Accelerating Clean Transportation School Bus (ACT School Bus)

 

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Electric School Bus Funding

MassCEC recently released a Notice of Intent for a new program, Accelerating Clean Transportation School Bus ("ACT School Bus"). ACT School Bus aims to deploy $8M in Massachusetts for electric school bus programming. MassCEC intends for this program to complement the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program - the first round of applications for this rebate program are open now! Here are some initial steps that school districts in Massachusetts can take to prepare themselves for the EPA and MassCEC's school bus funding: 

MassCEC is here as a resource for school districts. Please reach out to us with any questions by emailing cleantransportation@masscec.com, or sign up for our office hours.

ACT School Bus Program and Timeline

Through the ACT School Bus program, MassCEC intends to deploy electric school bus projects across Massachusetts and provide fleet electrification planning support to school districts. MassCEC will retain two technical consultant teams to support these efforts.

Open Technical Consultant Applications Summer 2022
School Bus Fleet Application Period* Summer 2022 - October 2022
Consultant Award Selection Late Summer 2022
School Bus Fleet Award Selection Fall 2022

*Consultants will be available to assist school bus fleets applying for EPA and MassCEC programs 

Resources

ACT School Bus Program Background

Launched in November 2019, the first round of ACT programming, Accelerating Clean Transportation Now (“ACTNow”), resulted in the deployment of $1.4 million in funding and leveraged over $2 million in external cost share funding across nine awarded clean transportation projects, three of which were school bus electrification grants and six of which provided positive environmental justice benefits. The second round of ACT programming, Accelerating Clean Transportation for All (“ACT4All”), focused on addressing transportation needs and burdens in disadvantaged communities. MassCEC awarded $5 million in funding through this equity-focused program across ten clean transportation projects. Selected projects, announced in February 2022, span a range of topic areas including e-bike pilots and EV consumer education and will be deployed in various environmental justice neighborhoods and Gateway Cities across the Commonwealth. MassCEC developed the ACT School Bus program to complement the EPA's Clean School Bus funding and also to serve as a continuation of the ACTNow school bus projects and extend ACT4All’s equity focus by prioritizing high needs and low income school districts.

EPA Clean School Bus Program Background

Following the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the EPA's Clean School Bus Program will provide five billion dollars over the next five years (FY22-26) for clean school bus programming. Under the program, half of the funding is dedicated for zero-emission school buses and half is for clean school buses (including zero-emission, propane, and natural gas buses). Eligible recipients for this first round of funding include state or local governments that provide bus service, contractors who sell or arrange financing for the sale of clean school buses, nonprofit school transportation associations, and tribes, tribal organizations, and tribally controlled schools. The EPA intends to prioritize applications from organizations that service high-need school districts and low income areas, rural school districts, and tribal school districts. Applications will be open via online form from May-August 2022, and applicants will be notified of their selection status in October 2022.