Salt Lake City — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced 70 grant recipients for its Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program (CHDV) to receive funding for over 2,400 zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles. The awards will fund projects in 27 states, three Tribal Nations, and one territory. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) Division of Air Quality was selected to receive $60 million to fund 171 zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure to reduce air pollution. One hundred and twenty of these vehicles will be electric school buses.

The Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program was established through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in 2022. The Program will distribute a total of $1 billion through 2032 to replace fossil fuel heavy-duty vehicles (such as school buses, garbage trucks, transit buses, and more) with zero-emission ones, as well as support the build-out of charging infrastructure and invest in the workforce.

CHDV grant funding is considered “Davis-Bacon funding,” meaning that any construction projects funded by the CHDV grant program must comply with the Davis-Bacon Act, requiring contractors to pay prevailing wages to workers on the project, ensuring well-paid, high-quality jobs

This investment complements other IRA funds secured for Utah school districts. To date, over $6 million has been awarded to Utah districts through the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. As of March, 2024, there were 30 electric buses on the road in Utah or funded. The CHDV funding will increase the number of electric school buses in Utah by five times, adding 120 new electric school buses to Utah roads.

Since 2019, youth in Utah have been advocating for cleaner school technologies, including electric school buses, and commitments from schools to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2030. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, youth advocates have organized campaigns to bring these benefits to their communities.

“These young leaders have organized outreach and called on their districts and state to prioritize schools for these transformative benefits. This week’s CHDV announcement is a reflection of their unwavering commitment and the growing momentum for cleaner, healthier schools in our state.”

Rebekah Ashley, Lead Organizer at Sierra Club Utah

“Every student deserves access to clean air, and investing in electric school buses is a crucial step our state can take to reduce pollution,” said Sophia Cheng, a senior at Skyline High School in Granite District. “This award is a significant milestone, and I hope local school districts, including mine, take full advantage of the opportunities it brings to retire diesel buses and improve our air quality.”

Sophia Cheng, Senior at Skyline High School

“As a parent, I want to know my kids are breathing clean air, especially on their way to and from school,” said Kathryn Kair, a Sierra Club Volunteer in Utah and a parent in the Canyons School District. “Diesel buses fill our neighborhoods with harmful pollution that directly impacts our children’s health, their ability to learn, and even their attendance at school. No parent should have to worry about their child’s safety and well-being because of the air they breathe. This funding is a necessary step from our state leaders to protect our children and build safer, healthier communities.”

Kathryn Kair, Parent at Canyons School District

Background on electric school buses:

  • Every day, millions of schoolchildren ride in a dirty diesel bus to get between their homes and schools. Research has shown that this frequent exposure can cause kids to miss school and impact their learning. Diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen and can cause or worsen respiratory illnesses like asthma, and kids are especially vulnerable to these health impacts due to their developing lungs. 
  • The Sierra Club is a founding member of the Alliance for Electric School Buses (AESB), a national network of advocates working to advance school bus electrification so that every child in the U.S. has a clean commute to school. The AESB is working to ensure that the 25 million children who take a school bus each day get there on an electric school bus, starting with the communities most harmed by air pollution. 

About the Sierra ClubThe Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.