipient; 


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1 (ii) the school district served by the 

2 grant recipient, if the grant recipient is not 

3 a school district; 

4 (iii) the criteria that the grant recipi5 ent met under subparagraphs (B), (C), 

6 and (D) of paragraph (3), if any; 

7 (iv) the grant amount, including a de8 scription of the amounts of the grant used 

9 for— 

10 (I) the purchase of electric school 

11 buses; 

12 (II) the purchase of infrastruc13 ture; 

14 (III) workforce development; 

15 (IV) the purchase of hydrogen or 

16 electricity; and 

17 (V) any other purpose; 

18 (v) with respect to an electric school 

19 bus purchased using a grant under the 

20 program, the number, make and model, 

21 year of make, cost, estimated annual vehi22 cle miles to be traveled, and estimated 

23 number of students to be transported per 

24 day; 


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1 (vi) with respect to a school bus re2 placed using a grant under the program, 

3 the number, make and model, year of 

4 make, fuel type, annual vehicle miles trav5 eled, and the number of students trans6 ported per day; 

7 (vii) whether the grant recipient re8 ceived a waiver under paragraph (6) and, 

9 if the grant recipient received such a waiv10 er, with respect to a school bus scrapped 

11 by the receiving entity described in para12 graph (6)(A), the number, make and 

13 model, year of make, fuel type, type of 

14 school bus, annual vehicle miles traveled, 

15 and the number of students transported 

16 per day; 

17 (viii) an estimate of the local air pol18 lution emissions and global greenhouse gas 

19 emissions avoided as a result of the grant; 

20 and 

21 (ix) any other data determined by the 

22 Secretary to enable an analysis of the use 

23 and impact of grants under the program. 

24 (B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

25 than January 31 of each year, the Secretary 


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1 shall submit to Congress and make available on 

2 the website of the Department of Energy a re3 port that describes— 

4 (i) the grant applications received 

5 under the program, including a summary 

6 of the grant applications meeting the cri7 teria described in subparagraphs (B), (C), 

8 and (D) of paragraph (3), if any; 

9 (ii) the grants awarded under the pro10 gram, including a summary of the data de11 scribed in subparagraph (A); 

12 (iii) the effect of the receipt of the 

13 grant on students, schools, local commu14 nities, industry, and the workforce; 

15 (iv) the impact of the awarded grants 

16 on local air pollution and greenhouse gas 

17 emissions; and 

18 (v) any other information determined 

19 by the Secretary to enable Congress to un20 derstand the implementation, outcomes, 

21 and effectiveness of the program. 

22 (C) REPORT ON BUY AMERICA WAIVERS.— 

23 Not later than 1 year after the date of enact24 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

25 Secretary shall submit a report describing any 


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1 waiver granted under paragraph (5)(D)(ii)(I) 

2 during the preceding year to— 

3 (i) the Committee on Environment 

4 and Public Works of the Senate; 

5 (ii) the Committee on Energy and 

6 Natural Resources of the Senate; 

7 (iii) the Committee on Transportation 

8 and Infrastructure of the House of Rep9 resentatives; and 

10 (iv) the Committee on Energy and 

11 Commerce of the House of Representa12 tives. 

13 (c) EDUCATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

15 funds are appropriated to carry out the Program, 

16 the Secretary shall develop an education outreach 

17 program to promote and explain the program. 

18 (2) COORDINATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.— 

19 The outreach program under this subsection shall be 

20 designed and conducted in conjunction with national 

21 school bus transportation associations, educators, 

22 school bus drivers, and other stakeholders. 

23 (3) COMPONENTS.—The outreach program 

24 under this subsection shall— 


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1 (A) inform eligible entities of the process 

2 of applying for grants; 

3 (B) describe the available technologies and 

4 the benefits of the technologies; 

5 (C) explain the benefits of participating in 

6 the program; 

7 (D) facilitate the sharing of best practices 

8 and lessons learned among grant recipients and 

9 between grant recipients and eligible entities; 

10 and 

11 (E) include, as appropriate, information 

12 from the annual reports required under sub13 section (b)(8). 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

16 out the program $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

17 2020 through 2024, to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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