Changes Anticipated for Clean School Bus Program
Like everything else in Washington, D.C. these days, change is the name of the game at the U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency (EPA). That includes the Clean School Bus Program. To date, the program has awarded nearly $3 billion through one grant competition and two rebate opportunities, with the funds supporting the replacement of almost 8,500 school buses with propane-fueled and electric buses. As part of the EPA’s effort to revamp the program, the agency solicited feedback earlier this year from fleet operators, manufacturers, school officials and energy pro- ducers on a range of fuel options that school bus sectors could use. Following the public comment period, which ended April 26, EPA was evaluating submissions with new funding opportunity expected sometime this year. However, the timing and other details were not available at the time of this writing, according to the EPA press office.
and any allowed equipment from office through shop and site required maintenance vehicles,” he said. “It’s expensive on the front end but will pres- ent savings over time for all included aspects.” Of course, with any potential improvement,
advance analysis should include consideration of new costs. “Consider all aspects of a change,” Lee said. “For
example, if you build a new automated wash bay to save on labor, consider the costs based around reoccurring maintenance and required fluids such as degreasers and soaps.” He added that you may be required to pur- chase specific fluids to maintain warranties even though comparable and less expensive fluids are available. Sims suggested looking beyond current oper-
ational demands and planning facilities with the next decade in mind. “Bus yards and maintenance facilities should
be designed to support efficient traffic flow, minimize operational bottlenecks, and safe-
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