Las Cruces Public Schools awarded $2M for electric school buses

LAS CRUCES − New Mexico's second-largest school district, the Las Cruces Public Schools, has been awarded nearly $2 million to purchase electric school buses under a federal rebate program.

LCPS was one of five school districts in New Mexico awarded funds under the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program, alongside smaller rural school districts consisting of Dora Municipal Schools ($610,000), Dulce Independent Schools ($790,000), Lake Arthur Independent Schools ($790,000) and Pecos Independent Schools ($395,000). LCPS was awarded $1,975,000.

LCPS school board president Ray Jaramillo said Las Crucens might not see electric school buses on their streets sooner than 2024, because of high demand for the new vehicles, but he said he was elated by the news.

"It's nice to have buses, but there’s also money for the infrastructure, and that’s going to be an exciting opportunity. It’s really the start of a program that we can see going in to the future," he said.

Program funds include up to $20,000 per bus for electric charging infrastructure, and districts applying for funds were advised to speak with their utility providers ahead of time about service capacity needed to charge the buses’ batteries on a regular basis.

What was not immediately clear is how the district's transportation contractor, STS-New Mexico, would interact with the program, if at all. A spokesperson for STS indicated the purchasing would be handled entirely by the school district.

School board member Robert Wofford, who has frequently advocated for new construction and bus fleets that are not dependent on fossil fuels, saw cause for celebration in Wednesday's announcement by the EPA.

"This is a first step toward transforming our school district into one that addresses climate change in as many ways as it can," he said. "There’s no reason to buy a vehicle that’s not electric. There’s no reason to build a new school that does not sustain itself with renewable energy."

Speaking for himself and not on behalf of the school board, Wofford remarked, "We’ve got a major shift in terms of economic thinking to go through in this country, to retool ourselves and be a leader with electric vehicles."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held a lottery to distribute $913 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which the EPA says will purchase 2,463 low- or zero-emission school buses, most of them electric vehicles, in 389 school districts across the nation. In a statement, the agency said the awards include funding for infrastructure necessary for charging electric vehicles.

The selection process prioritized low-income, rural and tribal communities and the funding is delivered via rebates. The Clean School Bus Program aims to reduce air pollution and dependence on diesel engines that emit greenhouse gases and accelerate climate change. It also defrays some of the high costs of replacing older buses.

Demand for awards under the Clean School Bus Program was so high, the EPA announced in September, that it nearly doubled the amount allocated for the program this year. A total of $5 billion has been committed over five years.

New Mexico's senior U.S. Senator, Democrat Martin Heinrich, celebrated the $4.56 million in rebates allocated to New Mexico school districts as a major step in scaling up zero-emission transportation.

“Modernizing the vehicles that transport New Mexico's children to school — especially with clean and electric buses — will make our air cleaner and improve public health, and create important energy and fuel savings for public school districts," he said in a written statement. "Electrifying our homes, buildings, and vehicles is one of the surest climate actions that we can take right now that will help secure a more equitable, healthier future for all our communities."

Heinrich co-chairs the Bicameral Electrification Caucus, a congressional caucus consisting of House and Senate members backing a transition to electric power produced from renewable sources and technologies. Among the House members is U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

More education news:

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

EPA awards nearly $1 billion for electric school buses — Delaware ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced some 67 grantees set to receive nearly $1 billion, for electric school buses.

The Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition, a first for the EPA under President Joe Biden, will help these selectees purchase over 2,700 clean school buses in 280 school districts serving over 7 million students across 37 states, according to Monday's announcement. About 95% of the buses will be completely electric.

“Today, we are announcing nearly $1 billion to fund clean school buses across the nation," said Vice President Kamala Harris in the press release. "As part of our work to tackle the climate crisis, the historic funding we are announcing today is an investment in our children, their health and their education. It also strengthens our economy by investing in American manufacturing and America’s workforce."

The 2024 announcement brings the program impact to $2 billion in awards, according to the press release, funding roughly 5,000 electric and low-emission school buses nationwide. The $5 billion program includes both a grant program and a rebate program, which allows selectees to receive awards before purchasing eligible buses that replace existing school buses.

Delaware did not land one of Monday's grants.

The Delaware Department of Education had applied in this round, though no award was issued. And DDOE says it will be working to submit a 2023 rebate application for units not funded in the grant. The state previously saw $809,000 in EPA rebate dollars in 2022 rebates, securing four replaced buses for Colonial School District. EPA is currently accepting applications for the 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program until Jan. 31.

Your questions, answered:What you need to know about state's new electric vehicle mandate

Air pollution from older diesel engines is linked to asthma and other conditions, EPA explains in its announcement. And phasing out these engines — which disproportionately affect communities of color and Tribal communities — aims to ensure cleaner air.

A barrier for many has been the question of charging stations.

The EPA says "proactive and ongoing communication" with key stakeholders — like school boards and local utilities — is critical to successful deployment. The agency has created a Utility Partnership Template to encourage early and engagement between applicants and utility companies, as investments continue.

Grantees will work with their Regional Project Officers, according to the agency, to finalize project plans and purchase their awarded new buses and eligible infrastructure.

More:Your buyer’s guide for an electric vehicle in Delaware, including rebates and deadlines

Got a story? Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.

EPA announces $4.3M for new 'clean' school buses for Wells ...

WELLS, Maine — David Cash looked at the yellow bus parked behind the crowd at Wells Junior High School and suggested to everyone its days are numbered.

The reason, Cash said, is that more than $4.3 million in federal funds is on its way to the Wells-Ogunquit Community School District to help purchase 11 new, clean, zero-emission school buses. Such funds essentially will help the district swap out its current fleet of 12 diesel-engine buses.

Cash is the New England regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. On Monday, he made Wells his first stop on his tour of Maine school districts that will be receiving their own slices of more than $13 million from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program.

Cash said the buses currently in use create pollution with “long-term impacts on our kids” and contribute to “problematic” issues related to climate change. He called the $5 billion being spent nationwide for new, “clean” school buses “tremendous.”

“It’s incumbent upon us to make the right kind of choices and the right kind of investments,” he said.

WOCSD is one of 13 school districts in the state that President Joe Biden announced would be part of his administration’s funding for the bus program for the current fiscal year. The funds are a part of the infrastructure bill Biden signed into law last year.

WOCSD is receiving the largest share of the $13 million. The public school systems in Dayton and Winthrop are both receiving $1.58 million, according to an EPA press release.

Overall, the grant funds will help with the purchases of 34 “clean” buses for school districts throughout the state.

Dock Square gridlockKennebunkport irked over tour buses putting brakes on traffic

The Clean School Bus Program aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money for school districts and produce cleaner air, according to the EPA. Pollution from the diesel engines of current school buses is linked to asthma and other conditions that affect the health of students, the agency added.

“Phasing out these diesel engines will ensure cleaner air for students, bus drivers, and school staff working near the bus loading areas, and the communities through which the buses drive each day,” EPA spokesperson David Deegan said in the news release.

The program also aims to address the “outsized role” that the transportation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions play in contributing to issues of climate change, according to the EPA.

“The program will also save school districts money as they upgrade school bus fleets, replacing older, heavily polluting buses with brand new clean school buses, while freeing up needed resources for schools,” the EPA said.

On Monday, Cash was joined by Maine Education Commissioner Dan Chuta, WOCSD Superintendent James Daly, state Sen. Joe Rafferty, state Rep. Tim Roche, teacher Sam Burne, and student Grady Roy, all of whom addressed the crowd.

Noting the bipartisanship that produced the funds, Daly said the occasion was not a Democrat one or a Republican one, but an American one.

“It is tremendous that we are going to replace 11 of our school buses,” Daly said. “What a legacy to leave our kids.”

More:Maine begins removing those naughty license plates

Daly thanked Deb Coleman, of Ledgemere, the bus company that serves WOCSD, for her role in putting together the district’s application for the funding. Daly also thanked town and school officials for their support.

Chuta noted that means of transportation are the top emitter of carbon in the state. He spoke of the state’s commitment to reducing emissions, taking opportunities for economic growth, saving money, and improving health and environmental outcomes. The federal funds will help reduce the exposure of diesel to students and educators and will reduce the district’s operating costs, he added.

“This is a win-win for the environment, and a win for students, for their drivers and our schools and also our communities,” Chuta said.

Rafferty thanked Daly, saying it was his leadership that “brought this opportunity to us.”

