Hirono, Colleagues Demand Answers About EPA Clean School Bus Program Funding Freeze

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and 14 colleagues in sending a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, requesting information about the status of the distribution of Clean School Bus program funding to recipients with signed agreements and urging the EPA to immediately release any withheld funding.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “To provide these health and cost savings benefits to our children and continue supporting the boom in electric bus manufacturing that is creating good-paying jobs across the country, the EPA must implement the Clean School Bus program as Congress directed. Following your confirmation hearing, you committed to the continued implementation of this program when you responded: ‘I commit to following the law. I cannot prejudge the outcome of any particular policy review.’ Recognizing that Congress authorizes and appropriates federal funding—and explicitly established the Clean School Bus program through a bipartisan vote— it is your duty to implement the program and ensure program awardees have confidence in working with the EPA and are receiving funding.” 

In addition to Senators Hirono, Markey, and Warnock, the letter is signed by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The lawmakers request the following information by March 6, 2025:  

1. For both rebates and grants under the Clean School Bus program, what is the status of the disbursement of already obligated funds to recipients? 
2. On what legal basis did the EPA end its disbursement of already obligated funds for the program? Please identify the authority under which the EPA cut off funding. 

3. If the disbursement of any obligated Clean School Bus Program grants and rebates currently remains frozen for any awardees, when will it resume? If you cannot provide a date, please explain why, including the legal basis for not resuming disbursements and an explanation of the EPA’s grant and rebate-review process. 

4. Will you commit to following the law by obligating the remaining Clean School Bus program grants and rebates that have yet to be awarded, or that have been awarded but not yet disbursed, through FY2026? 

The full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Administrator Zeldin:

In the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress created the Clean School Bus program, which, through grants and rebates, funds the replacement of existing school buses with clean vehicles and the necessary fueling infrastructure, reducing harmful air pollutants. However, since January 20, 2025, our offices have received concerning and contradictory reports on the status of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean School Bus Program, with reports and information from awardees indicating the EPA is not disbursing obligated Clean School Bus program funding to recipients with signed agreements. We urge you to resume implementation of the law and immediately release any withheld funding. Schools must be able to continue their efforts to provide safe and healthy transportation for the more than 25 million children who travel to class by bus every day.

The Clean School Bus program has provided funding across all 50 states and to nearly 60 federally recognized tribes, prioritizing low-income, rural, and Tribal students. To date, EPA has supported 8,500 Clean School Bus projects in more than 1,200 school districts. We look forward to celebrating the environmental and health benefits the program brings to communities across the country. But according to reports, the EPA has withheld monies from Clean School Bus program funding recipients, including those who have signed agreements with the agency, giving no explanation and in contravention of existing law.

To provide these health and cost savings benefits to our children and continue supporting the boom in electric bus manufacturing that is creating good-paying jobs across the country, the EPA must implement the Clean School Bus program as Congress directed. Following your confirmation hearing, you committed to the continued implementation of this program when you responded: “I commit to following the law. I cannot prejudge the outcome of any particular policy review.” Recognizing that Congress authorizes and appropriates federal funding—and explicitly established the bipartisan Clean School Bus program— it is your duty to implement the program and ensure program awardees have confidence in working with the EPA and are receiving funding.

Because we continue to receive reports of the Clean School Bus program inconsistently available through payment portals, please respond in writing to the following questions by March 6, 2025:

1. For both rebates and grants under the Clean School Bus program, what is the status of the disbursement of already obligated funds to recipients?
2. On what legal basis did the EPA end its disbursement of already obligated funds for the program? Please identify the authority under which the EPA cut off funding. 
3. If the disbursement of any obligated Clean School Bus Program grants and rebates currently remains frozen for any awardees, when will it resume? If you cannot provide a date, please explain why, including the legal basis for not resuming disbursements and an explanation of the EPA’s grant and rebate-review process.
4. Will you commit to following the law by obligating the remaining Clean School Bus program grants and rebates that have yet to be awarded, or that have been awarded but not yet disbursed, through FY2026? 

Thank you for your prompt attention to these questions.

Sincerely,

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