ST. LOUIS — Saint Louis Public Schools students may soon be able to breathe a little easier after the district was awarded $10 million to replace diesel buses.
The money was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of the agency's new Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program. SLPS applied to the program to replace 30 diesel buses with zero-emission buses, which will "reduce the school district’s emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and greenhouse gases," according to an EPA news release.
The buses eligible to be replaced are older buses that pre-date recent EPA emission standards.
In addition to replacing the buses, the money can also be used to build out zero-emission vehicle refueling infrastructure, workforce development and training and project implementation costs. The projects will occur over the next two or three years, according the EPA.
The district will work with Highland Electric Fleets to ensure the process of adding the new buses are added to the district's fleet goes smoothly.
The funding was made available through the Inflation Reduction Act.
SLPS is one of 70 applicants tentatively selected to receive funding for more than 2,400 zero-emission, heavy-duty vehicles. In addition to buses, other heavy-duty vehicles include box trucks, cargo trucks, emergency vehicles, refuse/recycling haulers, shuttle buses, transit buses and utility vehicles.
