Clean School Bus Program Grants | US EPA (2024)

Documents for Grantees

• Next Steps for 2023 Clean School Bus Grantees (pdf) (686 KB, January 2024, EPA-420-F-24-001)
• 2023 CSB Grants Sample Eligibility and Scrappage Template (docx) (648.7 KB, November 2023)
• 2023 CSB Grants Reporting Template (xlsx) (COMING SOON)

Questions and Answers

For further information, applicants should email written questions to: cleanschoolbus@epa.gov. EPA will respond to questions from individual applicants regarding threshold eligibility criteria, administrative issues related to the submission of the application, and requests for clarification about any of the language or provisions in the announcement through a questions and answers document posted to this webpage. Information regarding this NOFO obtained from sources other than cleanschoolbus@epa.gov may not be accurate. Please type “Clean School Bus NOFO Question” in the subject line of your email.

Questions and Answers: 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Grant Program (pdf) (692.3 KB, January 29, 2024)

Eligible Applicants

The following entities are eligible to apply for the FY23 CSB Grants:

• 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.

Please refer to the FY23 CSB Grants NOFO for specific information about this competition.

*Applicants that applied to a previous CSB funding opportunity are eligible to apply for this and future CSB funding opportunities. Applicants must apply to each funding opportunity separately; EPA will not carry forward applications from previous funding opportunities.

Eligible Old School Buses to be Replaced

To be eligible for replacement, old 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

Please refer to the FY23 CSB Grants NOFO for specific information about this competition.

Eligible New 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 application. Note also that third-party applicants must serve at least four school district beneficiaries.

School District Sub-Program

Third-Party Sub-Program

Please refer to the FY23 CSB Grants NOFOfor specific information about this competition.

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 (AC) Level 2 charging equipment, direct-current (DC) 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 circ*mstances, 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. Applicants should be aware that Build America, Buy America requirements apply to eligible vehicle charging infrastructure equipment.

Please refer to the FY23 CSB Grants NOFO for specific information about this competition.

Funding Prioritizations

Priority for funding is given to applications that:

• Propose 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 Grants NOFO for specific information about this competition.

Application Process

Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through Grants.govby the deadline to be considered for funding.

Specifically, the Grants.govregistration process requires that your organization have a Unique Entity Identifier (previously known as the DUNS number) and a current registration with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov); the process of obtaining both could take a month or more for new registrants.

Potential applicants without a Grants.gov account are encouraged to initiate the Grants.govregistration process well ahead of the deadline for funding since the registration process can take a month or more.

Organizations applying to this funding opportunity must have an active the System for Award Management registration. If you have never done business with the Federal Government, you will need to register your organization in SAM.gov. If you do not have a SAM.gov account, then you will create an account using the government sign in service¹ (login.gov) to complete your System for Award Management registration. The registration is FREE. The process for entity registrations includes obtaining Unique Entity ID (UEI), a 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned an entity by SAM.gov, and requires assertions, representations and certifications, and other information about your organization. Please review the Entity Registration Checklist for details on this process. It is recommended to begin the System for Award Management registration process prior to applying to this grant competition; registration may take more than a month to complete.

Applicants with existing Grants.govaccounts are encouraged to check the status of your System for Award Management account and address any account issues in advance of applying.

Please note that System for Award Management registrations do expire, and inactive accounts must re-register to be able to submit an application. If you have done business with the Federal Government previously, you can check your entity status using your government issued UEI to determine if your registration is active. The System for Award Management requires you renew your registration every 365 days to keep it active. Applicants must ensure that all registration requirements are met in order to apply for this opportunity through Grants.govand should ensure that all such requirements have been met well in advance of the application submission deadline.

All applications must now be submitted through Grants.govusing the “Workspace” feature. Information on the Workspace feature can be found at the Grants.gov Workspace Overview Page.

For more information on the registration requirements that must be completed in order to submit an application through Grants.gov, click on “Applicants” on the top of the page, and then click the “Get Registered” link on the page. Contact the Federal Service Desk for help with your System for Award Management account, to resolve technical issues or chat with a help desk agent: (866) 606-8220. The Federal Service desk hours of operation are Monday – Friday 8am – 8pm ET.

Tools and Resources for Applicants

• EPA Grants Management Training for Applicants and Recipients provides an online training course that is designed to introduce EPA grant applicants and recipients to key aspects of the entire grant life cycle, from preparation of an application through grant closeout.
• For applicants applying for zero-emissions school buses, coordination with their utility is critical to initiate early and continue throughout the project. For applicants’ convenience, EPA has created a sample template to guide applicants in their discussion with utilities, and has established an "Electric Utility Pledge" to help school districts with the deployment of electric school buses.
• EPA's Clean School Bus website provides charging and fueling infrastructure resources for alternative fuel buses, including, technical assistance videos, case studies, best practices, and more.
• The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation provides technical assistance to school districts interested in electrifying their fleet via a partnership with the EPA. Interested stakeholders can contact the office to ask questions regarding the planning and deployment of clean school buses in their communities; potential applicants are encouraged to contact the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation for support in working with their utility companies early in the application process.

1. Login.gov a secure sign in service used by the public to sign into Federal Agency systems including SAM.gov and Grants.gov. For help with login.gov accounts you should visit login.gov.