I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3833 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pilot program to 
facilitate the use of natural gas buses at public airports through grants 
for energy demonstration and commercial application of energy tech-
nology, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2004 
Mr. CROWLEY (for himself, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr. OWENS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 
Science, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 
pilot program to facilitate the use of natural gas buses 
at public airports through grants for energy demonstra-
tion and commercial application of energy technology, 
and for other purposes. 
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 Airport Bus Act 
of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall establish a pilot program for awarding grants 
on a competitive basis to eligible entities for facilitating 
the use of natural gas buses at public airports through 
airport bus replacement and fleet expansion programs 
under this section. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 3 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es-
tablish and publish in the Federal Register grant require-
ments on eligibility for assistance, and on management, 
transfer, and ultimate disposition of buses, including cer-
tification requirements to ensure compliance with this Act. 
(c) SOLICITATION.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall so-
licit proposals for grants under this section. 
(d) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—A grant shall be award-
ed under this section only to a public agency responsible 
for bus service at a public airport. 
(e) TYPES OF GRANTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Grants under this section 
may be for the purposes described in paragraph (2), 
paragraph (3), or both. 
(2) REPLACEMENT
BUS
GRANTS.—A grant 
under this section may be used for the acquisition of 
replacement buses pursuant to subsection (f).
(3) FLEET EXPANSION BUS GRANTS.—A grant 
under this section may be used for the acquisition of 
not more than 10 buses to expand a fleet of airport 
buses at any single airport. 
(f) REPLACEMENT BUS GRANTS.— 
(1) REPLACEMENT.—For each bus acquired 
under a replacement bus grant, 1 older model year 
bus shall be retired from active service and crushed 
as provided in paragraph (2). 
(2) BUS ACQUISITION.—Buses acquired under a 
replacement bus grant shall be acquired in the fol-
lowing order: 
(A) First, new buses will replace buses 
manufactured before model year 1977, and the 
older buses replaced shall be crushed. 
(B) If all buses manufactured before model 
year 1977 owned or operated by the grant re-
cipient have been replaced, additional new buses 
will replace diesel-powered buses manufactured 
before model year 1991, which shall either— 
(i) be crushed; or 
(ii) be exchanged by the grant recipi-
ent for buses manufactured before model 
year 1977 from another bus fleet, with 
that bus then being crushed.
Exchanges made under subparagraph (B)(ii) 
shall be made without profit or other economic 
benefit to the grant recipient. 
(3) PRIORITY OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.—The 
Secretary shall give priority to awarding grants to 
applicants emphasizing the replacement of buses 
manufactured before model year 1977. 
(g) 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 air-
port 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 natural gas airport 
buses, including State taxes and contract fees; 
and 
(B) to provide— 
(i) up to 10 percent of the price of the 
natural gas buses acquired, for necessary 
natural gas infrastructure if the infrastruc-
ture will only be available to the grant re-
cipient; and
(ii) up to 15 percent of the price of 
the natural gas buses acquired, for nec-
essary natural gas infrastructure if the in-
frastructure will be available to the grant 
recipient and to other bus fleets. 
(3) The grant recipient shall be required to pro-
vide— 
(A) in the case of a replacement bus ac-
quired as described in subsection (f)(2)(A) to 
replace a bus manufactured before model year 
1977, 10 percent of the total cost of the bus, 
but not more than $10,000; 
(B) in the case of a replacement bus ac-
quired as described in subsection (f)(2)(B)(ii) 
to replace a diesel-powered bus manufactured 
before model year 1991 for exchange for a bus 
manufactured before model year 1977, 10 per-
cent of the total cost of the bus, but not more 
than $10,000; and 
(C) in the case of a replacement bus ac-
quired as described in subsection (f)(2)(B)(i) to 
replace a diesel-powered bus manufactured be-
fore model year 1991, 25 percent of the total 
cost of the bus, but not more than $25,000.
(h) BUSES.—Funding under a grant made under this 
section may be used to acquire only new airport buses— 
(1) with a gross vehicle weight of greater than 
14,000 pounds; 
(2) that are powered by a heavy duty engine; 
(3) that emit not more than— 
(A) for buses manufactured in model years 
2001 and 2002, 2.5 grams per brake horse-
power-hour of nonmethane hydrocarbons and 
oxides of nitrogen and .01 grams per brake 
horsepower-hour of particulate matter; and 
(B) for buses manufactured in model years 
2003 through 2006, 1.8 grams per brake horse-
power-hour of nonmethane hydrocarbons and 
oxides of nitrogen and .01 grams per brake 
horsepower-hour of particulate matter; and 
(4) that are powered substantially by electricity 
(including electricity supplied by a fuel cell), or by 
liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, lique-
fied petroleum gas, hydrogen, propane, or methanol 
or ethanol at no less than 85 percent by volume. 
(i) DEPLOYMENT
AND DISTRIBUTION.—The Sec-
retary shall seek to the maximum extent practicable to 
achieve nationwide deployment of natural gas airport 
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 fiscal year. 
SEC. 3. FUEL CELL BUS DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRA-
TION PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
of Transportation shall establish a program for entering 
into cooperative agreements with private sector fuel cell 
bus developers for the development of fuel cell-powered 
airport buses, and subsequently with not less than 2 public 
agencies using natural gas-powered airport buses and such 
private sector fuel cell bus developers to demonstrate the 
use of fuel cell-powered airport 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 5 may be used for car-