EPA Announces Path Forward to Revamp the Clean School Bus Program to Provide Safe, Affordable, Efficient Transportation for America’s Youth Public Comment DEADLINE April 6, 2026

February 20, 2026

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(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Today (February 19, 2026), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the path forward to revamp the Clean School Bus (CSB) Program to provide school districts with increased choice and affordable options for school buses. By doing so, EPA will strengthen oversight and compliance actions in a way that aligns with President Trump’s Day One executive orders and ensure hard-earned American tax dollars are being put to the best use possible. The updates to the program will help bring back American auto jobs and unleash American energy production—key pillars to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s Powering the Great American Comeback initiative.

Since 2021, the Biden-era program has forced unsafe and unreliable electric buses onto American schools. There are multiple well-documented examples of one particular bus manufacturer failing to deliver buses altogether despite preemptively receiving tens of millions of tax dollars from the CSB program. To fix these issues, the Trump EPA will seek public input on the availability, cost, and performance of alternative school bus fuels and technologies. This feedback will help reform the program to bring consumer choice back to schools and deliver results for American families, while still fulfilling congressional intent.

“As was the case with so many of the Biden-era programs, the Clean School Bus program has been a disaster of poor management and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars. At the Trump EPA, we have zero tolerance for reckless spending. Today, EPA takes the next step to set the program straight,” said EPA Administrator Zeldin. “Americans can rest assured that moving forward, the program will be safe, effective, and use reliable forms of American energy.”

In line with the Trump EPA’s commitment to consumer choice, today the agency is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to seek feedback from fleet operators, manufacturers, school officials, and energy producers on a broad range of fuel options that school bus sectors could use. These fuel options include biofuels, compressed natural gas, liquified natural gas, and hydrogen. While the law has always allowed for these fuel options, the Biden Administration intentionally limited their availability to push the use of government subsidized electric buses. By providing more options to school districts, EPA will ensure they can purchase the right types of school buses for their specific needs. EPA intends to use the information gathered from the RFI and lessons learned from previous funding rounds to revamp the CSB program for the 2026 grant funding round. The public can expect this next round of funding to prioritize child safety, fiscal responsibility, and reliable buses worthy of their tax dollars for American schools—aspects that have all been lacking in previous rounds under the Biden Administration.

Additionally, EPA will not be awarding funds as part of the 2024 CSB Rebate Program. EPA thanks applicants for their interest and encourages them to apply for the new grant program. The agency will provide more details on the 2026 grants and eligibility requirements in the near future through a Notice of Funding Opportunity. EPA is committed to ensuring the CSB program delivers clean air for all Americans and fulfills the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment. Every taxpayer dollar spent through the CSB Program under the Trump EPA will strengthen school transportation reliability, invest in America’s children, and fulfill all statutory obligations.

EPA will hold a 45-day public comment period on the RFI, which will include an informational webinar on March 3, 2026, to help answer questions on the RFI. To comment on the RFI or register for the informational webinar, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus.

Background

In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed EPA to create the CSB Program and to fund vehicle replacement projects totaling $5 billion over five years (FY 2022-2026) for the replacement of existing school buses with clean school buses or zero-emission school buses, as well as some fueling infrastructure.

The Biden-Harris Administration disastrously gave out around $2.7 billion in funding under the CSB program with 90 percent going to electric school buses and the rest going to propane-fueled buses. Most notably, Lion Electric, a manufacturer of electric buses, went bankrupt in 2024. This was despite having received approximately $160 million directly in CSB funding, and with school districts using their own CSB awards to also purchase Lion Electric buses. To date, some buses remain undelivered and not adequately maintained due to Lion Electric’s action. EPA is not able to comment further on matters pertaining to ongoing litigation but is evaluating potential options once the bankruptcy proceedings conclude.

Under the Trump Administration, EPA has not given out any funding under the program. Under Administrator Zeldin’s leadership, EPA is committed to being exceptional stewards of taxpayer dollars. Since being confirmed as EPA Administrator, Administrator Zeldin has cancelled roughly $30 billion in wasteful grants and contracts across the agency. READ MORE

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Excerpt from School Transportation News: Meanwhile, Thursday’s RFI also mentions hydrogen as an eligible fuel listed by the Investing in Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which created the five-year, $5 billion fund. But there are currently no hydrogen school buses in production. The same goes for liquefied natural gas, which differs from propane. The IIJA also mentions CNG, which won a handful of awards, but manufacturers don’t currently produce that fuel option, either.

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Diesel-powered school buses do exist in large numbers nationwide, estimated at about 80 percent of the national fleet of approximately 450,000 vehicles. Many operate with biodiesel blended with regular diesel. The RFI specifically states EPA seeks information on B20, or 20 percent biofuel blend with diesel.

Renewable diesel, or RD, is different from biodiesel as the former is produced by a hydrotreating process, making it a hydrocarbon fuel. Because it is otherwise nearly identical to petroleum diesel, RD is a drop-in fuel alternative that diesel engine manufacturers certify for use in their engines without voiding warranties. But RD is more expensive than petroleum diesel except in California, Oregon, New Mexico and Washington, where Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits are at play.

Electric school buses are not a focus of the RFI because EPA said it has sufficient information on its infrastructure, availability and performance.

EPA added electric school buses have accounted for 90 percent of Clean School Bus Program awards to date, and the next funding round should target other allowed alternative fuels “to allow for the maximum number of affordable bus choices to fit school districts’ specific needs.”

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EPA is asking the current availability and anticipated purchasing within the next year to five years of biodiesel, RD, E85 flex fuel, CNG, LNG, propane or any other biofuel and if those school buses are fueled at the school district facility, an offsite private fueling station, or an offsite public station. EPA also wants to know about fuel supplier arrangements.

Specifically for biodiesel and RD, EPA is asking for details on how the blends or drop-in fuels are used.

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The Clean School Bus Program is set to expire at the end of the current fiscal year, which would require the remaining $2 billion that has yet to be awarded needing to rollout over the next six months. READ MORE

Excerpt from New York Post: More than $61 million went toward just two entities in New York City making 180 all-electric buses for five school districts, coming out to roughly between $295,000 and $395,000 for each one. It’s unclear how many were produced.

Statewide in New York, school districts got $210 million from the program and manufactured just 150 buses, a spokesperson from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority previously told The Post.

That puts a price tag on the electric bus swap at approximately $318,452.45 per vehicle to produce.

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Officials and parents of schoolchildren also carped that electric buses failed to sufficiently provide heat for students during the colder winter months, were prone to breaking down on their routes and too costly for many districts millions to switch to. READ MORE