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School Bus Retrofit and Replacement Account

Intent or Criteria: Proposition 1B, which was approved by the voters on November 7th, 2006, enacts the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006. This bond act authorizes $200 million for replacing and retrofitting school buses. Funds shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for the Lower-Emission School Bus Program to fund replacement school buses and retrofit devices thereby reducing air pollution and reducing children's exposure to diesel exhaust.

Guidelines: Updated Lower-Emission School Bus Program guidelines were approved by the Air Resources Board (ARB) in a public process.
2008 Lower-Emission School Bus Program Guidelines (pdf - 531 KB)
Case-by-Case Language

Previous guidelines are located on the ARB web site for the Lower-Emission School Bus Program.

Project List: School Bus Retrofit and Replacement Account Projects by Assembly District, Congressional District, County, or Senate District

Program Status: The Legislature has appropriated bond monies for the Lower-Emission School Bus Program. ARB staff developed updates to the proposed Lower-Emission School Bus Program guidelines that the Board approved at the March 27, 2008, Board hearing in Sacramento.

Event Date Location
Workshop September 18, 2007 El Monte
Workshop September 20, 2007 Sacramento
September 20, 2007 - Workshop Presentation (pdf - 51 KB)
Board Meeting March 27, 2008 Sacramento
March 27, 2008 - Board Presentation (pdf - 384 KB)

Administrative Agency: California Environmental Protection Agency/Air Resources Board Recipient Agencies: Local air districts and the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA). Accountability Plan: The three-part accountability structure for this Program, required by Executive Order S-02-07, was approved by the Department of Finance on February 27, 2008. The Lower-Emission School Bus Program Bond Accountability Plan is available from the link below.

School Bus Bond Accountability Plan (pdf - 17 KB)

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Status Report to the Department of Finance

The Air Resources Board is required by Senate Bill 88 the legislation that enables Propostion IB, to report to the Department of Finance on a semi-annual basis, the activities and progress made toward implementation of the Lower-Emission School Bus Program.

The Annual Lower-Emission School Bus Bond Accountability Project Description shows that $191,380,000 has been granted to 35 air districts in California. The Status Report to the Department of Finance for June 2009 shows which air districts have bus replacements and retrofits in grant funding agreements between the air districts and school districts.

Annual Lower-Emission School Bus Bond Accountability Project Description (pdf- 8 KB)
Status Report to the Department of Finance for June 2009 (pdf - 5 KB)

Current Activities

Installments of Bond Funding ($83 million to date) for the Lower-Emission School Bus Program

ARB received the first installment of $12 million in bond funding to cover disbursements made to local air districts prior to December 2008.  ARB received the next installment of $71 million in bond funding in May 2009 to purchase replacements of eligible pre-1977 model year school buses, to fund projects covered by signed grant agreements, and fund projects in areas with the largest air quality need.

ARB has posted a project list (pdf -16KB) showing how the $83 million in bond funds will be distributed.  Local agencies will receive authorization to restart those projects at the funding levels shown on this list via notification letters from ARB.  When the letters are sent, ARB will post copies on this  site.  Other projects remain suspended until additional bond funds are available.
Updates to Lower-Emission School Bus Guidelines and Existing Grant Agreements

With the uncertainty in the timing for full bond funding for the School Bus Program, we are asking the Board to provide the ARB Executive Officer with the authority and flexibility to amend current grant agreements with the 35 local air districts, and to make future changes to the Lower-Emission School Bus Program Guidelines, if needed, to support effective implementation of the Lower-Emission School Bus Program.  The meeting notice describes the proposed changes.  

Suspension of Propositon 1B Grant Monies

On December 19, 2008 ARB staff instructed local agencies implementing Prop 1B grants that these agencies must suspend entering into new contracts that would be funded from Prop 1B grant monies or expending funds for signed contracts because ARB is not authorized to approve payments until we have access to funds to cover the Prop 1B programs.
ARB Implementation of the Lower-Emission School Bus Program

The Air Resources Board is acting as the implementing agency for 16 local air pollution control and air quality management districts. If your school district, joint powers authority, or private transportation contractor (provides transportation to public schools), operates in one of these 16 air districts, then you would apply for funding directly to the ARB, not your local air district.

ARB is the implementing agency for the following air districts: Amador, Antelope, Colusa, Feather River, Imperial, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mojave, Northern Sonoma, Placer, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, and Tehama.

For the latest information about ARB implementing the Lower-Emission School Bus Program, go to http://www.arb.ca.gov/bonds/schoolbus/arbimplementation/arbimplementation.htm

Air District Implementation of the Lower-Emission School Bus Program

Advisories: Lower-Emission School Bus Program advisories are published as needed to clarify the Lower-Emission School Bus Program guidelines and ARB policies as they relate to this program. To save resources, all advisories are distributed electronically. Click here for a list of current advisories.

Disbursement Request Form: This form is for air districts that are implementing their own programs to request initial and subsequent disbursements of School Bus funds.

Lower-Emission School Bus Program Air District Grant Disbursement Request Form (pdf - 14 KB)

Funding Allocations: Funding allocations have been approved by the Air Resources Board in a public process. The Lower-Emission School Bus Program funding allocations are available from the link below.

2008 Lower-Emission School Bus Program Funding Allocations (pdf - 7 KB)

Contact Information: Contact ARB Lower-Emission School Bus Program staff for program administration details at this link.

Related Items

Fact Sheet
Truck and Bus Regulation School Bus Provisions (pdf - 56 KB)
Truck and Bus Regulation
School Bus Breakout Session (July 2008)
Workshop Notice (pdf - 18 KB)
We invite you to participate in a workshop to discuss the requirements for school buses in the proposed regulation for in-use on-road heavy-duty diesel-fueled vehicles. At the workshop, staff plans to provide an overview of the proposed regulation and its impact on school bus fleets. This breakout session will be held on July 24, 2008 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm in El Monte. For more information on the workshop, please see the workshop notice.
Truck and Bus Regulation
School Bus Breakout Session (May/June 2008)
Presentation for the School Bus Breakout Session
of the May/June 2008 workshop presentation for the Proposed Statewide Truck and Bus Regulation
May/June 2008 workshop presentation
for the Proposed Statewide Truck and Bus Regulation
Proposed Regulation For In-Use On-Road Heavy-Duty Diesel-Fueled Vehicles
STATEWIDE PUBLIC WORKSHOPS TO DISCUSS SCHOOL BUSES ROLE IN THE PROPOSED REGULATION FOR IN-USE ON-ROAD HEAVY-DUTY DIESEL-FUELED VEHICLES (pdf - 163 KB)