Roche also praised Daly, saying he and his staff had met the challenge of getting new buses “without putting it back on the Wells taxpayers.”

“But not only will this not be a burden to the Wells taxpayers, the district will eventually see savings,” Roche said. “This will also help educate our students on the importance of looking for alternatives in their energy choices.”

Burne, a science teacher who supervises the junior high’s Environmental Club, said the federal grant money will provide an opportunity to discuss and create change in the community.

“The addition of not one, but 11 electric school buses allows us to no longer just discuss, but see what change might actually look like here in the district of Wells and Ogunquit,” Burne said. “With this grant, the impact on the next generation here at Wells-Ogunquit Community School District starts today.”

New restaurantSmoke BBQ to spice up Kennebunk's dining scene with 'barbecue classics'

Roy, of the junior high’s Environmental Club, said the removal of the current buses’ carbon emissions will benefit the community and the ecosystems in the area.

“This grant can illustrate that initiatives in response to global warming can not only be advocated, but enacted ... The implementation of these zero-emission buses is a major motion towards a cleaner future.”

Currently, the EPA has selected 389 applications from school districts throughout the nation, for a total of $913 million to be awarded. According to the agency, the funds will support the purchases of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric. Districts serving low-income, rural and tribal students comprise 99% of the grant applications that the government received.

WOCSD and other school districts who received an award can now purchase new buses and eligible infrastructure. On Monday afternoon, Daly said he hopes the 11 new buses will be delivered to the district in time for the 2023-2024 school year.

Here's what's in the $1.7 trillion federal omnibus spending law | CNN ...

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran December 20. It has been updated to reflect the current status of the legislation.

CNN —

President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.7 trillion yearlong federal government spending package on Thursday, after the House and Senate passed it last week.

The legislation includes $772.5 billion for nondefense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding. That represents an increase in spending in both areas for fiscal year 2023.

The sweeping package includes roughly $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, an overhaul of the electoral vote-counting law, protections for pregnant workers, an enhancement to retirement savings rules and a TikTok ban on federal devices.

It also provides a boost in spending for disaster aid, college access, child care, mental health and food assistance, more support for the military and veterans and additional funds for the US Capitol Police. And the legislation contains several major Medicaid provisions, particularly one that could disenroll up to 19 million people from the nation’s health insurance program for low-income Americans.

However, the law, which runs more than 4,000 pages, left out several measures that some lawmakers had fought to include. An expansion of the child tax credit, as well as multiple other corporate and individual tax breaks, did not make it into the final bill. Neither did legislation to allow cannabis companies to bank their cash reserves – known as the Safe Banking Act – or a bill to help Afghan evacuees in the US gain lawful permanent residency. And the spending package did not include a White House request for roughly $10 billion in additional funding for Covid-19 response.

The spending law, which will keep the government operating through September, the end of the fiscal year, is the product of lengthy negotiations between top congressional Democrats and Republicans.

Congress originally passed a continuing resolution on September 30 to temporarily fund the government in fiscal year 2023, which began October 1.

Here’s what’s in the law:

More aid for Ukraine: The spending law provides roughly $45 billion to help support Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russia’s attack.

About $9 billion of the funding will go to Ukraine’s military to pay for a variety of things including training, weapons, logistics support and salaries. Nearly $12 billion will be used to replenish US stocks of equipment sent to Ukraine through presidential drawdown authority.

Also, the law provides $13 billion for economic support to the Ukrainian government. Other funds address humanitarian and infrastructure needs, as well as support European Command operations.

Emergency disaster assistance: The law provides more than $38 billion in emergency funding to help Americans in the west and southeast affected by recent natural disasters, including tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding and wildfires. It will aid farmers, provide economic development assistance for communities, repair and reconstruct federal facilities and direct money to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, among other initiatives.

Overhaul of the electoral vote-counting law: A provision in the legislation aims at making it harder to overturn a certified presidential election, the first legislative response to the US Capitol insurrection and then-President Donald Trump’s campaign to stay in power despite his loss in 2020.

The changes overhaul the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which Trump tried to use to overturn the 2020 election.

The legislation clarifies the vice president’s role while overseeing the certification of the electoral result to be completely ceremonial. It also creates a set of stipulations designed to make it harder for there to be any confusion over the accurate slate of electors from each state.

Funding for January 6 attack prosecutions: The law provides $2.6 billion for US Attorneys, which includes funding efforts “to further support prosecutions related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol and domestic terrorism cases,” according to a fact sheet from the House Appropriations Committee.

The package also gives $11.3 billion to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including for efforts to investigate extremist violence and domestic terrorism.

The funding measures are part of nearly $39 billion for the Justice Department.

Retirement savings enhancements: The law contains new retirement rules that could make it easier for Americans to accumulate retirement savings – and less costly to withdraw them. Among other things, the provisions will allow penalty-free withdrawals for some emergency expenses, let employers offer matching retirement contributions for a worker’s student loan payments and increase how much older workers may save in employer retirement plans.

TikTok ban from federal devices: The legislation bans TikTok, the Chinese-owned short-form video app, from federal government devices.

Some lawmakers have raised bipartisan concerns that China’s national security laws could force TikTok – or its parent, ByteDance – to hand over the personal data of its US users. Recently, a wave of states led by Republican governors have introduced state-level restrictions on the use of TikTok on government-owned devices.

Protections for pregnant workers: The law provides pregnant workers with workplace accommodations – such as additional bathroom breaks, stools or relief from heavy lifting duties – needed for healthy pregnancies. It will prevent them from being forced to take leave or losing their jobs, as well as bar employers from denying employment opportunities to women based on their need for reasonable accommodations due to childbirth or related medical conditions. Also, another provision in the package guarantees workplace accommodations – particularly time to pump – for more nursing workers.

Changes to Medicaid and other health care programs: The law phases out the requirement that prevented states from disenrolling Medicaid recipients as long as the national public health emergency was in effect in exchange for an enhanced federal match. This continuous coverage measure was enacted as part of a Covid-19 relief package passed in March 2020 and has led to a record 90 million Medicaid enrollees, many of whom may no longer meet the income requirements to qualify.

Under the law, states will be able to start evaluating Medicaid enrollees’ eligibility and terminating their coverage as of April 1. The redetermination process will take place over at least 12 months. Also, the enhanced federal Medicaid funding will phase down through December 31, 2023, though the states will have to meet certain conditions during that period.

Up to 19 million people could lose their Medicaid benefits, according to estimates, though many would be eligible for other coverage.

Also, under a provision in the law, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, will offer 12 months of continuous coverage for children. This will allow the 40 million children on Medicaid and CHIP to have uninterrupted access to health care throughout the year.

In addition, the law makes permanent the option for states to offer 12 months of postpartum coverage for low-income mothers through Medicaid, rather than just 60 days. More than two dozen states, plus the District of Columbia, have implemented the measure, which was available on a temporary basis through the American Rescue Plan, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Another seven states are planning to implement the option.

Plus, the package provides more money for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. The funds are intended to speed the development of new therapies, diagnostics and preventive measures, beef up public health activities and strengthen the nation’s biosecurity by accelerating development of medical countermeasures for pandemic threats and fortifying stockpiles and supply chains for drugs, masks and other supplies.

Increased support for the military and veterans: The package funds a 4.6% pay raise for troops and a 22.4% increase in support for Veteran Administration medical care, which provides health services for 7.3 million veterans.

It includes nearly $53 billion to address higher inflation and $2.7 billion – a 25% increase – to support critical services and housing assistance for veterans and their families.

The law also allocates $5 billion for the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund, which provides additional funding to implement the landmark PACT Act that expands eligibility for health care services and benefits to veterans with conditions related to toxic exposure during their service.

Beefing up nutrition assistance: The legislation establishes a permanent nationwide Summer EBT program, starting in the summer of 2024, according to Share Our Strength, an anti-hunger advocacy group. It will provide families whose children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals with a $40 grocery benefit per child per month, indexed to inflation.

It also changes the rules governing summer meals programs in rural areas. Children will be able to take home or receive delivery of up to 10 days’ worth of meals, rather than have to consume the food at a specific site and time.

The law also helps families who have had their food stamp benefits stolen since October 1 through what’s known as “SNAP skimming.” It provides them with retroactive federal reimbursement of the funds, which criminals steal by attaching devices to point-of-sale machines or PIN pads to get card numbers and other information from electronic benefits transfer cards.

