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EPA’s Clean School Bus Program
For the last several years, EPA had been operating a grant program to replace, repower or retrofit school buses. Initially this was funded from penalty funds EPA collected. For FY06, Congress appropriated $7 million for this program. In 2005, Congress passed the Highway Bill (H.R. 3, Pub. L. No. 109-58, 119 Stat. 1144 ), which included a new Clean School Bus program. It is assumed that the Clean School Bus Program included in the Highway Bill will supercede EPA’s Clean School Bus USA program. However, since the Highway Bill was passed after the completion of the FY06 appropriation process, it appears EPA will continue to operate the program in FY06 under the old rules.
In the past, the EPA has distributed grants for its national clean diesel campaign through seven regional collaboratives (see http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/#pagecontent). The objective for FY ’07 is to continue the distribution of the DERP funds through this process. Individual collaboratives are expected to issue regional Request for Applications (RFA) soon after the Congress has appropriated funds. Natural gas vehicles and alternative fuels will be eligible for all categories for which the collaboratives issue an RFA. NGVAmerica members thus are encouraged to initiate contact with the regional collaboratives for the latest outreach, information and meeting schedules.
It is expected that federal assistance for the purchase of new replacement buses originally obtained through EPA's Clean School Bus USA program will continue to be listed on the Agency's grants website. Interested applicants should consult past solicitations on this site. The solicitation number for the Clean School Bus USA grants for FY 2005 was OAR-CCD-05-13. References to the fact that CNG buses are eligible for these grants can be found in the Cleaner Fuels section (Section 3: Cleaner Fuels). Interested applicants should also consult past National Clean Diesel Campaign grants (OAR-CCD-05-14). References to the fact that CNG buses are eligible for past National Clean Diesel Campaign grants can be found on pages 4 and 5 of this Request for Applications (RFA). It is expected that the RFA’s to be issued by each collaborative will use the last National Clean Diesel Campaign grant application form: (OAR-CCD-05-14) as a template for the development of its RFA. NGVAmerica members thus are encouraged to familiarize themselves with this RFA in order to take advantage any funding opportunities.
RFA’s include engine and bus replacement, repowering and retrofit projects. Please note that the EPA's application also requires that the appropriate certification/verification data be provided. For this information, contact individual NGVAmerica companies directly, or consult the NGVAmerica or Clean Vehicle Education Foundation (CVEF) websites where a special link to this data will be available shortly. The individual companies can be contacted directly at:
* BAF Technologies
* Baytech
* DRV
* Cummins Westport
* John Deere
* Thomas Built school buses
* Bluebird school buses
The collaboratives can be contacted through:
West Coast Diesel Emissions Reductions Collaborative : Includes California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii, (EPA Regions 9 and 10) Canada and Mexico. Contacts are; Johnson.Roxanne@EPA.gov and Elson.Wayne@EPA.gov
Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative: Includes: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan., Minnesota, and Wisconsin (EPA Region 5). Contact is: McGee.Julie@EPA.gov
Blue Skyways Website: Includes: Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, (EPA regions 6 and 7) and along the borders with Canada and Mexico. Contacts are: Feldman.Barry@EPA.gov and Banwart.Alan@EPA.gov
Mid-Atlantic Diesel Collaborative: Includes: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the District of Columbia (EPA Region3). Contact is: Scheckler.Kelly@EPA.gov
Northeast Diesel Collaborative (NEDC): Includes: the Greater Boston Breathes Better (GB3) is in the Boston area, and includes, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey (EPA Regions 1 and 2). Contacts are: Edmondson.Lucy@EPA.gov and Laurita.Matthew@EPA.gov
The Rocky Mountain Clean Diesel Collaborative http://www.epa.gov/region8/air/rmcdc.html: Includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado (EPA Region 8). Contact is: Fiedler.Kerri@EPA.gov.
The Southeast Diesel Collaborative http://www.epa.gov/region4/: Includes Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida (EPA Region 4). Contact is; White.Rachel@EPA.gov
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