Vote yields small step toward all-electric school buses
Published in NJ Spotlight
Bill would make NJ spend $15 million a year for the buses. That would replace a handful of the 20,000 diesel vehicles
A legislative committee Thursday cleared a bill to ramp up investments in the transition to electric school buses. Clean-energy advocates say this a crucial step toward getting diesel-fueled, polluting buses off New Jersey roads.
If approved by the Legislature, the bill (A-1282) would create a three-year program in the state Department of Environmental Protection to spend $15 million a year to buy electric school buses. School districts now spend about $150,000 for each of the more than 20,000 diesel buses currently in use. The initial cost of an electric bus is between $300,000 to $400,000.
Kids most vulnerable
Diesel school buses are a bane of environmental-justice communities already burdened with unhealthy air pollution, particularly kids who are especially vulnerable and have to ride on vehicles where emissions seep into the cabin and into their lungs. It also worsens pollution contributing to climate change, a problem attributed in large part to diesel engines.
“We need to do this now because we are already behind our zero-emission goals,’’ said Assemblywoman Shama Haider (D-Bergen), a co-sponsor of the bill. She was referring to the state’s goal to reduce carbon-forming pollution by 50% by 2030.
The legislation, kicked around over the past four years by lawmakers, has long been a priority of environmental and public health organizations. The bill provides up to $45 million in grants over three years — provided the Legislature appropriates the money in the state’s annual budget. Proponents hope lawmakers include the initial appropriation in next year’s budget, which begins July 1.
The cost of replacing the entire fleet of diesel buses is projected at over $5 billion, according to William Beren, transportation chair of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. The DEP already has allocated $24.5 million to purchase 77 school buses. The money came from funds New Jersey received from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and a settlement from Volkswagen, which tampered with emission-monitoring equipment on its cars.
So far, none of the 77 electric buses are in use, a delay caused by problems with obtaining equipment related to charging infrastructure and supply-chain difficulties.
“The electric school bus is the jumpstart and the foundation to our electric school-bus fleet transition,’’ said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey chapter director of the Sierra Club. “Not only will this transition from diesel to electric reduce air pollution, it will also reduce operation costs to school districts in fuel and maintenance over the life of the bus.’’
Assemblyman Dan Benson, a Democrat from Mercer County and chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee which released the bill, said studies have shown districts can save up to $10,000 a year because of lower fuel and maintenance costs of electric buses.
Other states are making the transition to electric buses much faster, according to advocates. Connecticut has approved a plan to complete the transition to electric buses by 2040 statewide and in environmental-justice communities by 2030, said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. New York has approved a bond issue that allocated $500 million to buy electric buses, said Allison McLeod of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters.
The bill also directs the DEP to collect data on the performance of electric school buses and how they compare with diesel vehicles. According to Beren, today’s investments will guide the state when making decisions about where to spend money in the future.