The Trump administration is beginning to freeze funds for at least one federal program aimed at reducing pollution that is driving climate change.
Some school districts said Thursday they could access millions of dollars with federal grants to buy buses for electrical schools. The funds, approved by Congress and overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, have been blocked since January when President Trump ordered a suspension and review of the Climate and Clean Energy Program.
Only a portion of the school bus money has been released. Congress initially approved $5 billion to help schools replace worn diesel buses with electrical models. Diesel strengthens most school buses in the US, and its exhaust is linked to serious health effects in children, including asthma. Diesel baths also emit greenhouse gases. During the Biden administration, the EPA won three rounds of awards against 1,344 school districts, totaling $2.8 billion.
Grant's second round is no longer frozen, several winners said. However, the third round of the Electric School Bus rebate is still pending. It is also unclear whether the EPA will be awarding the remaining $2.2 billion approved by Congress.
The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Electric school bus programs have proven popular with many school districts and some Republicans. Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, a Republican in West Virginia, toured the state's new electric bus factory last fall and said this month he was pushing Politico to release the Frozen Funds on the EPA.
Some school districts have found themselves in tough places without the promised money.
In Arkansas, Little Rock school districts relied on second-round awards worth $9.8 million to buy 25 electrical school buses. As part of the grant, the district had to permanently void many of its old diesel buses. When the grant was suspended, the district was left just before the bus and had to stop work at the new charging depot.
“We were very upset,” said Linda Young, director of the Little Rock School District grants. But on Thursday, the district finally had access to the funds, she said.
The district is still waiting to hear about a separate $11.25 million federal grant to replace the old heating and cooling systems of 17 schools. The Energy Division is pending. “I hope we get good news,” Young said.
Two federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to end the freeze on federal grants approved by Congress. On Feb. 10, one judge for Judge John J. McConnell Jr. told Federal Courthouse the White House had withheld funds and ignored the order.
Other institutions are beginning to remove funding. On Thursday, the Department of Agriculture announced it would release a $20 million “first tranch” of farmers' conservation spending permitted by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
In a statement, the agency said it would “continue to verify IRA funds and ensure that it respects its sacred duties to American taxpayers, and that the program is focused on supporting farmers and ranchers.” I guarantee it.”
