2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics › Section 26:2C-8.58 - "Electric School Bus Program" implemented.

26:2C-8.58 "Electric School Bus Program" implemented.
1. a. No later than six months after the effective date of P.L.2022, c.86 (C.26:2C-8.58 et al.), the Department of Environmental Protection shall implement a three-year "Electric School Bus Program" to determine the operational reliability and cost effectiveness of replacing diesel-powered school buses with electric school buses for the daily transportation of students.
b. On or after the date of implementation of the program developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section, and once each year for the next two years thereafter, the Department of Environmental Protection shall, subject to available funding, select for participation in the program no less than six school districts and school bus contractors that operate school buses, as described in section 1 of P.L.1996, c.96 (C.39:3B-1.1), so that during the third year of the program, no less than a total of 18 school districts or school bus contractors shall have been selected for participation in the program amongst the northern, central, and southern regions of the State. The department shall choose school districts and school bus contractors to participate in the program based on a competitive grant solicitation.
In each year, the department shall use its best efforts to select a mix of school districts that operate their own bus fleets and school districts that contract for school bus services; provided that, in each year, the department shall award no more than half of the grants to school bus contractors. Any school bus contractor applying to participate in the program shall apply in conjunction with a specific school district. In each year, at least half of the school districts or school bus contractors selected by the department, and at least half of the grant funding awarded by the department in each year shall be located in a "low-income, urban, or environmental justice community" as defined in section 2 of P.L.2019, c.362 (C.48:25-2) and from those selected, the department shall use its best efforts, in each year, to select, an equal number of grantees from the northern, central, and southern regions of the State respectively, subject to deviation based on the applicant pool. Grants shall be awarded in a manner that both prioritizes equity and tests a variety of technological and funding approaches, including but not limited to outright purchase, leased buses, leveraging of other funding sources, and vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-building technologies.
For purposes of this subsection: "northern," when referring to regions of the State, means the counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Union, Sussex, and Warren; "central," when referring to regions of the State, means the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset; and "southern," when referring to regions of the State, means the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem.
c. (1) Under the program, the department shall award grants to school districts or school bus contractors selected to participate in the program to purchase or lease electric school buses and to purchase or lease and install electric school bus charging infrastructure in coordination with any State department, board, bureau, commission, agency, public utility as defined pursuant to R.S.48:2-13 that provides electric service to end users in the State, municipal public utility as defined in N.J.S.40A:1-1 that provides electric service to end users in the State, authority as defined in section 3 of P.L.1983, c.313 (C.40A:5A-3) that provides electric service to end users in the State, or rural electric cooperative organized under the general corporation laws of this State as necessary. Pursuant to any outright purchase or lease arrangement entered into by a school district or school bus contractor participating in the program, an electric school bus and charging infrastructure vendor purchase or lease arrangement shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(a) an electric school bus having a minimum range of 90 miles per full charge, or 30 percent more range per full charge than the daily maximum miles used by the school district or school bus contractor, whichever is greater, and having telematics system capabilities. The department shall collect data from on-board telematics monitoring systems in order to evaluate parameters such as idle time, driving time, energy consumption, and frequency of charging;
(b) an electric school bus and charging infrastructure, as appropriate;
(c) appropriate training for bus maintenance personnel and bus drivers, and other relevant personnel, which shall be provided at no cost to a bus driver, bus maintenance personnel, or other relevant personnel; and
(d) electric school bus and charging infrastructure shop manuals and wiring schematics for troubleshooting and a complete list of component parts.
(2) Monies for the "Electric School Bus Program" shall be used by the Department of Environmental Protection to provide grants, pursuant to this subsection, over the three-year period. In the first year, grants shall be provided in accordance with P.L.2022, c.86 (C.26:2C-8.58 et al.) in the amount of $15,000,000 for electrification. Subject to the availability of funds, grants shall continue to be provided in accordance with P.L.2022, c.86 (C.26:2C-8.58 et al.) in the amount of $15,000,000 per year for a total of $45,000,000 over the three-year period. The department may use available monies to provide grants, pursuant to this subsection, singly or in combination, from the following sources: societal benefits charge revenues received pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60); the "Global Warming Solutions Fund" established pursuant to section 6 of P.L.2007, c.340 (C.26:2C-50); any available monies from utility programs to upgrade electrical infrastructure for purposes of electric vehicle charging; any appropriations made by the Legislature for the program established pursuant to P.L.2022, c.86 (C.26:2C-8.58 et al.); or any other sources of available funding. Up to five percent of the monies made available to the program may be used to administer the program.
