II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2732

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

new school buses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2004

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

the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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 2004’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

9 (1) school transportation issues have concerned 

10 parents, local educational agencies, lawmakers, the 
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1 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 

2 the National Transportation Safety Board, and the 

3 Environmental Protection Agency for years; 

4 (2) millions of children face potential future 

5 health problems because of exposure to noxious 

6 fumes emitted from older school buses; 

7 (3) the Environmental Protection Agency estab8 lished the Clean School Bus USA program to re9 place 129,000 of the oldest diesel buses that cannot 

10 be retrofitted in an effort to help children and the 

11 environment by improving air quality; 

12 (4) unfortunately, many rural local educational 

13 agencies are unable to participate in that program 

14 because of the specialized fuels needed to sustain a 

15 clean bus fleet; 

16 (5) many rural local educational agencies are 

17 operating outdated, unsafe school buses that are 

18 failing inspection because of automotive flaws, re19 sulting in a depletion of school bus fleets of the local 

20 educational agencies; and 

21 (6) many rural local educational agencies are 

22 unable to afford to buy newer, safer buses. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab24 lish within the Environmental Protection Agency a Fed25 eral cost-sharing program to assist rural local educational 
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1 agencies with older, unsafe school bus fleets in purchasing 

2 newer, safer school buses. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ7 mental Protection Agency. 

8 (2) RURAL LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—

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

10 local educational agency, as defined in section 9101 

11 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), with respect to which— 

13 (A) each county in which a school served 

14 by the local educational agency is located has a 

15 total population density of fewer than 10 per16 sons per square mile; 

17 (B) all schools served by the local edu18 cational agency are designated with a school lo19 cale code of 7 or 8, as determined by the Sec20 retary of Education; or 

21 (C) all schools served by the local edu22 cational agency have been designated, by official 

23 action taken by the legislature of the State in 

24 which the local educational agency is located, as 

25 rural schools for purposes relating to the provi-
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1 sion of educational services to students in the 

2 State. 

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

4 means a vehicle the primary purpose of which is to 

5 transport students to and from school or school ac6 tivities. 

7 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

9 under subsection (e) for a fiscal year, the Administrator 

10 shall provide grants, on a competitive basis, to rural local 

11 educational agencies to pay the Federal share of the cost 

12 of purchasing new school buses. 

13 (b) APPLICATION.— 

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

15 agency that seeks to receive a grant under this Act 

16 shall submit to the Administrator for approval an 

17 application at such time, in such manner, and ac18 companied by such information (in addition to infor19 mation required under paragraph (2)) as the Admin20 istrator may require. 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

22 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

23 (A) documentation that, of the total num24 ber of school buses operated by the rural local 

25 educational agency, not less than 50 percent of 
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1 the school buses are in need of repair or re2 placement; 

3 (B) documentation of the number of miles 

4 that each school bus operated by the rural local 

5 educational agency traveled in the most recent 

6 9-month academic year; 

7 (C) documentation that the rural local edu8 cational agency is operating with a reduced 

9 fleet of school buses; 

10 (D) a resolution from the rural local edu11 cational agency that— 

12 (i) authorizes the application of the 

13 rural local educational agency for a grant 

14 under this Act; and 

15 (ii) describes the dedication of the 

16 rural local educational agency to school 

17 bus replacement programs and school 

18 transportation needs (including the num19 ber of new school buses needed by the 

20 rural local educational agency); and 

21 (E) an assurance that the rural local edu22 cational agency will pay the non-Federal share 

23 of the cost of the purchase of new school buses 

24 under this Act from non-Federal sources. 

25 (c) PRIORITY.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In providing grants under 

2 this Act, the Administrator shall give priority to 

3 rural local educational agencies that, as determined 

4 by the Administrator— 

5 (A) are transporting students in a bus 

6 manufactured before 1977; 

7 (B) have a grossly depleted fleet of school 

8 buses; or 

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

10 section 1116(b)(1)(E) of the Elementary and 

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 6316(b)(1)(E)), to provide transportation to 

13 students to enable the students to transfer to 

14 another public school served by the rural local 

15 educational agency. 

16 (d) PAYMENTS; FEDERAL SHARE.— 

17 (1) PAYMENTS.—The Administrator shall pay 

18 to each rural local educational agency having an ap19 plication approved under this section the Federal 

20 share described in paragraph (2) of the cost of pur21 chasing such number of new school buses as is speci22 fied in the approved application. 

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

24 the cost of purchasing a new school bus under this 

25 Act shall be 75 percent. 
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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act— 

3 (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and 

4 (2) such sums as are necessary for each of fis5 cal years 2006 through 2010.

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