The Biden administration announced Wednesday it will award nearly $1 billion to 389 school districts around the country to purchase more than 2,400 “clean school buses.”

The funds, which are coming from the bipartisan infrastructure law passed earlier, are being made available through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus program.

Vice President Kamala Harris and EPA Administrator Michael Regan will highlight the program during a trip to Seattle later Wednesday.

This new program will allow school districts to leverage federal dollars to reduce the cost of electric buses, ensure equitable deployment, and encourage the expansion of electric bus manufacturing capacity.

“The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from these bus replacements will also help to address the outsized role of the transportation sector in fueling the climate crisis,” the EPA said in a statement.

Regan said the infrastructure law is accelerating our nation’s transition to electric and low-emission school buses and creating healthy environments for children.

“As many as 25 million children rely on the bus to get to school each day,” Regan said. “We are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution.

“This is just the beginning of our work to build a healthier future, reduce climate pollution, and ensure the clean, breathable air that all our children deserve.”

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