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- The Utah Division of Air Quality received a $60 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- The grant funds 171 zero-emission vehicles along with charging infrastructure statewide.
- One hundred twenty electric school buses will be included in the vehicle tally, enhancing Utah's clean transportation efforts.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Beehive State continues to take measures to electrify transportation, and on Friday, the Utah Division of Air Quality was announced as the recipient of a $60 million grant to do just that.
The grant, which comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program, will fund 171 zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure across the state to help reduce air pollution.
In total, the program aims to distribute a total of $1 billion through 2032 to replace fossil fuel heavy-duty vehicles — such as school buses, garbage trucks, transit buses and more — with zero-emission vehicles, as well as support the build-out of charging infrastructure.
For Utah, 120 of these 171 vehicles will be electric school buses.
To date, over $6 million has been awarded to school districts in Utah through the EPA's Clean School Bus Program, and as of March, there were 30 electric buses on the road or funded in Utah.
In September, three Utah school districts — Park City, Granite and Uintah — were awarded $1.49 million in rebates to purchase clean school buses as part of the Biden administration's Investing in America agenda.
In 2022, Tintic and Uintah school districts were awarded $4.74 million to electrify their respective bus fleets through the same program.
"These young leaders have organized outreach and called on their districts and state to prioritize schools for these transformative benefits," Rebekah Ashley, lead organizer at Sierra Club Utah, said in a statement. "This week's (Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles program) announcement is a reflection of their unwavering commitment and the growing momentum for cleaner, healthier schools in our state."
Sophia Cheng, a senior at Skyline High School in the Granite School District, said she believes every student deserves access to clean air.
"Investing in electric school buses is a crucial step our state can take to reduce pollution," Cheng said in a statement. "This award is a significant milestone, and I hope local school districts, including mine, take full advantage of the opportunities it brings to retire diesel buses and improve our air quality."