Higher maximum Pell grant awards: The law increases the maximum Pell grant award by $500 to $7,395 for the coming school year. This marks the largest boost since the 2009-2010 school year. About 7 million students, many from lower-income families, receive Pell grants every year to help them afford college.

Help to pay utility bills: The package provides $5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Combined with the $1 billion contained in the earlier continuing resolution, this is the largest regular appropriation for the program, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Home heating and cooling costs – and the applications for federal aid in paying the bills – have soared this year.

Additional funding for the US Capitol Police: The law provides an additional $132 million for the Capitol Police for a total of nearly $735 million. It will allow the department to hire up to 137 sworn officers and 123 support and civilian personnel, bringing the force to a projected level of 2,126 sworn officers and 567 civilians.

It also gives $2 million to provide off-campus security for lawmakers in response to evolving and growing threats.

More money for child care: The legislation provides $8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, a 30% increase in funding. The grant gives financial assistance to low-income families to afford child care.

Also, Head Start will receive nearly $12 billion, an 8.6% boost. The program helps young children from low-income families prepare for school.

More resources for children’s mental health and for substance abuse: The law provides more funds to increase access to mental health services for children and schools. It also will invest more money to address the opioid epidemic and substance use disorder.

Investments in homelessness prevention and affordable housing: The legislation provides $3.6 billion for homeless assistance grants, a 13% increase. It will serve more than 1 million people experiencing homelessness.

The package also funnels nearly $6.4 billion to the Community Development Block Grant formula program and related local economic and community development projects that benefit low- and moderate income areas and people, an increase of almost $1.6 billion.

Plus, it provides $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which will lead to the construction of nearly 10,000 new rental and homebuyer units and maintain the record investment from the last fiscal year.

More support for the environment: The package provides an additional $576 million for the Environmental Protection Agency, bringing its funding up to $10.1 billion. It increases support for enforcement and compliance, as well as clean air, water and toxic chemical programs, after years of flat funding.

It also boosts funding for the National Park Service by 6.4%, restoring 500 of the 3,000 staff positions lost over the past decade. This is intended to help the agency handle substantial increases in visitation.

Plus, the legislation provides an additional 14% in funding for wildland firefighting.

What’s not in the law

Enhanced child tax credit: A coalition of Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates pushed hard to extend at least one provision of the enhanced child tax credit, which was in effect last year thanks to the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Their priority was to make the credit more refundable so more of the lowest-income families can qualify. Nearly 19 million kids won’t receive the full $2,000 benefit this year because their parents earn too little, according to a Tax Policy Center estimate.

New cannabis banking rules: Lawmakers considered including a provision in the spending bill that would make it easier for licensed cannabis businesses to accept credit cards – but it was left out of the legislation. Known as the Safe Banking Act, which previously passed the House, the provision would prohibit federal regulators from taking punitive measures against banks for providing services to legitimate cannabis businesses.

Even though 47 states have legalized some form of marijuana, cannabis remains illegal on the federal level. That means financial institutions providing banking services to cannabis businesses are subject to criminal prosecution – leaving many legal growers and sellers locked out of the banking system.

Covid-19 response: Lawmakers did not include a White House request for an additional $10 billion in funding for Covid-19, which would have been aimed at continued access to and development of vaccines and therapeutics, among other things. Earlier in the year, the Biden administration unsuccessfully pushed for $22.5 billion in extra funds.

FBI headquarters: There was also no final resolution on where the new FBI headquarters will be located, a major point of contention as lawmakers from Maryland – namely House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer – pushed to bring the law enforcement agency into their state. In a deal worked through by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the General Services Administration would be required to conduct “separate and detailed consultations” with Maryland and Virginia representatives about potential sites in each of the states, according to a Senate Democratic aide.

Afghan Adjustment Act: Also not included in the spending bill was the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would have helped Afghan allies who run the risk of deportation from the US. It would have given those evacuees a pathway to lawful permanent residency before their temporary status, known as humanitarian parole, expires in 2023. Many congressional Republicans raised concerns about vetting and other issues, but the legislation’s supporters, including former US military leaders, argued those worries have been addressed.

Legislation to extend and expand Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans who worked with the US during the war there and want to come to America is included in the spending bill.

Tami Luhby Katie Lobosco
Tami Luhby
Katie Lobosco

Harris will announce awards for electric school buses for all 50 ...

CNN —

Vice President Kamala Harris will announce rebate awards for school districts across the country that will support the purchase of nearly 2,500 school buses – most of which will be electric, the White House said. The funding is part of the bipartisan infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed last year.

Speaking in Seattle on Wednesday, Harris “will announce nearly $1 billion in total awards from the EPA’s Clean School Bus program to deliver 2,468 electric and low-emission buses to school districts across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and a number of tribal run or tribal serving schools,” White House senior adviser and infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday afternoon. “The vast majority of those buses, 95% will be purely electric.”

In 12 states, Landrieu said, the electric buses will be the first ever on the ground.

“That means that Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire (are) all hitting an incredible milestone with this funding,” he said.

While nearly all of the buses will be fully electric, a “very small number” will be powered by compressed natural gas or propane, Karl Simon, director of the Transportation and Climate Division at the Environmental Protection Agency, told reporters.

Simon said the administration will award funds for charging stations but is letting local communities decide how those funds are best spent.

“For each electric bus, the agency is awarding the opportunity of them spending up to $20,000 on electric vehicle infrastructure. So, we really want it to be a local conversation between the school district, the bus provider and their local utility,” Simon said.

Awardees will now work with school bus dealers and manufacturers to put orders in for the new vehicles and will submit the orders to the EPA, which “will get money out very quickly,” Simon said. That process will be completed by April and then the buses will be delivered by the manufacturers “as soon as they can be.”

The announcement comes as the infrastructure law near its one-year anniversary.

“We’ve put the unprecedented funding in this bill to work,” Landrieu said. “We’re pushing millions of dollars out of the door and we’re turning dirt on projects all across the country.”

Florida Department of Environmental Protection awarded funds for ...

BRADENTON — A small fleet of electric school buses will be tested in Manatee County during the 2022-2023 school year following a recent grant received by the School District.

The state-funded Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Electric Bus Project will help with the purchase of three to five electric buses for Manatee County schools. The agency considers Manatee County an air quality priority area, deeming it one of 23 Florida counties eligible for the grant.

In total, DEP has $52 million to disburse for the bus project, which aims to replace 2009 or older diesel school buses with new electric battery-powered buses.

Jamie Warrington, director of transportation for the School District of Manatee County, said the buses will be an interesting test for next school year.

“We are in the preliminary stages of this … I feel like it’s going to happen but on this small scale to start out,” Warrington said.

Previously:Dawnyelle Singleton announces candidacy for Sarasota County School board

ICYMI:School resumes in Sarasota and Manatee in midst of omicron surge

Once approved by board members, the $300,000 buses will be charged at the district’s fleet facility in Bradenton at a state-of-the-art charging station. Warrington says even choosing the correct electric station to power the new buses will take some discussion and research.

Some stations can charge an electric bus in approximately four hours, other less expensive stations can charge a bus in eight hours.

“There are a lot of factors,” Warrington said. “We don’t want a large bus to run out of charge out east with kids on board. Environmentally, this is the right thing to do, but we also want to be practical.”

Though the official pulse of the board about its potential new electric bus fleet has yet to be determined, Warrington said the operations team is willing to give the electric bus project a try. Funds from the Florida DEP grant will cover 75% of the total cost of buses as well as part of the cost for the charging stations.

Warrington expects a presentation to be ready for the School District of Manatee County board this spring.

Samantha Gholar Weires can be reached at sgholar@gannett.com or on Twitter: @samanthagweires

Biden administration rolls out new regulations and funding for ...

CNN —

The Biden administration is rolling out more stringent emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles like large trucks and buses and announcing more than $1.3 billion in funding to deploy more clean transportation and school buses.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is also announcing stricter standards regulating nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy-duty trucks, updating the standard for the first time since 2001. In addition, the EPA said it plans to tighten greenhouse gas emissions standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles – standards on which the agency is now accepting public comment.

Much of the Biden administration’s focus on cutting vehicle emissions has so far been on light-duty vehicles like passenger cars. Transportation emissions account for the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, and light duty vehicles account for 58% of total emissions.

