5 things to know about NYS' emission-free school bus mandate

Most Republican and Democratic state lawmakers agree on two things: All school buses in the state need to transition from diesel to emission-free, and that it won’t be an easy feat.

School districts across the state and Long Island have started to create plans for meeting the state mandate requiring school buses to be zero-emission by 2035. But it’s proving to be a complex task that might require additional legislation.

Several Democrats, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, have proposed changes such as tweaking state transportation aid and giving districts the ability to amend their transportation contracts. Republicans are saying the deadline should be pushed back entirely.

Education advocacy groups and many school leaders have expressed concerns about the cost of replacing their fleets, potential issues with power grid capacity and questions about whether electric batteries and chargers can meet their needs.

Here are five things to know about the state’s emission-free school bus mandate:

The requirements

New York’s 2022-23 budget set a mandate requiring all new buses sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2027 and all buses on the road be zero-emission by 2035.
Zero-emission buses can include battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses. The mandate comes as the state looks to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change.

There are approximately 45,000 school buses statewide, making up about 10% of buses nationwide, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

“It’s not just a climate initiative, it’s a public health initiative,” state Senate Environmental Conservation Committee chairman Pete Harckham (D-South Salem) said at a news conference last week, citing air quality issues stemming from diesel fuel.

Most school buses run on diesel, which releases pollutants that can make breathing difficult, and children are particularly susceptible, especially those in disadvantaged communities, according to the New York League of Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy group.

The roadblocks

One of the largest hurdles facing districts and school bus contracting companies is the cost, as they look to replace their current fleets and set up the charging infrastructure for new emission-free buses.

Suffolk Transportation Services, the largest bus system in the county, which provides bus services to 22 school districts, has about 1,600 buses and vans. Of those, 11 are electric, said Thomas Smith, the company’s chief operating officer and president of the New York School Bus Contractors Association.

The company typically replaces about 10% of its fleet each year as the vehicles age, he told Newsday, but “2035 is a challenging date to convert your entire fleet by.” Diesel buses typically cost about $145,000 each, whereas electric buses are upward of $400,000 pretax, he said.

The cost of electricity to charge the vehicles during peak demand hours can be costly, and it can be difficult to access the power grid for some districts, Smith said.

There’s also battery life and route distances to consider.

Most of the districts Smith’s company operates in have short routes, but he said it can be challenging for rural schools with longer routes or if there was a longer school trip to the aquarium in Riverhead, for example. Some districts also use one bus to run multiple routes serving elementary, middle and high schools that have different start times, which would be difficult to do without time to charge in between.

Despite the challenges, Smith said he’s excited for the battery technology to continue to evolve and the overall cost of making the buses to decrease. “They are great buses. We’re enjoying the ones we operate,” he said.

Money and resources

“We understand that this is a big lift, but there is currently plenty of money out there for folks to get started,” Harckham said.

The 2022-23 state budget included $500 million in funding for the initiative allocated through the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022.

Of the $500 million, $100 million was released in November through the New York School Bus Incentive Program. NYSERDA has received 20 applications for 97 emission-free buses totaling $22 million to date, according to the agency. Funding through NYSERDA also is available for school districts for fleet electrification planning.

Districts also can use existing funds such as state transportation aid, which reimburses districts based on financial need.

Additionally, more than $127 million in federal funding was awarded through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program, which will bring 330 electric school buses to districts across the state, according to the NYSERDA. The third round of federal funding closed last week.

Hochul and NYSERDA in September released the New York State Electric School Bus Roadmap outlining costs, challenges and recommendations for utilities, manufacturers and operators, as well as a guidebook for school districts.

Proposed changes

Hochul’s budget proposal for 2024-25 includes a tweak to exclude any funds received through the bond act for zero-emission buses from district transportation aid calculations. The change would ensure bond act funds supplement and not replace transportation aid.

Other bills proposed by state lawmakers would allow districts to amend their current transportation contracts to comply with the mandate.

The majority of schools contract out transportation services, Smith said, with contracts typically covering five-year periods. Some districts may be in the middle of a contract and would need to have the flexibility to make modifications, he said.

While these proposed changes and the available state and federal funding are helpful, there are still significant issues that need to be addressed, said Greg Berck, assistant director of governmental relations and assistant counsel for the New York State Council of School Superintendents. “The state needs to recognize that every district is different and the bus purchasing requirement should be tailored to each district’s bus routes,” he said.

The state also should fund feasibility studies, he said. “The struggle is the legislature and governor view 2027 as further away than it is for school districts,” he said, adding that there is a lot of planning and significant infrastructure changes that need to occur and significant funding will be needed to achieve this goal.

Calls for an extension

Republicans in the State Senate and Assembly are calling on Hochul and Democrats, who hold a majority in the legislature, to delay the mandate until 2045 or until all state agencies convert their fleets.

“We want to see a more realistic timeline so that the conversion can happen in an affordable way and in a way that’s actually practical,” Assemb. Ed Ra (R-Rockville Centre), the ranking Republican on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, told Newsday last week.

A bill sponsored by Assemb. Phil Palmesano, a Republican who represents Corning, would delay the mandate and require the state Education Department to complete a cost-benefit analysis for each district and provide an extension to districts if needed. The bill also would authorize the department in consultation with the New York Independent System Operator, utilities and the Department of Public Service to override the mandate if it’s determined that zero-emission school buses are not feasible for a particular application.

Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said it’s premature to be pushing back the timeline.

“I don’t think we should be delaying this transition because there are some challenges,” she said. “We should work through these challenges.”