Clean School Bus Program Grants

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About the CSB Grant Program

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, directed the EPA to establish a Clean School Bus Program to accelerate the transition of the nation’s school bus fleet to zero-emission and clean school buses. The new replacement school buses will help reduce harmful emissions from older, dirtier buses that predate the EPA’s more stringent tailpipe emission standards. The 2023 CSB Grant Program was the second funding opportunity under the Clean School Bus Program and compliments the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Rebate Programs.

For more information about the Clean School Bus Program, technical resources, and related funding opportunities, please refer to the links below.

Clean School Bus Program | Clean School Bus Technical Assistance | Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Resources | Upcoming CSB Events | Clean School Bus Rebates

2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity - Closed

In April 2023, the EPA issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity announcing the availability of at least $400 million in federal funding under a Clean School Bus grant competition to replace older diesel school buses with new, zero-emission and clean school buses.

The grant application closed in August 2023 with over 120 eligible applications requesting more than $1.9 billion in federal funds. Given the overwhelming demand and large number of high-scoring applications, the EPA more than doubled the amount of funding awarded to $965 million. For more information on the selected projects, please refer to the CSB Awards page.

Important Dates

Activity Date
FY23 CSB Grant Program NOFO (pdf) (741.39 KB) Monday, April 24, 2023
NOFO
Information Session

View the 2023 Grants NOFO Information Session #1 Presentation (pdf) (2.44 MB, May 10, 2023)

NOFO Closed - Application Deadline Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. (ET)
Notification of Selection January 2024
Grants Awarded Spring/Summer 2024

Application Documents and Reference Materials

Please refer to the FY23 CSB Grant Program NOFO (pdf) (741.39 KB) for more details about the 2023 CSB Grant Program. The EPA is no longer requesting or accepting new applications; however, application documents are included below for reference purposes.

Application Attachments

Grantee Resources

Email Updates

Sign up to receive email updates on CSB funding opportunities.

Questions and Answers

The EPA provides answers to frequently asked questions by periodically updating the document below. If you have additional questions, please email cleanschoolbus@epa.gov. Information regarding this grant program obtained from other sources may not be accurate. Please include “Clean School Bus Grant Program Question” in the subject line of your email.

Questions and Answers: 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program (pdf) (831.61 KB, updated: December 6, 2024)

Program Overview

The information below is intended as a high-level overview of the 2023 CSB Grant Program; please refer to the FY23 CSB Grant Program NOFO (pdf) (741.39 KB) for additional information.

Eligible Applicants

The following entities were eligible for funding under the FY23 CSB Grant Program:

  • Local or State governmental entities responsible for:
    • Providing school bus service to one or more public school systems, or
    • The purchase, lease, license, or contract for service of school buses;
  • Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and tribally controlled schools that are responsible for:
    • Providing school bus service to one or more Bureau-funded schools, or
    • The purchase, lease, license, or contract for service of school buses; nonprofit school transportation association; and eligible contractors;
  • Public charter school districts responsible for the purchase, lease, license, or contract for service of school buses for that charter school
  • Eligible contractors that have the capacity:
    • To sell, lease, license, or contract for service clean school buses, zero-emission school buses, charging or fueling infrastructure, or other equipment needed to charge, fuel, or maintain clean school buses or zero emission school buses, to individuals or entities that own, lease, license, or contract for service a school bus or a fleet of school buses; or
    • Arrange financing for such a sale, lease, license, or contract for service;
  • Nonprofit transportation associations that:
    • Are operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest;
    • Are not organized primarily for profit; and
    • Use their net proceeds to maintain, improve and/or expand their operations.

