New electric buses are coming to schools all over the country, including those in DeKalb, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is set to announce today.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will be in Stone Mountain to announce the latest round of funding for school systems to buy clean buses under President Joe Biden’s Investing in America effort.
The Biden administration has made reducing pollutants a priority, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021 allocated $5 billion to replacing aging, diesel school buses. Exposure to diesel exhaust is linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses, especially in children and the elderly, according to the EPA. It also contributes to ground-level ozone, which can be a major hazard on Georgia’s hot summer days and has been tied to a host of serious health conditions.
Atlanta Public Schools, the Clayton County School District and Georgia State University are among the education systems in Georgia that have begun converting to electric buses.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, as well as school district officials and students, will meet at Stone Mountain Middle School on Monday to discuss the funding, the EPA announced Friday.
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