Pennsylvania HB 1539: An Act establishing the Electric School Bus Grant Program and the Electric School Bus Grant Program Fund; and imposing duties on the Department of Education.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 1810
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1539
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY MADSEN, McANDREW, RIVERA, MADDEN, HILL-EVANS,
GIRAL, RABB, MALAGARI, SANCHEZ AND D. WILLIAMS, JUNE 2, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JUNE 3, 2025
AN ACT
Establishing the Electric School Bus Grant Program and the
Electric School Bus Grant Program Fund; and imposing duties
on the Department of Education.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Electric
School Bus Grant Program Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Charging infrastructure." A facility or equipment that is
used to charge a battery or other energy storage device of a
vehicle that is fully or partially powered by electricity.
"Department." The Department of Education of the
Commonwealth.
"Electric school bus." A school bus that is powered
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exclusively by an electric motor that draws its current from
rechargeable storage batteries that are recharged with
electricity from an electric vehicle charging station.
"Electric vehicle." A vehicle that is exclusively powered by
and refueled by electricity and must be plugged in to charge.
"Eligible applicant." Any of the following:
(1) A school entity.
(2) A nonprofit or for-profit entity that provides
contracted transportation services to a school entity.
"Eligible costs." Any of the following:
(1) Costs related to:
(i) the procurement and maintenance of electric
school buses;
(ii) the conversion of internal combustion engine
buses to electric school buses;
(iii) the procurement or installation of charging
infrastructure and electrical upgrades as necessary to
support charging infrastructure;
(iv) training for personnel on electric school bus
operation and maintenance; or
(v) workforce development initiatives to support
electric school bus deployment.
(2) Administrative costs associated with the
procurement, conversion or maintenance specified under
paragraph (1), including up-front third-party administrative
costs associated with developing and implementing a proposal
for the procurement, conversion or maintenance.
(3) Any other costs approved by the department.
"Fund." The Electric School Bus Grant Program Fund
established under section 5(a).
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"Grantee." A recipient of a grant under the program.
"Internal combustion engine school bus." A school bus
powered by diesel, gasoline, compressed natural gas or propane.
"Nonattainment area." An area of this Commonwealth that has
been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being
in nonattainment with national ambient air quality standards.
"Program." The Electric School Bus Grant Program established
under section 3(a).
"School bus." As defined in 75 Pa.C.S. § 102 (relating to
definitions).
"School entity." A public school, including a school
district, an intermediate unit, an area career and technical
school or a chartered school for the education of the deaf or
the blind, operating within this Commonwealth.
Section 3. Electric School Bus Grant Program.
(a) Establishment and purpose.--The Electric School Bus
Grant Program is established within the department to award
grants for eligible costs to eligible applicants on a
competitive basis to the extent that money is appropriated for
this purpose.
(b) Duties.--The department shall:
(1) Administer the program, including providing the
necessary technical assistance for the program to eligible
applicants. Technical assistance includes:
(i) Guidance on grant application preparation and
submission.
(ii) Support for developing long-term cost-effective
fleet transition plans.
(iii) Assistance with identifying appropriate
charging infrastructure solutions.
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(iv) Coordination with utility providers for
infrastructure upgrades.
(v) Training for staff on electric school bus
operations and maintenance.
(vi) Resources to help school entities identify and
leverage additional funding opportunities.
(2) Establish an application process through which the
eligible applicants can apply for grants. The following
apply:
(i) The application process must be designed to be
as streamlined and minimally burdensome as possible for
applicants, while still ensuring that the department
collects the necessary information to evaluate
applications effectively.
(ii) The department shall post information about the
application process, including an application form that
the department develops for the program, on the publicly
accessible Internet website of the department.
(3) Establish guidelines necessary to implem