Statement: Bill to Help Fund Statewide Transition to Electric School Buses Passes State Senate

Media Contacts
Hayley Berliner

Environment New Jersey

Trenton – Today the New Jersey State Senate passed legislation (S4077), which will require the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to create a grant program for electric school buses to help public school districts and private contractors transition their fleets from diesel to electric. Currently, New Jersey has zero electric school buses on the roads, but the NJDEP has granted 77 through the Volkswagen Settlement and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative funding. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 35-3. Companion legislation is pending in the General Assembly, although a similar program was passed (A1971) this June through the Assembly.

Hayley Berliner, Clean Energy Advocate with Environment New Jersey, issued the following statement:  

“Every child who rides a yellow school bus in New Jersey today is being exposed to toxic diesel exhaust, which causes serious health conditions. When this bill becomes law, we’ll start to change that and put New Jersey on the path towards full school bus electrification. This should be the last generation of children who ever has to ride on dirty diesel school buses.”

“We’d like to thank Senators Diegnan and Greenstein for their leadership on this bill. We look forward to swift passage through the General Assembly before the end of the session.”

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