Applications Due By Feb. 26, 2020
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently opened a Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) grant opportunity for, among other items, school and transit bus retrofit and replacement projects. The EPA is awarding approximately $44 million in this grant opportunity spread out over its 10 regions. The funding amounts vary per region and the matching amounts vary by project, with EPA expecting to award between 2 and 8 projects per region. The deadline to submit applications is at 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. The EPA will inform those awarded grants in May 2020 and the estimated project period is scheduled to begin on Sept. 1, 2020.
The full grant announcement can be found at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-12/documents/2020-dera-national-grants-competition-12-2019.pdf. Additional information can be found at https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-national-grants#rfa2020.
Eligible projects include:
• Vehicle and Equipment Replacement
• Engine Replacement
• Certified Re-manufacture Systems
• Verified Idle Reduction Technologies (i.e. school bus fuel operated heaters)
• Verified Retrofit Technologies
• Clean Alternative Fuel Conversions
• Verified Aerodynamic Technologies and Verified Low-Rolling Resistance Tires
The maximum amount of federal funding that may be requested per application varies by Region. A breakdown of the regions, the states for each region and the amounts available per region per application follows.
• Region 1 (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) will accept proposals requesting up to $1,000,000 in grant funds.
• Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,500,000 in grant funds.
• Region 3 (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,500,000 in grant funds.
• Region 4 (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,000,000 in grant funds.
• Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin) will accept proposals requesting up to $3,000,000 in grant funds.
• Region 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,500,000 in grant funds.
• Region 7 (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska) will accept proposals requesting up to $1,500,000 in grant funds.
• Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming) will accept proposals requesting up to $2,600,000 in grant funds.
• Region 9 (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands) will accept proposals requesting up to $4,000,000 in grant funds.
• Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) will accept proposals requesting up to $1,000,000 in grant funds.
Bus Operators cannot apply directly for grants on their own, but may apply in partnership with either a local, state or regional agency or tribal government or through a non-profit entity. ABA will not be submitting applications this year, but is happy to coordinate interested members with other organizations pursuing applicants. If you are interested in finding a non-profit entity to partner with, contact Brandon Buchanan at bbuchanan@buses.org.
The EPA has scheduled informational webinars for Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. ET and Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 3 p.m. ET to discuss the grant program opportunity, click the link to learn more, https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-national-grants.
As a reminder, the School Bus Council will meet at ABA’s upcoming Marketplace in Omaha, Neb., on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2020 from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. We will discuss this grant opportunity as well as several other items of interest to the school transportation community. In addition, if you are interested in hearing more about the School Bus Council or its activities, contact ABA’s Consultant, Ronna Weber, at rweber@colonialstrategies.com.