Still, heavy-duty vehicles like big trucks and buses make up about 23% of total emissions; though there are fewer of them on the roads than smaller cars, they emit a lot of pollution and planet-warming greenhouse gases.

In addition to the new regulation, Vice President Kamala Harris held a Monday event to announce new spending on cleaner transit and school buses provided by the bipartisan infrastructure law. Harris and the Department of Transportation announced the more than $1.3 billion in 2022 funding to help states buy electric transit buses.

“Imagine a future: The freight trucks that deliver bread and milk to our grocery store shelves and the buses that take children to school and parents – all the heavy-duty vehicles that keep our supply lines strong and our economy to grow – imagine that they produce zero emissions,” Harris said at the event. “We are all in the midst of a turning point.”

The administration is also rolling out $17 million for electric zero-emission and low-emission school buses. The new funding comes in addition to $7 million through the American Rescue Plan to replace older diesel school buses with electric buses in underserved communities.

The newly proposed EPA rules on NOx starting with mileage year 2027 vehicles largely focuses on cutting air pollution and improving air quality. The agency’s fact sheet states the new rules will make truck engine manufacturers build engines with better emissions controls, to help vehicles not emit so much NOx while trucks are idling or in stop-and-go traffic.

“This proposed rule would ensure that the heavy-duty vehicles and engines that drive American commerce and connect people all across the country are as clean as possible, while charting to advance zero-emission vehicles in the heavy-duty fleet,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Monday.

The agency is proposing two options for its new rule; both would go into effect in 2027, but one option would implement even stronger standards in mileage year 2031. This option would bring down NOx emissions under 400,000 tons annually, compared to about 500,000 tons for the less stringent option. The current baseline is over 900,000 tons of NOx per year.

But one state regulator said the interim NOx rule is missing the bigger picture – a transition to zero-emissions trucks.

“The real goal here is zero emissions vehicles, that’s really California’s more compelling priority on this,” California Air Resources Board member Daniel Sperling told CNN. “This is a transition issue really. NOx is a problem; it forms ozone, but we’ll get more NOx reduction with zero-emissions vehicles.”

Zero-emissions trucks are on the horizon

While the EPA’s new rule focuses heavily on cutting nitrous oxide emissions, the trucking industry and state pollution regulators are watching for the emergence of zero-emissions trucks.

The California Air Resources Board – which sets California vehicle emissions standards – already passed its own rule requiring truck makers to sell more zero-emission trucks in the state, and other states are following.

EPA’s rule does not go that far – yet.

The agency announced Monday it is looking at updating federal regulations due to “these market shifts to zero-emission technologies, which the agency did not foresee when it issued the ‘Phase 2’ GHG emission standards” for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. But the EPA is still taking comment on new greenhouse gas rules for heavy-duty vehicles, not issuing a new rule just yet.

The trucking industry has been wary of a fast shift to zero-emissions vehicles, due to the increased cost of the vehicles themselves and relative lack of charging stations for heavy-duty trucks that drive all over the country.

“If they don’t feel they meet the same needs, they’re just going to keep their old trucks longer,” said Jed Mandel, president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association – a trade association representing engine and truck manufacturers.

Mandel added that while zero-emissions “technology is coming and we want it to come,” truck manufacturers also “don’t want this rule to be so stringent as to take away the investment needed for the real prize which is zero-emissions vehicles.”

California setting its own standard is important because of the state’s massive economy, which has a huge influence on the national market. The Biden administration is soon poised to reinstate California’s waiver to set its own stricter vehicle emission standards – which was rolled back by the Trump administration.

The federal waiver will be a major step in the state being able to move the ball forward on zero-emissions trucks, which Sperling said will be going a step further than the federal government.

“Clearly California has taken the lead, and California wants the feds to closely follow,” Sperling said, adding that is important because the majority of trucks traveling through California are out-of-state trucks that don’t have to comply with the stricter standards.

“I would say California wants everyone to go forward fast” on zero-emissions vehicles, Sperling said. “If you look at political realities, the attitude is yes, we have to be the leader because the feds are not, and other states are not following fast.”

EPA finalizes tougher pollution standards for big trucks and buses ...

CNN —

The Biden administration on Tuesday finalized tougher pollution standards for heavy-duty vehicles like large trucks, delivery vans and buses starting with model year 2027.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule is the first update to the standards since 2001. It will cut down on the smog and soot from heavy-duty trucks by requiring them to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by nearly 50% by 2045, and will be more than 80% stronger than the current standard, the agency said.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement the new rule would protect public health, “especially the health of 72 million people living near truck freight routes in America, including our most vulnerable populations in historically overburdened communities.”

The agency estimated the rule will result in up to 2,900 fewer premature deaths, 18,000 fewer cases of childhood asthma and 6,700 fewer hospital admissions.

It also estimated the rule will lead to 78,000 fewer lost days of work, 1.1 million fewer lost school days for kids and an overall net benefit of $29 billion.

Transportation is the largest source of planet-warming emissions in the US, with average household vehicles making up over 50% of the sector’s total emissions. Heavy-duty vehicles like big trucks and buses make up about 23%; fewer of them are on the roads, but because of their size and their fuel requirements, they contribute an outsized proportion of air pollution and planet-warming emissions.

A Mack LR fully electric trash truck was parked behind the speakers’ podium during a ceremony to announce the new rules.

Following the ceremony, Mack spokesman John Mies said the company supported long-term zero emissions goals for trucks and was also working to reduce dangerous emissions from diesel trucks. Mack is part of the Volvo Group of truck companies, which is separate from the company that makes Volvo passenger vehicles.

“It’s clear that the new standard is very challenging,” Mies said in an email. “Beyond that, the rule is extremely complex, so we need time to examine it and understand what it means for our customers, our dealers and our employees.”

While the new rule is much tougher than current standards, environmental and public health groups have called for even more stringent standards.

Britt Carmon, the federal clean vehicles advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the new rules leave more to be done and EPA should “move quickly” to transition to zero-emissions trucks.

“After two decades of inaction, EPA is finally moving to cut harmful truck tailpipe pollution,” Carmon said. “But these standards fall short, and the agency missed a critical opportunity to slash soot and smog and accelerate the shift to the cleanest vehicles.”

California’s new rule for heavy-duty vehicles, for example, is 90% stronger than current regulations. And earlier this year, state regulators in California critiqued EPA’s pollution rule for missing the bigger picture on the move to electric trucks.

But the agency said the rule its finalizing Tuesday is just a first step.

In spring 2023, EPA is expected to release its proposed so-called “phase 3” greenhouse gas standards for heavy duty vehicles starting in model year 2027. The agency is also expected to release new proposed light and medium-duty vehicle emissions standards for 2027 and beyond model year vehicles in the spring.

Regan said these rules, in addition to climate and clean energy investments in a pair of infrastructure and climate laws already passed, “will accelerate President Biden’s ambitious agenda to overhaul the nation’s trucking fleet, deliver cleaner air, and protect people and the planet.”

Ella Nilsen Peter Valdes-Dapena
Ella Nilsen
Peter Valdes-Dapena

Why these South Mountain students are fighting for electric buses

Monica Aceves couldn’t mask her feeling of triumph.

“I feel like I’m gonna cry,” she said, beaming.

It was April and Aceves had just stepped out of a school board meeting. Her senior year of high school was coming to an end and the 17-year-old had plenty on her mind: Running one last track meet with her team, the South Mountain Jaguars. Keeping her grades up before graduation. Whether to pursue college in California with the support of an athletic scholarship.

But in this precise moment, only one thing came to the forefront: one new school bus.

That evening, the school board representing Phoenix Union High School District unanimously voted to purchase its first electric school bus. The new bus, which is reserved for special-needs students, will be the first bus in the district to produce zero direct emissions.

But the district didn’t stop there. Superintendent Chad Gestson also unveiled a pilot program for acquiring more electric buses, with possible expansion into feeder districts like Roosevelt Elementary.

The board’s decision came after months of grassroots organization. Since fall 2018, a close-knit trio of high school runners — Aceves and her teammates Levin Escarcega and Erik Gómez Cruz — began campaigning for electric buses with Chispa, an environmental group that advocates for Latino communities. All three students acknowledged their track coach and Chispa member Julio Zuniga for mentoring them along the way.

Air quality problems persistently plague the region: Earlier this year, the greater Phoenix area got an "F" for ozone and particle pollution from the American Lung Association. The organization also ranked Phoenix seventh for worst ozone pollution in the country.

School buses make up a tiny fraction of vehicle fossil fuel emissions, but the pollution is concentrated near schools when drivers idle waiting for students to board. The emissions are especially harmful to younger children, whose lungs are still developing.

While one less diesel bus on the road doesn’t seem like much, for many of the activists at the school board meeting that night, the new electric bus and subsequent pilot program signaled a small but crucial contribution toward improving the quality of life in south Phoenix.

Some of Chispa's volunteers say Maricopa County has long allowed residents in south Phoenix’s low-income and predominantly Latino neighborhoods to absorb the type of environmental degradation that wealthier and whiter neighborhoods get to avoid.

“I can be doing anything else, but I just like to help people,” Aceves said from her home, prior to the board meeting. “I like to stand up for my community because they deserve a better environment, a better place to live in.”

Witnessing a teammate's asthma attack catalyzed her role in Chispa's electric school bus campaign. Escarcega and Gómez soon joined the efforts and together they showed up to school board meetings to push their cause.

They're not alone.

Chispa's supporters include mothers and fathers who want to improve their neighborhoods so their children can grow up in a healthier environment. There are also the educators and scientists who say the school system bears responsibility for their students' well-being, which extends beyond the classroom.

During cross country and track seasons, athletes run outside almost every day. Escarcega described how some days it feels harder to breathe. He saw how students with asthma had different experiences than him, from running with two inhalers to selling snacks on campus to pay for medication.

Ultimately, they all want cleaner air for everyone.

Toxic facilities in minority neighborhoods

South Phoenix doesn't have official boundary lines. First Things First, a state resource center for early childhood development, defines south Phoenix as the area that runs from 48th Street to 27th Avenue, bordered by Salt River to the north and South Mountain Park to the south.

About 72% of children under six in south Phoenix identify as Latino and 12% of children identify as black or African American, according to census data presented by First Things First.

A trip down Central Avenue, from Camelback Road to Baseline Road, shows how the landscape transforms just south of Salt River. Scrap metal yards and undeveloped dirt lots pockmark the mix of industrial and residential neighborhoods, a stark contrast to the palm trees and glossy real estate offices near Encanto Village.

History shows numerous examples of policies that community activists say promoted institutional racism and segregation in the Valley, from racial profiling under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio to deliberately segregating minority and non-English-speaking students from white students.

Discrimination has also influenced housing development in the Phoenix area. Like other major cities across the U.S., a history of redlining in Phoenix allowed banks to deny home loans to minorities and block them from areas that make up today's prized, historic neighborhoods, such as Encanto Palmcroft, Roosevelt and Willo.

A 2005 paper by Arizona State University refers to this segregation as “Sunbelt apartheid” — a system that encouraged decision-makers to “place noxious facilities in the middle of minority communities.”

After the April school board meeting, Superintendent Gestson told the audience that Phoenix Union has an obligation as an institution to address injustice.

“As we shared within our team, you don’t see high levels of pollutants in suburban communities,” Gestson said. “You don’t see companies build large factories in largely white, middle class communities. They are in our footprint and the only way for that to change is institutions like Phoenix Union to not just focus on the sustainability, but an institution that wants to take the lead in really tackling the issues that have been around for generations.”

There’s some research to support his claim. A 2015 study found that in the United States, growing concentrations of people of color appeared to “attract” new hazardous waste facilities.

Zooming in to just metropolitan Phoenix, a 2007 study by ASU compared Phoenix's Census data with air pollution levels and found that “Census block groups with lower neighborhood socioeconomic status, higher proportions of Latino immigrants, and higher proportions of renters are exposed to higher levels of criteria air pollutants.”

Maricopa County has 10 active monitors that measure fine particle pollution. In 2018, the west Phoenix, Durango Complex and south Phoenix monitors were in the top three for highest annual average of fine particle concentration.

Gestson has spent nearly two decades working in minority-majority schools in low-income communities in Phoenix. A Teach for America alumnus, Gestson came to Phoenix Union in 2009 after working at Isaac and Roosevelt Elementary School Districts. All three school districts serve a mostly Hispanic student population, the majority of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

District board member Stanford Prescott is a 2007 graduate from South Mountain High School and holds a bachelor's degree in sustainability from ASU, as well as a master's degree in nonprofit leadership and management. For him, addressing environmental issues means addressing inequality too.

“As someone who grew up in south Phoenix, one thing I noticed was some neighborhoods are treated differently,” Prescott said. “Some neighborhoods are clean, have sidewalks and parks and speed bumps. Some do not. For me, my interest in sustainability comes from my personal experiences seeing how inequality spilled into the lived environment. How the impact of climate change has a disproportionate impact on people with low income and people without means to adapt.”

He had met with Zuniga and Chispa a couple times during the school year, and he credited the students from his alma mater, Aceves, Escarcega and Gómez, for initiating the serious push of electric buses.

“Sometimes when political decisions are made, voices of students are lost,” Prescott said. “It’s important that they are included in the information process.”

So how exactly did three teenagers help persuade local officials to invest in their community’s air quality?

A high school track captain took a stand

In the fall of 2018, Aceves watched her teammate double over coughing during a cross-country training at Cesar Chavez Park.

“She was having an attack,” Aceves recalled. “And then she didn’t show up (to practice) for a whole week. She went to the hospital. I felt really bad because I’m the captain and I care about my team. I just felt like I had to do something.”

Aceves had been captain of the South Mountain High School track team for two years. She spoke about that teammate when she and Gómez formally addressed the school board on Feb. 7.

For her and other high school athletes, running wasn't just a hobby. Track and field scholarships finance opportunities for students to go to college. If the conditions students run in affect their performance, then it affects their chance at getting a scholarship, Aceves argued.

"I understand this issue might seem distant if you live and work in nicer parts of the district, but it is very well present around me and my everyday life," Aceves told the school board on a March 7 meeting.

Aceves was nervous before going up to the podium. The district holds board meetings about once a month and public speakers get up to three minutes to talk.

She had prepared a speech on her phone and read it to herself beforehand. She asked people for advice about how to approach the board members, to help her edit her speech. Now she wondered how her audience would react, if they would even care.

“I try to be positive,” Aceves said. “I don’t have a lot of frustration moments. Once you start being negative, everything starts going wrong.”

During her speech, she mentioned another runner, a male student with asthma. She described him getting harassed for selling potato chips out of his backpack at school so he could afford his inhalers, a story Zuniga affirmed.

His situation made her sad. It's not fair, Aceves said quietly in her home.

Home for Aceves is a house in south Phoenix where she lives with her parents, four siblings and an energetic young bulldog. She's lived in this neighborhood for most of her life since moving from Guadalajara, Mexico.

It was in Phoenix where she began competitive running, emulating her older brother, Bryan, who also ran. The mile and the 800-meter races are her specialty.

Years before that she started watching the TV series, "Grey’s Anatomy." The hospital setting and fictional doctors, like her favorite character Meredith Grey, inspired her to consider a career in nursing. She likes poring over medical websites, reading about surgical procedures and how to treat injuries.

Her teammate’s asthma attack wasn’t the first time she had witnessed one. Not long after moving to Phoenix, Bryan suffered his first asthma attack. Aceves was around 6 then and doesn’t remember much of the details today, just the panicked drive to the hospital as her scared mother told Bryan to relax. She remembers her big brother lying on the emergency room bed with a breathing mask on his face. A nurse gave her ice cream so she wouldn’t cry.

After seeing her teammates run with inhalers, Aceves began reading about asthma on the internet. When her track coach Julio Zuniga told her about Chispa's campaign to fight diesel pollution, Aceves started thinking about the connection between air quality and health, specifically, how air pollution could affect not only her classmates with asthma, but also her younger siblings who have developing lungs.

“I just want them to have a healthy life,” Aceves said. “I think about all the things that could happen to them.”

DEADLY AIR: Pollution in Phoenix harms asthmatics

Escarcega, who’s known Aceves for two years, described her as a leader both on and off the track.

“She has crazy energy and she’s not afraid of anyone,” Escarcega said. “She stands up for herself and others and she’ll just do it. Whatever it is, she’ll do it.”

Gómez described how Aceves took her advocacy to the classroom and talked about a school project where they had to give a presentation on a global issue.

“And she chose pollution,” Gómez said. “And she started talking about Chispa and then the teacher was really interested.”

That April, with graduation on the horizon, Aceves was looking forward to prom and summer. She felt proud of herself for speaking up at board meetings, but if her persistence led to real results, she would feel prouder knowing that it paid off, Aceves said.

At the time she hadn't decided yet if she wanted to leave for college in California. She was also considering South Mountain Community College and Benedictine University in Mesa. The hardest part about leaving Phoenix would be how much she would miss her family.

After school board meetings, she liked coming home and relaying what happened to her mom, also named Monica, who waits up for her so Aceves doesn’t have to eat alone. Aceves found comfort in her support and said her mom never thought her daughter would take an interest in the environment.

Aceves doesn’t pretend electric vehicles don’t come with their own challenges. The upfront cost presents a hard sell to school districts with limited funding and she understands electric vehicles require additional infrastructure.

“I know it’s not easy because you also have to set up stations to charge the buses,” Aceves said. “(The buses) could turn off. But in the future it’s gonna help. We’re gonna have cleaner air and people won’t be sick or breathing nasty air.”

Volkswagen's scandal leads to funding

The Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign was born in the aftermath of the 2015 Volkswagen emissions scandal. At its helm: Chispa, a nonprofit that mobilizes Latino families on environmental issues.

After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of manipulating emissions numbers, the automaker admitted it cheated U.S. federal emissions tests by designing cars that would fool regulators. Volkswagen installed deceptive software that affected 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide.

As a result, Volkswagen agreed to spend up to $14.73 billion to settle the cheating allegation, up to $10.03 billion to compensate customers and $4.7 billion on projects that invest in clean vehicle technology and pollution mitigation.

Of that $4.7 billion, Arizona would receive $57 million in Volkswagen settlement money over 10 years. Most of that settlement goes to a plan Gov. Doug Ducey approved in 2018, the Lower-Emission School Bus Program.

School districts, plus the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind, could apply for funding to purchase and replace buses that are more than 15 years old or have more than 100,000 miles.

FAILED:Arizona school bus safety, an investigation

To qualify for funding, the school district must have 60% or more students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. The district must also own the bus that's up for replacement.

Older buses tend to pollute more because they have less fuel-efficient technology and the EPA recommends buses built before 1998 should be top priority for replacement. As of April 16, 2019, Arizona school districts have won funding for 332 new buses.

Seeing an opportunity from the Volkswagen settlement, Chispa launched the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign in six states to encourage school districts to replace their old buses with electric ones. In Phoenix, Chispa Arizona targeted three school districts: Cartwright Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary and Phoenix Union High School.

The local chapter focused on those three districts because many of their Phoenix-based members are already active in those communities and have children who attend schools in the districts, said Laura Dent, executive director of Chispa Arizona.

"Many of our members call south Phoenix home," Dent said. "These residents know and love their community and have been leaders in advocating for an improved environment. We all deserve clean energy, clean air and healthy neighborhoods."

The headquarters for Chispa Arizona sits in a two-story building less than half a mile down the street from the Arizona state Capitol. It neighbors the office for Puente, a migrant advocacy organization. A sign at Chispa’s entrance expresses solidarity with No Más Muertes, a humanitarian group that provides water and aid to undocumented immigrants crossing the desert.

Chispa's team, which communicates in a mix of Spanish and English, meets in and out of the headquarters throughout the week. Members include communications director Vianey Olivarría and promotores, which is what Chispa calls its volunteer leaders.

Many of the promotores are mothers, so with affection, Dent refers to some of them as “our mamás.” This year, the promotores have covered various ground, from showing up at the Capitol in support of the Public Lands Day bill to canvassing the streets to register voters ahead of district elections.

For Chispa, there can be no environmental justice without social justice.

"Latinos and people of color are disproportionately impacted by climate change and air pollution through higher rates of respiratory illness, extreme heat, and rising utility bills," Olivarría said in an email statement on behalf of Chispa.

"While Latinos care deeply about environmental issues and effective solutions, we are often left out of the conversation when it comes to developing ambitious, just solutions to fighting against climate change and for healthy communities."

Years of research also back up mounting evidence of this disproportionate burden in the United States.

From the federal government’s National Climate Assessment, released November 2018: “Low-income communities and some communities of color are often already overburdened with poor environmental conditions and are disproportionately affected by, and less resilient to, the health impacts of climate change.”

A study published in March 2019 quantified for the first time the racial gap between who causes air pollution and who breathes it. Scientists found that people who identify as white spend more money on goods and services that cause pollution than those who identify as black and Hispanic, but blacks and Hispanics experience more exposure to that pollution.

“Even though minorities are contributing less to the overall problem of air pollution, they are affected by it more,” the study’s white co-author, engineer Jason Hill, told USA Today. “Is it fair (that) I create more pollution and somebody else is disproportionately affected by it?”

Saving money with cleaner technology

Righting inequity in Phoenix is one of the driving reasons behind the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, said Julio Zuniga, a track coach at South Mountain High School.

“It’s one bus now, but it opens this door for every big institution that uses commercial vehicles to go the same route because a lot of them have the funds,” Zuniga said. “And it’s simply the right thing to do. We have the technology to have a safer and cleaner environment.”

That technology might not be accessible to poor people who can’t afford it, but it’s accessible to the institutions meant to support them, he added.

Jim Cummings, communicators director for Glendale Elementary, said there were three reasons his district chose to invest in new, propane-fueled buses rather than traditional diesel buses.

“The first thing is about being a good neighbor,” Cummings said. “If you saw fumes from diesel buses, you would want to be better stewards of the environment.”

The second and third reasons come down to cost saving. Propane buses have less operating costs because a gallon of propane is less expensive, Cummings said. The buses also have simpler engines and are less expensive to maintain, he added.

Even if propane buses have a higher price tag, the price is only slightly higher and it doesn’t take long to make up the price difference in savings later, Cummings said.

In a 2014 cost analysis, the U.S. Department of Energy found some school districts saved nearly 50% on cost per mile for fuel and maintenance when they used propane buses compared with diesel. The federal agency also found that districts could recoup the incremental cost of propane buses and fueling infrastructure in three to eight years.

Cartwright District confirmed that it used the state grant to purchase five 2020 diesel-powered Blue Bird buses up to $550,000 in value, according to documents provided by Dawn Mayfield, executive assistant to Zeek Ojeh, assistant superintendent at Cartwright.

Upgrades like Cartwright's can also make a drastic reduction in pollution, based on calculations using the EPA's Diesel Emissions Quantifier.

A 2020 diesel engine emits about 98% less fine particle pollution and 92% less nitrogen oxide, one of the gases that forms ozone pollution, than a 2000 diesel engine.

Roosevelt and Phoenix Union did not confirm how they would use their grant money. Craig Pletenik, communications director for Phoenix Union, said his district is purchasing its electric bus solely from bond money.

Although an electric school bus can save money in the long run with lower fuel and maintenance costs than a diesel bus, it's the upfront sticker price that deters districts. An electric school bus could cost twice as much as diesel school bus.

The state grant of $110,000 provides only a “very little amount” of funding and the district has already applied for an additional, federal grant under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, Pletenik said.

The federal program selects applicants on a lottery number basis. From 2012 to 2018, only one applicant in Arizona has been selected: Marana Unified School District in 2016.

If Phoenix Union is selected for the next round, the award would cover the cost of five new electric buses, Pletenik said.

High school students ride the school bus in fewer numbers than elementary and middle school students, he conceded. But Quintin Boyce, chief administrative officer at Roosevelt District, discussed an interest in partnering their districts up, Pletenik added.

Partnerships would allow schools to share the use and cost of electric charging stations, Superintendent Gestson explained during a presentation of the electric bus pilot program.

“Air pollution is the biggest concern in my neighborhood,” said Phoenix resident Herlinda Calderon. Her youngest son attends Cesar Chavez Community School, which is part of Roosevelt district, and her oldest son is studying interior design at Phoenix College.

Her oldest son used to have asthma and only needs an emergency inhaler now, she said. But she remembers when he had his first asthma attack at 4 months old, before she even knew what an asthma attack looked like.

Her past involvement with the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition and Chispa led Calderon to pay more attention to issues that affect immigrant communities.

She likes the idea of making a change in her neighborhood, an area plagued by too many gas stations and semi-trailer trucks. If she drives through Chandler or Ahwatukee, she doesn’t see nearly as many gas stations located near residential streets, she claimed.

