I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1461
To provide for the establishment by the Secretary of Energy of a pilot 
program and a development and demonstration program for clean fuel 
school buses, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 27, 2003
Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment by the Secretary of Energy 
of a pilot program and a development and demonstration 
program for clean fuel school buses, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean School Buses 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Energy, in 
consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, shall establish a pilot program for 
awarding grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities 
for the demonstration and commercial application of alter-
native fuel school buses and ultra-low sulfur diesel school 
buses. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 3 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Energy shall establish and publish in the Federal register 
grant requirements on eligibility for assistance, and on im-
plementation of the program established under subsection 
(a), including certification requirements to ensure compli-
ance with this Act. 
(c) SOLICITATION.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
solicit proposals for grants under this section. 
(d) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—A grant shall be award-
ed under this section only—
(1) to a local or State governmental entity re-
sponsible for providing school bus service to one or 
more public school systems or responsible for the 
purchase of school buses; or 
(2) to a contracting entity that provides school 
bus service to one or more public school systems, if 
the grant application is submitted jointly with the 
school system or systems which the buses will serve.
(e) TYPES OF GRANTS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Grants under this section 
shall be for the demonstration and commercial appli-
cation of technologies to facilitate the use of alter-
native fuel school buses and ultra-low sulfur diesel 
school buses in lieu of buses manufactured before 
model year 1977 and diesel-powered buses manufac-
tured before model year 1991. 
(2) NO ECONOMIC BENEFIT.—Other than the 
receipt of the grant, a recipient of a grant under this 
section may not receive any economic benefit in con-
nection with the receipt of the grant. 
(3) PRIORITY OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.—The 
Secretary shall give priority to awarding grants to 
applicants who can demonstrate the use of alter-
native fuel buses and ultra-low sulfur diesel school 
buses in lieu of buses manufactured before model 
year 1977. 
(f) CONDITIONS OF GRANT.—A grant provided under 
this section shall include the following conditions: 
(1) All buses acquired with funds provided 
under the grant shall be operated as part of the 
school bus fleet for which the grant was made for a 
minimum of 5 years.
(2) Funds provided under the grant may only 
be used—
(A) to pay the cost, except as provided in 
paragraph (3), of new alternative fuel school 
buses or ultra-low sulfur diesel school buses, in-
cluding State taxes and contract fees; and 
(B) to provide—
(i) up to 10 percent of the price of the 
alternative fuel buses acquired, for nec-
essary alternative fuel infrastructure if the 
infrastructure will only be available to the 
grant recipient; and 
(ii) up to 15 percent of the price of 
the alternative fuel buses acquired, for nec-
essary alternative fuel infrastructure if the 
infrastructure will be available to the grant 
recipient and to other bus fleets. 
(3) The grant recipient shall be required to pro-
vide at least the lesser of 15 percent of the total cost 
of each bus received or $15,000 per bus. 
(4) In the case of a grant recipient receiving a 
grant to demonstrate ultra-low sulfur diesel school 
buses, the grant recipient shall be required to pro-
vide documentation to the satisfaction of the Sec-
retary that diesel fuel containing sulfur at not more
power-hour of nonmethane hydrocarbons and 
oxides of nitrogen and .01 grams per brake 
horsepower-hour of particulate matter, 
except that under no circumstances shall buses be 
acquired under this section that emit nonmethane 
hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, or particulate mat-
ter at a rate greater than the best performing tech-
nology of the same class of ultra-low sulfur diesel 
school buses commercially available at the time the 
grant is made. 
(h) DEPLOYMENT
AND DISTRIBUTION.—The Sec-
retary of Energy shall seek to the maximum extent prac-
ticable to achieve nationwide deployment of alternative 
fuel school buses and ultra-low sulfur diesel school buses 
through the program under this section, and shall ensure 
a broad geographic distribution of grant awards, with a 
goal of no State receiving more than 10 percent of the 
grant funding made available under this section for a fis-
cal year. 
(i) LIMIT ON FUNDING.—The Secretary shall provide 
not less than 20 percent and not more than 25 percent 
of the grant funding made available under this section for 
any fiscal year for the acquisition of ultra-low sulfur diesel 
school buses.
(j) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than January 31 of 
each year, the Secretary of Energy shall provide a report 
evaluating implementation of the program under this Act 
to the Congress. Such report shall include the total num-
ber of grant applications received, the number and types 
of alternative fuel buses and ultra-low sulfur diesel school 
buses requested in grant applications, a list of grants 
awarded and the criteria used to select the grant recipi-
ents, certified engine emission levels of all buses purchased 
under the program, and any other information the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. 
(k) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
(1) the term ‘‘alternative fuel school bus’’ 
means a bus powered substantially by electricity (in-
cluding electricity supplied by a fuel cell), or by liq-
uefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, liquefied 
petroleum gas, hydrogen, propane, or methanol or 
ethanol at no less than 85 percent by volume; and 
(2) the term ‘‘ultra-low sulfur diesel school 
bus’’ means a school bus powered by diesel fuel 
which contains sulfur at not more than 15 parts per 
million.
SEC. 3. FUEL CELL BUS DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRA-
TION PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
of Energy shall establish a program for entering into coop-
erative agreements with private sector fuel cell bus devel-
opers for the development of fuel cell-powered school 
buses, and subsequently with not less than 2 units of local 
government using natural gas-powered school buses and 
such private sector fuel cell bus developers to demonstrate 
the use of fuel cell-powered school buses. 
(b) COST SHARING.—The non-Federal contribution 
for activities funded under this section shall be not less 
than—
(1) 20 percent for fuel infrastructure develop-
ment activities; and 
(2) 50 percent for demonstration activities and 
for development activities not described in paragraph 
(1). 
(c) FUNDING.—No more than $25,000,000 of the 
amounts authorized under section 4 may be used for car-
rying out this section for the period encompassing fiscal 
years 2004 through 2006. 
(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not later 
than October 1, 2006, the Secretary of Energy shall trans-
mit to the Congress a report that—
(1) evaluates the process of converting natural 
gas infrastructure to accommodate fuel cell-powered 
school buses; and 
(2) assesses the results of the development and 
demonstration program under this section. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary of Energy for carrying out this Act, to remain avail-
able until expended—
(1) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; 
(2) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
(3) $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and 
(4) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
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