Ritenour waits in limbo for promised EV buses, and plans to ask for official help
The district is one of many across the country impacted by a pause on certain programs under the EPA
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) — Several days after announcing three new EV school buses, Ritenour officials tell First Alert 4 they still aren’t sure when they can get the remaining 21 buses — currently sitting on a lot in Illinois. We first brought you this story on Tuesday, funded through an EPA grant.
First Alert 4 has been reaching out to several groups involved, including the Environmental Protection Agency, about the status of the Clean School Bus Program, which provides billions of dollars to school districts nationwide to switch from diesel buses to electric-powered vehicles.
Ritenour was in an interesting place, they applied for the grant some time ago and received it. Then, after purchasing three of the 21 buses they agreed to get a federal pause on EPA clean energy initiatives put the future of the EV fleet in limbo, according to district officials.
The EPA’s 2024 report for the program shows some details. At the end of FY 2024, the EPA had awarded nearly $3 billion to fund over 8,000 bus replacement projects in 1,200+ districts. The program ed EV bus implementation and infrastructure in all states, four U.S. territories and a number of federally-recognized Tribes.
“School buses in the United States travel more than 4 billion miles each year, providing the safest transportation to and from school for more than 25 million American children every day,” the report states. “However, many school buses on the road are powered by diesel-fueled engines that pre-date recent emission standards promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
Within the last week, the remaining $8.2 million of the total $9.5 million granted to the district for the 24 electric buses has been cut off, Ritenour says, as the EPA has paused all funding related to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the district leaders are scrambling to find out what’s next for the remaining buses.
“Approximately 75 percent of school districts that have been awarded EPA funding are defined as high-need, rural, and/or Tribal based on CSB prioritization criteria. Based on requests from eligible applicants,” the 2024 EPA EV bus report states.
While waiting for clarity, and reaching out to elected leaders for help -- Ritenour says their financial staff is checking the online portal three times a day to try and catch when and if the funds become available.
In the district’s Q&A section, district officials wrote “We don’t anticipate having any out-of-pocket expenses based on the grant money and the sale of 24 diesel buses.”
The district was selected because of where it’s located in the St. Louis Ozone nonattainment Area -- which means that ozone levels exceed the EPA standard, according to Ritenour.
They were applicants during the 2023 year of the program, and fit multiple metrics, and because their current fleet is relatively new, the buses could be sold to other schools or companies to replace outdated buses.
Ritenour only started its transportation department seven years ago, according to district records. On any given day, 3700 Ritenour students use buses for transportation -- roughly half of all students.
The district says EV buses are safer than diesel buses, have less fire risk, and are dependable in the cold. They’ve even put in infrastructure to an electric fleet.
There are hundreds of districts nationwide that are connected to this program, including at least 10 in the St. Louis area, such as Normandy; Afton; New Haven; Silex; Edwardsville; North Clay; Crawford County R-1; Potosi R-III; Kingston K-14; and Du Quion.
The EPA website says that funding for the Clean Bus Program was set at over $5 billion, and would last for five years -- set to sunset in 2026.
As of today, the website states that over $2.7 billion dollars have been awarded nationwide, and has replaced more than 8,900 buses in more than 1300 districts.
EPA Region 7 spoke with First Alert 4 today and said they would be looking at a request from the station on the status of grants like Ritenour’s.
This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The Nature Conservancy and American Rivers also receive Walton funding.
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