Eligible Existing School Buses

To be eligible for replacement, existing school buses must:

  • Be vehicle model year 2010 or older diesel-powered school buses that will be scrapped if selected for funding
    • If a fleet has no eligible 2010 or older diesel school buses and is requesting zero-emission school bus replacements, the fleet can either:
      1. Scrap 2010 or older non-diesel internal combustion engine buses; or
      2. Scrap, sell, or donate 2011 or newer diesel or non-diesel internal combustion engine buses
  • Have a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 10,001 lbs. or more
  • Be operational at the time of application submission – Able to start, move in all directions, and have all operational parts
  • Have provided bus service to a public school district for at least 3 days/week on average during the 2022/2023 school year at the time of applying, excluding COVID or disaster-related school closures

Eligible Replacement Buses

To be eligible as a replacement, new buses must:

  • Have a battery-electric, CNG, or propane drivetrain
  • Be EPA certified vehicle model year 2021 or newer
  • Have a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 10,001 lbs. or more
  • Not be ordered prior to receiving official notification of selection for EPA funding
  • Be purchased, not leased or leased-to-own
  • Serve the school district listed on the application for at least five years from the date of delivery, unless the award is to an eligible contractor and the contract with the local educational agency (including charter schools operating as local educational agencies under State law) ends before the end of the 5-year period, in which case those school buses may be operated as part of another local educational agency eligible for the same or higher priority consideration

Please note that the two sub-programs (the School District Sub-Program and the Third-Party Sub-Program) have different minimum and maximum number of buses that must be included in the respective projects. Third-party applicants must also serve at least four school district beneficiaries.

School District Sub-Program

Minimum Number of Buses in Application 15
Maximum Number of Buses in Application 50

Third-Party Sub-Program

Minimum Number of Buses in Application 25
Maximum Number of Buses in Application 100

Eligible Infrastructure

Eligible infrastructure is limited to installations and upgrades between the electrical meter and the charging port. This can include, but is not limited to, charging equipment (such as alternating current Level 2 charging equipment, direct-current fast charging equipment, or vehicle-to-grid (V2G) enabled equipment); design and engineering; installation costs such as trenching, wiring and electrical upgrades, labor, and permitting; and related intelligent equipment and software designed to monitor bus and infrastructure performance (such as telematics or charge management software).

  1. EPA funds must not be used for any infrastructure costs associated with work on the utility’s side of the electrical meter.
  2. All AC Level 2 charging infrastructure purchased under this program must be EPA ENERGY STAR certified at the time of purchase. EPA strongly recommends that all other charging infrastructure funded under this program be listed by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). EPA also strongly encourages recipients to consider long-term fleet electrical needs when installing charging equipment. Installing additional electrical capacity on the customer side of the meter to support future charging needs (e.g., purchasing and running additional electrical conduit during trenching and wiring upgrades) is an allowable use of funds.
  3. All electricians installing, operating, or maintaining EVSE must meet one of the following requirements: (i) Certification from the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP), OR (ii) Graduation or a continuing education certificate from a registered apprenticeship program for electricians that includes charger-specific training and is developed as a part of a national guideline standard approved by the Department of Labor in consultation with the Department of Transportation. For projects requiring more than one electrician, at least one electrician must meet the requirements above, and at least one electrician must be enrolled in an electrical registered apprenticeship program. In limited circumstances, EPA may provide an exception to the above requirements for grantees that can demonstrate there are no electricians meeting the above requirements available in their area, and that efforts to train local electricians to meet the requirements are not feasible. EVITP certification of electricians working on a CSB-funded project is an allowable use as defined in the NOFO.
  4. Please be aware that Build America, Buy America requirements apply to eligible vehicle charging infrastructure equipment.

Funding Prioritization

Priority for funding is aligned with statutory requirements and was given to applications that proposed to replace buses that serve districts that meet one or more of the prioritization criteria:

  • High-need local educational agencies,
  • Rural school districts,
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded school districts,
  • School districts that receive basic support payments for children who reside on Indian land

Please refer to the FY23 CSB Grant Program NOFO (pdf) (741.39 KB) for specific information about this competition.

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Last updated on March 4, 2025