(The Center Square) – Washington officials said they’d have to assess the future funding model of a new edict saying schools must begin to phase out traditional school buses for electric-powered ones if voters scrap the state’s carbon auctions.
House Bill 1368, which took effect on June 6, makes a binding commitment that all new school bus purchases must be electric
will fund the purchase of zero-emission school buses once the price points between them are similar in cost to diesel-powered buses.
The transition to electrified school buses is starting with grants to districts in overburdened communities, according to sponsor Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island.
During a January meeting of the House Appropriations Committee, Senn said, “Just to be clear, it’s at the end of a school bus’ useful life that we transition. Doing it this way will be a gradual but steady transition to zero emissions. Thanks to funds from the Climate Commitment Act, we’ll be helping school districts with the cost differential for the bus.”
School district representatives took issue with the aggressive timeline for transitioning to EV buses.
Ron Stuart is the Washington Department of Ecology’s Senior Diesel Program Specialist.
“So when a bus is at the end of its life cycle, typically around 13 years, instead of replacing it with a clean-diesel bus, we’re replacing it with electric,” Stuart told The Center Square.
According to SeattleClimate.org, the average diesel school bus costs about $165K, but the cost of an electric bus is around $400K.
The Electric School Bus Initiative tracks EV school bus laws and statistics across the country. Washington is one of 11 states with an Advanced Clean Trucks(ACT) rule that requires a transition. Seven states have clear zero-transition laws.
Maine school districts have led the nation in the transition to electric school buses, but it has not been an easy road.
As reported by CentralMaine.com on May 19, “The four electric buses supplied by Québec-based Lion Electric Co. came riddled with problems, and Transportation Director Josh Wheeler said his last straw came when the power steering in one of the buses failed and he had to drive into a snowbank to stop the bus.”
Many of Washington’s environmental initiatives are funded by the state’s Climate Commitment Act, which created a carbon credit auction similar to California’s. The program raised $2.2 billion in 2023. The program’s fate is in question, with Initiative 2117, a measure to repeal it, on the November ballot. While there is money from the CCA supplementing the EV bus mandate, Stuart said it’s not the primary source of funding.
“The previous grant funding was all state funding not associated with CCA,” he said. “There’s a current grant funding open that is from CCA funding, but that won’t be impacted by a repeal if that happens.”
Pete Siefer with Ecology tells The Center Square, “There’s an additional $4 million in a transportation proviso allocated to Ecology and that $4 million is contingent on the outcome of the measure.”
Ecology has opened a second round of grant funding for districts to apply for bus electrification purchases and infrastructure.
“We have another funding opportunity open now through August 15, said Kelley O’Callahan with ECY, “and that is for the approximately $20 million available for electric school buses and supporting infrastructure.”
The priority is going to districts in disadvantaged parts of the state.
“Diesel particulate is a carcinogen and it’s one of the pollutants that is important for Washington state to reduce,” said Stuart.
Stuart said they have seen data about the more damaging impacts on disadvantaged communities.