The department shall determine the amount of each grant provided pursuant to this subsection and shall award grants in a manner that provides for the most efficient and highest efficacy use of the grant.
d. At least once every six months, the school districts or school bus contractors selected to participate in the program shall submit a report to the department detailing the cost to operate the electric school buses, the electric school bus maintenance records and transponder data, and any reliability issues related to the operation or delivery and procurement of the electric school buses. The first report shall be submitted six months after the school district or school bus contractor first completes its initial procurement of electric school buses.
e. (1) The department shall, no less than twice per calendar year, convene a working group which includes a representative of the Board of Public Utilities, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Education, and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. The working group shall review the reports and, as appropriate, troubleshoot and recommend solutions to any issue raised in a report submitted by a program participant. The working group shall consider issues raised in the reports submitted by program participants and make recommendations regarding program implementation. The department may convene the working group on a more frequent basis as may be required for the effective administration of the program. The department shall collect any additional information and data necessary to complete any report required to be submitted to the Governor and Legislature pursuant to subsection f. of this section.
(2) The department shall permit a recipient of any grant under any State agency-administered program for the provision of an electric school bus and electric school bus charging infrastructure prior to the effective date of P.L.2022, c.86 (C.26:2C-8.58 et al.) to submit any additional information and data to the department to complement any data received by the department from program participants pursuant to this subsection.
f. The department, in collaboration with the Board of Public Utilities and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority shall submit an "Electric School Bus Program" report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature. The report shall be submitted within six months after the conclusion of the program.
The department may use available monies, singly or in combination from the following sources, to procure professional services to assist with the development of the report: societal benefits charge revenues received pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-60); the "Global Warming Solutions Fund" established pursuant to section 6 of P.L.2007, c.340 (C.26:2C-50); any available monies from utility programs to upgrade electrical infrastructure for purposes of electric vehicle charging; any appropriations made by the Legislature for the program established pursuant to P.L.2022, c.86 (C.26:2C-8.58 et al.); or any other sources of available funding.
The submitted report shall include:
(1) a description and comprehensive review of the program, including but not limited to, an evaluation of the program's effectiveness;
(2) a summary description of all grants provided under the program, including the names of the recipients, the amount of funding each recipient received, the current status of the funds provided to each recipient, and an itemization of the total project budget including vehicle costs, hardware costs, installation costs, training costs, and administrative costs;
(3) an analysis of the operational reliability and cost effectiveness of the use of electric school buses and charging infrastructure by each grantee and steps taken by the grantee to fix any operational problems;
(4) an estimate of the emission benefits of the electric school buses and charging infrastructure funded under this program;
(5) any preliminary findings from grant recipients pertaining to design or operation of electric school buses and charging infrastructure and potential improvements to make the buses and charging infrastructure safer, more economical or environmentally advantageous;
(6) as applicable, depending on deployment of grant recipients, an analysis of the potential costs and benefits of using electric school bus batteries for storing power to be returned to the electric grid or to school buildings during periods of peak electric power demand;
(7) an assessment of reliability of electric school buses and charging infrastructure; and
(8) an analysis of any additional external changes that the use of electric school buses and charging infrastructure may require regarding electric service rate schedules, school bus inspection standards, or any other major considerations.
In addition to the information included pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (8) of this subsection, the final report shall include recommendations regarding the establishment of grant and loan programs to provide assistance to school districts and school bus contractors for the replacement of their bus fleets, other types of financial agreements to assist school districts and school bus contractors with implementing and using electric school buses, and the optimization of electric school bus grant programs to most efficiently and effectively distribute available funds to maximize environmental and health benefits.
The final report shall also include recommendations for how additional funding may be distributed in the most efficient and effective manner to maximize the number of electric school buses operating in the State.
L.2022, c.86, s.2.