“If you’re going to spend money, you have to look at the root of the problem,” Calderon said. For her that means improving the air they breathe, not just providing more access to medication, she said.

Taking a clean-air fight to the board

It was an abnormally windy spring day, not the most ideal conditions for a race at South Mountain High School, where a visiting school was holding its track meet.

Senior Erik Gómez Cruz, 17, and sophomore Levin Escarcega, 16, took a break from volunteering at the meet to sit under a tree and go over what they planned to say the next day.

The boys had just received unexpected news.

Coach Zuniga told them the next day’s school board meeting was going to be different: The board planned to vote on whether to purchase an electric school bus. From his experience, the votes were usually unanimous and went in favor of whichever item was up for consideration.

Still, they had to be sure. They said it was important for them to speak up before the vote, a final show of solidarity.

Escarcega attended the school board meetings, but usually didn’t go up to the podium. Public speaking made him shy. Instead Escarcega would help Aceves write her speech sometimes, and left the talking to her and Gómez while supporting them from the audience.

But on this day he opened the notes app on his iPhone to show the speech he prepared, wiping away the windblown dust on his screen. He flipped to the weather app, which is where he looked for air quality updates. There was an advisory for high air pollution that day.

“Levin is just a smart kid,” Zuniga said in his office at Chispa. “He’s super nice and he’s super articulate. He loves helping people and he’s, I mean, if you just spend a day with him, he’s going to help like five different people in one day. He just does whatever he can. And I think (Clean Buses for Healthy Niños) just clicked with him.”

Escarcega liked asking questions. He asked his coach questions. He asked his teachers questions, describing his AP U.S. History teacher as particularly helpful. And if she didn’t have an answer, she would find out for him.

He also kept up with the news online, which gave him both answers and more questions. Either way, he knew he wasn’t just asking questions for himself. He was asking for people like his parents, who supported his interests, but weren’t as involved because work and preparing for the arrival of his new baby siblings kept them busy.

“It’s important to know what’s going on around you and what’s what, 'cause it’s affecting you and the people you love and your friends,” Escarcega said. “You have to know what’s going on and if there’s something you could do about it.”

He thinks some people don’t care about what’s going on, even if it's impacting their lives, only because they’re uninformed and don’t know it’s happening to begin with.

“It’s also hard because there’s a lot of hardworking families busy working day to night and they don’t have time to do this work that I’m doing,” Escarcega added. “So that’s why I got to do it for them.”

Escarcega, along with Aceves and Gómez, didn’t think it was fair that breathing in poor air made it harder for their team to run.

Gómez transferred from Tempe High School for the 2018-2019 school year, and in the fall began taking an interest in the electric bus campaign.

“You know, as a high schooler, you’re not really taught to have that initiative to reach out,” Zuniga said. “And he did.”

But like Escarcega, Gómez also had questions. One of them was: Were electric buses really cheaper in the long run? In the beginning, he expressed doubt because didn't schools have other needs, like books and supplies?

“And he’s right,” Zuniga said. “I like that he’s questioning it, that he’s doing research,” Zuniga said. “He’s not just following.”

Gómez began looking up different buses, comparing prices and looking at fuel costs. It’s a habit he started picking up in seventh grade, when a history teacher encouraged his curiosity, Gómez said.

“I had the privilege of being involved in this group at school called teen court,” he said. “We did, like, a lot of court procedures. We’d work on cases and stuff, so that’s where I got my knowledge to do my own risk (analysis) and yeah, I do my own research a lot.”

Gómez said he tried to collect information from different sources and read articles from multiple news outlets to avoid bias.

Both he and Escarcega were born in and grew up in south Phoenix. Since graduating, Gómez has chosen to stay and work in Phoenix. There were still hometown issues he cared about, like advocating for solar energy. The industry could provide jobs for people and lower utility bills, Gómez thinks. He expressed disappointment that Prop 127, a renewable energy measure, failed to pass in 2018.

Still, he was hopeful for the future. One bus was just the beginning.

'My daughter is my cause'

Blanca Abarca, a Chispa promotora, expressed dismay at the times she saw plumes of smoke blowing out of tail pipes, or volunteering at her daughter’s school field trips and finding that the air conditioning on the bus didn’t work.

“Mi hija es mi causa,” Abarca said at one of her weekly Chispa committee meetings, which means "my daughter is my cause." That week, she and other promotores met in a rental home, which they’ve asked The Republic not to identify. They feared retribution from the landlord, who they say would oppose any kind of political campaigning on the property, Abarca said.

In the kitchen, a pot of pozole verde simmered on the stove. On the wall, the image of Maria Magdalena seemed to gaze over them.

Abarca spoke at length at the meeting and touched upon a range of topics, from light rail expansion to their children who would one day enter voting age. She lamented the struggle of recruiting immigrants, who are sympathetic to Chispa's cause, but don’t want to draw public scrutiny.

Abarca has lived in south Phoenix for 18 years and her daughter Isabella went to school at Ignacio Conchos Elementary School. Her involvement with Chispa began after she spent time volunteering at her daughter’s schools, photocopying textbooks and cutting out wall decorations.

She knows parents with asthmatic children and they don’t connect air pollution to their children’s health, she said. Investing in electric buses would not only show that the school district cares, but it would open up a greater conversation about how to improve air quality for children’s health, she said.

In some instances, it can be difficult for parents to get news about what’s going on in Phoenix, especially if English isn’t their native tongue, she said with frustration. She is one of the parents who relies on the aid of translators.

Stacey Mortensen, the Western division director for the American Lung Association, said doctors cannot pinpoint the cause of asthma. But she’s certain of one thing: what’s in the air can worsen or trigger health problems.

“If someone lives in a high-traffic area, or within five miles of a freeway, they are getting exposed to poorer air quality than somebody else,” Mortensen said.

The 2016 Arizona Asthma Burden Report cited chronic lower respiratory disease — such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis — as the third-leading cause of death in Arizona, responsible for almost 3,300 deaths a year. At least one in 10 Arizona youths, 17 years and younger, also are reported to have asthma.

“Bigger particles, our body’s defense system can cough and sneeze,” Mortensen said. “Really small ones lodge in our lung. That’s a problem with somebody with lung disease or compromised lungs already.”

She’s referring to PM 2.5, particle pollutants finer than a fleck of dust, finer than the width of a single strand of hair. Vehicle emissions, smoke from wildfires and wood burning, and industrial gases form this fine particle pollution.

Race gaps persist in health care access

Car-centric Phoenix has a serious air pollution problem.

From Phoenix's congested freeways and heavily trafficked roads, cars and trucks spew harmful nitrogen oxide and particle pollution into the air. On days with stagnant air, that particle pollution pools in the Valley. On long, sunny days, vehicle emissions react to form ozone pollution. Since ozone is colorless, it’s hard to tell from sight alone whether a clear day with blue skies has high ozone pollution.

EPA data shows air pollution around the country, including Phoenix, has fallen since the federal Clean Air Act of 1990. But the downward trend belies a less rosy outlook: air quality gains seem to be slowing down.

A study published by the National Academy of Sciences showed pollution levels from nitrogen oxide fell 7% from 2005 to 2009, but only dropped 1.7% from 2011 to 2015.

While Phoenix can’t change its valley geography or hours of sunshine, the city can address areas where people may be disproportionately affected by air pollution.

Schools are one those places. Children, whose bodies are still growing, can develop weakened lungs if they’re exposed to high levels of fine particle pollution on a daily basis, Mortensen said.

Then there are the race gaps in public health. The American Lung Association declared in a 2011 report about disparities in lung health: “Compared to non-Hispanic whites, (Hispanics) are more likely to live and work in environments that make them sick and are less likely to have access to health care.” The Arizona Asthma Burden Report also noted that nationwide, blacks and Hispanics are more likely to visit the emergency department for asthma care.

DIRTY AIR:Phoenix ranked 7th for worst ozone pollution in the nation

“Some of it may be access to care,” Mortensen said, “if they don’t have a provider, or they are not going to a provider. Without having regular visits with a physician, they are not getting self-management information. They’re not getting prescriptions. A chronic disease takes regular management and part of that management is regularly seeing your doctor.”

If people have a hard time accessing regular check-ups, the burden will fall on emergency departments, Mortensen said.

