I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1344 To establish the Clean School Bus Grant Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mrs. HAYES (for herself and Mr. CA´RDENAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish the Clean School Bus Grant Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean School Bus Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. CLEAN SCHOOL BUS GRANT PROGRAM. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘elec- 8 tric school bus’’ means a school bus that is pro- 9 pelled— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1344 IH (A) to a significant extent by an electric 1 motor that— 2 (i) draws electricity from a battery; 3 and 4 (ii) is capable of being recharged from 5 an external source of electricity; 6 (B) by any necessary components or equip- 7 ment required to facilitate electric school bus 8 operations; or 9 (C) by 1 or more hydrogen fuel cells. 10 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 11 ty’’ means— 12 (A) 1 or more local, regional, or State gov- 13 ernmental entities, including a local educational 14 agency, responsible for— 15 (i) providing school bus service to 1 or 16 more local educational agencies; or 17 (ii) purchasing school buses for use by 18 1 or more local educational agencies; 19 (B) 1 or more contracting entities that 20 provide school bus service to 1 or more local 21 educational agencies; 22 (C) a nonprofit school transportation asso- 23 ciation that provides school bus service to 1 or 24 more local educational agencies; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1344 IH (D) a tribally controlled school (as defined 1 in section 5212 of the Tribally Controlled 2 Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2511)). 3 (3) FUEL CELL.—The term ‘‘fuel cell’’ has the 4 meaning given the term in section 803 of the Energy 5 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16152). 6 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 7 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 8 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 9 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 10 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 11 the Clean School Bus Grant Program established 12 under subsection (b)(1). 13 (6) SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘school bus’’ has 14 the meaning given the term ‘‘schoolbus’’ in section 15 30125(a) of title 49, United States Code. 16 (7) SCRAP.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘scrap’’ 18 means, with respect to a school bus engine re- 19 placed using funds awarded under the program, 20 to recycle, crush, shred, or otherwise disable the 21 engine within such period and in such manner 22 as determined by the Secretary. 23 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘scrap’’ does 24 not include selling, leasing, exchanging, or oth- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1344 IH erwise disposing of an engine described in sub- 1 paragraph (A) for use in another motor vehicle 2 in any location. 3 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Energy. 5 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 6 (A) each of the several States of the 7 United States; 8 (B) the District of Columbia; and 9 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 10 (b) CLEAN SCHOOL BUS GRANT PROGRAM.— 11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 12 tablish in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Re- 13 newable Energy of the Department of Energy a pro- 14 gram, to be known as the ‘‘Clean School Bus Grant 15 Program’’, for awarding grants on a competitive 16 basis to eligible entities for the replacement of cer- 17 tain existing school buses. 18 (2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 19 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 20 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 21 in such manner, and containing such information as 22 the Secretary shall require, including— 23 (A) a certification that no public work or 24 service normally performed by a public em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1344 IH ployee will be privatized or subcontracted in 1 carrying out a project under the grant; and 2 (B) to ensure a fair assessment of total 3 workforce impact, a detailed accounting of the 4 workforce of the eligible entity at the time of 5 application, including— 6 (i) the number of employees, orga- 7 nized by salary; 8 (ii) the bargaining unit status of each 9 employee; 10 (iii) the full- or part-time status of 11 each employee; and 12 (iv) the job title of each employee. 13 (3) PRIORITY OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 15 give priority to eligible entities— 16 (i) that have significant aging, ineffi- 17 cient, or high emission bus fleets that need 18 improvement; 19 (ii)(I) that serve a high percentage of 20 students from low-income families, as de- 21 termined by the Secretary using data from 22 the Small Area Income and Poverty Esti- 23 mates Program of the Bureau of the Cen- 24 sus; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1344 IH (II) with a participating local edu- 1 cational agency designated with a school 2 district locale code of 41, 42, or 43, as de- 3 termined by the National Center for Edu- 4 cation Statistics in consultation with the 5 Bureau of the Census; or 6 (iii) that propose projects that will 7 most reduce emissions, as described in sub- 8 paragraph (B). 9 (B) MOST EMISSIONS-REDUCING PROJECTS 10 DESCRIBED.—The projects that will most re- 11 duce emissions referred to in subparagraph 12 (A)(iii) are projects that— 13 (i) will replace the most polluting die- 14 sel school buses with the cleanest running 15 electric school buses, as indicated by— 16 (I) the age of the school buses to 17 be replaced; 18 (II) the emissions control tech- 19 nologies on the school buses to be re- 20 placed; 21 (III) the annual vehicle miles 22 traveled by the school buses to be re- 23 placed; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1344 IH (IV) the source of electricity or 1 hydrogen used to power the electric 2 school buses; and 3 (V) any other factors the Sec- 4 retary determines to be relevant; or 5 (ii) will complement the use of grant 6 funds through other activities that— 7 (I) will enable broader deploy- 8 ment of electric vehicles, such as se- 9 curing additional sources of funding 10 through public-private partnerships 11 with utilities, grants from other enti- 12 ties, or issuance of school bonds; or 13 (II) will achieve further reduc- 14 tions in emissions, such as installing 15 solar panels as part of recharging in- 16 frastructure to power electric school 17 buses purchased with grant funds. 18 (C) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR CONSIDER- 19 ATION.