Driving PA Forward Archives - Central Penn Business Journal

Dauphin County is one of 11 Pennsylvania school districts to receive funding for new, clean school buses aimed at reducing schoolchildren’s exposure to air pollutants, Gov. Tom Wolf announced.

A total of $34.6 million has been awarded for 89 new school buses to districts across the state. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the EPA Clean School Bus Program with a $5 billion investment for low- and zero-emission school buses over the next five years. This is the first round of funding.

“Families rely on school buses to safely transport their children to and from school and related activities,” Wolf said. “We ensure that these buses are safe and that should include safe for our children’s lungs and environment. I thank President Biden for prioritizing pollution reduction and clean energy as part of his broad and comprehensive infrastructure investments. These new buses will decrease air pollution around schools and for schoolchildren.”

Dauphin County received the following grants:

Halifax Area School District, Rohrer Enterprises Inc., $1.97 million for five buses

Harrisburg City School District, Wolfington Body Company Inc., $3.95 million for 10 buses

Steelton-Highspire School District, $2.58 million for seven buses

“These investments into clean vehicles will pay dividends for these districts, saving them on fuel costs and improving air quality,” Department of Environmental Protection Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh said.

Grant funding for clean diesel and electric school buses are also available for school districts through several DEP programs. The Driving PA Forward program has grants available for Class 8 clean diesel and electric vehicles, including school buses. Grants for school districts for alternative fuel and electric vehicles are also offered through the Alternative Fuels Incentive program, as are grants for alternative fuel refueling and electric vehicle charging stations.

“Thousands of school buses transport students to and from school each day in cities and towns across the commonwealth, so these grants will go a long way toward reducing our carbon footprint and ensuring reliable, safe, and clean transportation for Pennsylvania’s most precious cargo – our children,” Pennsylvania Department of Education Acting Secretary Eric Hagarty said.

Pennsylvania has openings for an additional 2,000 to 3,000 school bus drivers.

Governor Tom Wolf today awarded $9.5 million to reduce diesel emissions, improve air quality, and promote clean transportation technologies.

This latest Driving PA Forward funding is for two grant programs: the Fast Charging and Hydrogen Fueling Grant Program and the Marine and Rail Freight Movers Grant Program. Funding for the grant program comes from the Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund as a result of a settlement against Volkswagen.

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is key to addressing climate change and to reaching our commonwealth’s Climate Action Plan goals,” Gov. Wolf said. “Supporting projects that reduce emissions and pollution is a step in the right direction to ensure a better quality of life for our communities and the environment.”

Five programs were awarded $899,447 in funding from the Fast Charging and Hydrogen Fueling Grant Program, which improves Pennsylvania’s air quality by expanding the availability of electric vehicle charging and accelerating adoption of battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and hydrogen fuel cell light-duty vehicles.

Three programs were awarded $8,689,104 in funding from the Marine and Rail Freight Movers Grant Program, which aims to improve the commonwealth’s air quality by reducing NOx emissions produced by nonroad equipment like freight switcher locomotives, ferries, and tugboats, and descriptions were evaluated for being in a priority area, such as an Environmental Justice area, an Act 47 Financially Distressed Municipality, designated high-traffic and high-population density areas, and high-pollution areas.

The Driving PA Forward Program aims to permanently reduce lifetime NOx emissions from mobile sources by as much as 27,700 tons.

A new funding round for the Fast Charging and Hydrogen Fueling grants is now open. For information on how to apply, visit the Driving PA Forward website. The application period will close on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.

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New buses reduce Pa. schoolchildren’s exposure to air pollutants