In 2016, ASU's Cronkite News analyzed hospital emergency room admissions by zip code between 2009 and 2015. The results showed children living in some areas, like south and west Phoenix, Maryvale or neighborhoods along Interstate 17, were more likely to need urgent medical care for asthma than children living elsewhere in the Valley.

As part of its outreach, the American Lung Association targets areas in Phoenix that might have a high need for the Open Airways for School curriculum, a six-week, in-school program that teaches students about asthma and self-management.

Getting access to schools presents a challenge, though, especially when schools already have many other priorities, Mortensen said.

“Schools are very busy and get asked to do a lot of things,” she said. “Our programming is extra. But when I do get into a school, every time it’s a win.”

Mortensen described the positive feedback she received from nurses and parents by the end of each program, about children who no longer needed reminders to take their medication or a student who got his father to quit smoking because it triggered his asthma.

She said there is also another way schools can reduce pollution exposure to children with developing lungs: Reduce unnecessary idling in front of schools.

When drivers leave their engines running without moving, it wastes fuel and pollutes the air in and around the vehicle. This can be especially harmful at elementary schools where children are shorter and breathing air closer to the tailpipe.

In a hot city like Phoenix, drivers are likely to idle to keep their air conditioning on.

Trish Koman, a former EPwho co-founded the agency's Clean Bus program, said schools can get creative to reduce idling, perhaps allowing drivers to go inside the building to stay cool or planting trees for shade.

"Drivers have an outdated idea about idling, so education could be a strong component," Koman said, referring to the popular myth that restarting a vehicle burns more fuel than leaving it idling. In reality, idling burns more fuel than restarting the vehicle.

Older vehicles with older, less fuel-efficient technology compound the idling problem, Koman added.

"School buses are not a big source of pollution, but they are visible and close to a vulnerable population — children," Koman said. "Many communities wanted to begin with school bus emissions. It's only the first step."

Since air pollution is everywhere, it's important to reduce all sources near children — starting with local emissions, but also taking the next step toward the broader, national picture, Koman said.

"The Trump EPA admin is trying to roll back emissions standards," Koman said. "If people are concerned about children's health, look at the larger Clean Air Act requirements."

As of June 7, 2019, the Trump administration has reversed 10 air pollution and emissions regulations, the New York Times reported. Twelve additional rollbacks are still in progress.

Coach calls this a good start

It’s the day after the school board vote and Zuniga was still in high spirits. The night before, the meeting room was so packed it became standing-room only. Three high school robotics teams had qualified for the Robotics World Championships and had showed up decked in team shirts. A buzz filled the air. Chispa members took up a couple of rows behind Zuniga, his students and his family.

After the board approved the first bus in the electric bus pilot program, the room broke out in applause and cheers. It was a night of several victories: The room would break out in cheers again later when the board presented each robotics team with a $5,000 check for their trip to competition.

Later, Chispa would gather in a separate room across the hall to process their win and take group photos. Aceves, Gómez and Escarcega were speaking over each other and they couldn’t stop smiling. They were also thinking ahead already.

“Now the question is: What’s next?” Escarcega said.

Zuniga was proud of his students, but if there’s one thing he also wants them to learn, it’s that they won’t win everything they fight for. Losses will happen too in the future, but they shouldn’t let the losses discourage them, he said.

As an immigrant rights activist, he remembers how devastating it felt when the DREAM Act failed time and time again to pass. The bill would have granted residency status to certain undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. The election of President Trump was another blow, he said.

While a local school board decision might not make as widespread an impact as a congressional decision or national election, Zuniga thinks small decisions can create waves too.

“Usually the first people, the innovators, they get a lot of push back because people can’t accept their things,” Zuniga said.

A lot of people don't like change, but if one the largest school districts in Arizona can get the ball rolling, other districts will follow and it can get state officials to pay attention, Zuniga said with excitement.

"I see it as an opening, a really big door and then we’re going to get bigger things, maybe on a state level, maybe federal."

Priscilla Totiyapungprasert is a reporter at the Arizona Republic. You can reach her at Priscilla.Totiya@azcentral.com or 602-444-8092. Follow her on Twitter: @PriscillaTotiya.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. For more stories visit environment.azcentral.com or follow OurGrandAZ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to azcentral.com today to support local journalism.

What Biden's infrastructure law has done so far | CNN Politics

Washington CNN —

States and local communities are ramping up plans to spend the billions of dollars provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that passed last year.

The law, enacted about 100 days ago, will provide $550 billion for new federal infrastructure investments over the next five years. Roughly a fifth of the pot will be available in 2022 for a variety of projects, including roads, bridges, rail, water systems, airports, broadband and public transit.

Passed with bipartisan support, the law marks one of the biggest wins for President Joe Biden. The administration, as well as members of Congress, are eager to show off the bridges, roads and other projects the federal money will help build.

There is a massive backlog of infrastructure needs in the US awaiting funding, but it takes time to get projects off the ground. For the most part, money is still making its way to the states and local agencies for construction that could start in the spring.

The nation’s infrastructure system, which earned a C- score from the American Society of Civil Engineers last year, is in desperate need of money. About one-third of all bridges in the US need major repair work or replacement, according to a recent report from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

The collapse of a Pittsburgh bridge earlier this year – hours before Biden was scheduled to visit the city to tout the new law – has underscored the urgency.

How much money has gone out?

The White House said Wednesday that it has made about $100 billion available through a number of programs so far.

Some of the money is distributed through what’s known as formula programs, which deliver funds directly to states, and some money is available through competitive grant programs that require state and local agencies to apply.

Several funding programs have already launched, releasing billions of funds for highways, bridges and airports.

Using the infrastructure funds to strengthen the nation’s supply chains is a big priority for the Biden administration. One of the first announcements it made was about awarding more than $241 billion in grants to 25 port projects, including building a new locomotive facility in Long Beach, California, and the construction of an off-dock container support facility in Tacoma, Washington. The administration made another nearly $450 million available in grants for port improvements this month.

A formula funding program that will help states create a network of electric vehicle charging stations was opened by the departments of Transportation and Energy earlier this month. It will make $615 million available this fiscal year and is set to disburse $5 billion over five years.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it will use $1 billion for the cleanup and restoration of the Great Lakes region, with $200 million allocated for this year.

When will Americans see shovels in the ground?

It’s mostly up to the states and local agencies to decide how and when to spend the money – within the guidelines spelled out by the law.

“This is not a right now kind of deal,” said Mitch Landrieu, a former New Orleans mayor who was tapped by Biden to oversee the implementation of the infrastructure law.

In an interview with CNN Wednesday, Landrieu declined to outline a time frame for when Americans could see shovels in the ground.

“As soon as the states are ready, they can start. The answer is going to depend on how ready they are to move,” he said.

Funneling the billions of dollars to the states is a heavy lift that requires coordination from several agencies on the federal level with state-level officials. In January, Landrieu asked the states to name their own infrastructure coordinator to help ease the process. Twenty-five have done so to date, he said.

The administration has also launched an “infrastructure school” webinar series to help communities learn how to access the aid.

Simple projects, like paving a highway, could be the first kind of effort a state tackles. But other more complex projects, like building a new bridge, may not start for months – if not years.

“The good thing is, even if it does take a little bit longer, we’re getting started today instead of years from now,” said Elaine Nessle, executive director of the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors.

Many states have projects that they have been planning for years, just waiting for increased financial assistance.

“I think public agencies are ready to move forward. These projects are much more than just a twinkle in someone’s eye,” Nessle said.

A congressional holdup

Experts told CNN that the disbursement of the money is happening along the time frame they expected – except for one holdup.

Due to a budgeting quirk, some of the money provided by the infrastructure law cannot be spent until Congress passes the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill. The federal government is currently funded by a stopgap bill known as a continuing resolution, though lawmakers are optimistic they can come to an agreement on a full-year funding package by March 11.

Still, that leaves some money “not yet spendable,” said Susan Howard, director of policy and government relations at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

That includes a portion of the funds slated for the federal highway program and public transit programs.

“If we get too far down the road without a fiscal year spending package, we begin to risk projects being delayed,” Howard said.

There are other potential challenges ahead that Howard and the Biden administration are keeping an eye on. The rising costs of materials and labor could mean that the infrastructure dollars can’t be stretched as far as first expected. Not only are construction workers needed, but public agencies may also need to hire more grant writers to apply for the funds.

The White House is also working to make sure the money is used efficiently and to prevent fraud and abuse of the funds.