I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2518
To establish a pilot program within the Department of Energy to facilitate
the use of alternative fuel school buses through grants for energy dem-
onstration and commercial application of energy technology, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 17, 2001
Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish a pilot program within the Department of En-
ergy to facilitate the use of alternative fuel school buses
through grants for energy demonstration 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 Green School
Bus Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Energy (in
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish a
pilot program for awarding grants on a competitive basis
to eligible entities for facilitating the use of alternative fuel
school buses through school bus replacement and fleet ex-
pansion programs under this section.
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 3 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
establish and publish in the Federal Register grant re-
quirements on eligibility for assistance, and on manage-
ment, transfer, and ultimate disposition of buses, includ-
ing certification requirements to ensure compliance 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 governmental entity responsible
for providing school bus service for one or more pub-
lic school systems; or
(2) jointly to an entity described in paragraph
(1) and a contracting entity that provides school bus
service to the public school system or systems.
(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 school
buses in an area with a high proportion of low-in-
come families.
(f) REPLACEMENT BUS GRANTS.—
(1) REPLACEMENT.—For each bus acquired
under a replacement bus grant, one 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
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, including 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
provide—
(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 school 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 alternative fuel 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 fiscal year.
SEC. 3. FUEL CELL BUS DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRA-
TION PROGRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary
shall establish a program for entering into cooperative
agreements with private sector fuel cell bus developers for
the development of fuel cell-powered school buses, and
subsequently with not less than 2 units of local govern-
ment 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 2002 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 shall transmit 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 for carrying out this Act—
(1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2002;
(2) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2003;
(3) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
(4) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and
(5) $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
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