—With respect to eligible entities seeking 20 a grant to purchase electric school buses under 21 the program, the Secretary may consider, in ad- 22 dition to the information included in the appli- 23 cation submitted under paragraph (2)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1344 IH (i) whether the grant will benefit stu- 1 dents in a region that is in nonattainment 2 of a national ambient air quality standard 3 under section 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 4 U.S.C. 7409); 5 (ii) whether the eligible entity, or 6 whether the local educational agency that 7 would be served by the eligible entity, has 8 taken other action to reduce emissions dur- 9 ing the transportation of students, such as 10 instituting a no-idling policy; and 11 (iii) whether the eligible entity serves 12 geographic locations with potential barriers 13 to the use of an electric school bus, includ- 14 ing— 15 (I) significant weather events; 16 and 17 (II) distance challenges and limi- 18 tations. 19 (4) USE OF SCHOOL BUS FLEET.—Each electric 20 school bus acquired or leased with funds provided 21 under the program— 22 (A) shall be operated as part of the school 23 bus fleet for which the grant was made for not 24 less than 5 years; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1344 IH (B) shall be maintained, operated, and 1 charged according to manufacturer rec- 2 ommendations or State requirements; and 3 (C) may not be manufactured or retro- 4 fitted with, or otherwise have installed, a power 5 unit or other technology that creates air pollu- 6 tion within the school bus, such as an unvented 7 diesel passenger heater. 8 (5) GRANT AWARDS.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use 10 funds made available to carry out the pro- 11 gram— 12 (i) to award grants for— 13 (I) the replacement of existing 14 diesel school bus fleets with electric 15 school buses; 16 (II) the implementation of re- 17 charging infrastructure or other infra- 18 structure, including renewable energy 19 generation infrastructure, needed to 20 charge or maintain electric school 21 buses; 22 (III) workforce development and 23 training, to support the maintenance, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1344 IH charging, and operations of electric 1 school buses; and 2 (IV) planning and technical ac- 3 tivities to support the adoption and 4 implementation of electric school 5 buses; and 6 (ii) to develop resources to inform, en- 7 courage, and support eligible entities in ap- 8 plying for and fulfilling the requirements 9 of grants awarded under the program, in- 10 cluding materials to support the workforce 11 development and training described in 12 clause (i)(III) and the planning and tech- 13 nical activities described in clause (i)(IV). 14 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—In order to receive 15 a grant under the program, the Secretary 16 shall— 17 (i) require that grant recipients— 18 (I) replace diesel school buses 19 with electric school buses; 20 (II)(aa) not later than 1 year 21 after receiving the electric school bus 22 purchased using a grant under the 23 program, scrap the diesel engine of 24 the school bus being replaced; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1344 IH (bb) receive a waiver under para- 1 graph (6); 2 (III) do not, as a result of receiv- 3 ing the grant— 4 (aa) lay off, transfer, or de- 5 mote any current employee; or 6 (bb) reduce the salary or 7 benefits of any current employee 8 or worsen the conditions of work 9 of any current employee; and 10 (IV) provide current employees 11 with training to effectively operate, 12 maintain, or otherwise adapt to new 13 technologies relating to electric school 14 buses; and 15 (ii) permit grant recipients to receive 16 and retain any funds or benefits received 17 from— 18 (I) scrapping a diesel engine; 19 (II) transferring or repurposing a 20 diesel school bus as authorized under 21 a waiver under paragraph (6); and 22 (III) the resale or reuse of other 23 parts of a school bus replaced using 24 grant funds. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1344 IH (C) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 1 (i) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—For each eli- 2 gible entity that submits an application 3 under paragraph (2), the maximum 4 amount of a grant under the program is 5 $2,000,000. 6 (ii) AMOUNTS FOR PURCHASE OF 7 ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES.— 8 (I) IN GENERAL.—For any grant 9 under the program, the amount of 10 funds awarded for the purchase of an 11 electric school bus shall not exceed 12 110 percent of the amount equal to 13 the difference between— 14 (aa) the cost of an electric 15 school bus; and 16 (bb) the cost of a diesel 17 school bus. 18 (II) DETERMINATION OF COST 19 OF SCHOOL BUSES.—In determining 20 the amount of funds under subclause 21 (I), the Secretary may determine the 22 cost of a school bus for the purpose of 23 calculating the marginal cost under 24 that subclause through— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1344 IH (aa) a competitive solicita- 1 tion process for the manufacture 2 of the school bus; 3 (bb) a cooperative purchase 4 agreement permitted by the laws 5 of the State in which the grant 6 recipient is located; or 7 (cc) another method that the 8 Secretary determines to be ap- 9 propriate. 10 (iii) AMOUNTS FOR SUPPORTING AC- 11 TIVITIES.—For any grant under the pro- 12 gram, the amount of funds awarded for 13 the purposes described in subclauses (II) 14 through (IV) of subparagraph (A)(i), or 15 other purposes related to those subclauses, 16 as determined by the Secretary, shall not 17 exceed $600,000. 18 (D) BUY AMERICA.— 19 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 20 in clause (ii), any electric school bus pur- 21 chased using funds awarded under the pro- 22 gram shall comply with the requirements 23 described in section 5323(j) of title 49, 24 United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1344.IH H1344 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 1344 IH (ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 1 (I) WAIVER.—The Secretary may 2 provide any waiver to the require- 3 ments described in clause (i) in the 4 same manner and to the same extent 5 as the Secretary of Transportation 6 may provide a waiver under section 7 5323(j)(2) of title 49, United States 8 Code. 9 (II) PERCENTAGE OF COMPO- 10 NENTS AND SUBCOMPONENTS.—The 11 Secretary may grant a waiver in ac- 12 cordance with section 5323(j)(2)(C) of 13 title 49, United States Code, when a 14 grant recipient procures an electric 15 school bus using funds awarded under 16 the program for which the cost of 17 components and subcomponents [Text truncated for display. 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