SALADO, Texas — The Salado Independent School District will receive a nearly $2 million rebate towards the purchase of new "clean" school buses as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2023 Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, according to an announcement by the EPA.
According to the EPA, Salado ISD is one of 530 districts across the U.S. to receive money through the competition, receiving $1,950,000 of the $31,510,000 awarded to Texas districts.
According to the EPA, the program is funded by President Biden's Investing in American agenda.
The funding will reportedly be used to purchase a total of 123 "new and clean" school buses across the state of Texas to replace older, diesel-fueled buses, which the EPA says "have been linked to asthma and other conditions that harm the health of students and surrounding communities."
92% of the new buses will reportedly be electric. The EPA stated it has awarded almost $3 billion to fund around 8,500 school bus replacements at more than 1,000 schools through the program so far.
"That's pretty huge that Salado is receiving the money," said Salado ISD Superintendent Dr. Michael Novotny.
Novotny said the plan is to use the money to purchase 10 new buses and charging stations.
"This is an opportunity to get buses, you know, free for our district that our local taxpayers are not having to pay out of their property taxes to fund," Novotny told 6 News. "And so, again it is, so one, the economic benefit, two, the safety benefit, and three, the environmental benefit. I mean, there are three different factors as to why this is a great program for our district. "
The EPA said it announced the availability of at least $500 million for its Clean School Bus rebates in September 2023, but due to the level of demand, the initial amount of funding was doubled to nearly $1 billion.
This is the third round of funding, said the EPA, and will build on previous installments of almost $2 billion in 2022 and 2023.
The EPA said it is also partnering with other federal agencies through the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to provide school districts with "robust technical assistance to ensure effective implementation".
The EPA said it is continuing to review applications and may make additional awards.
The agency said it is currently accepting applications for the 2024 Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program until July 25.
More from 6 News: