Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

Hawaii State Energy Office
For Immediate Release: March 10, 2022

HONOLULU—Hawaii is among the states with recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2021 Diesel Emissions Reduction Action (DERA) School Bus Rebates.

Roberts Hawaii has been awarded $200,000 in the latest round of funding for the long-standing DERA School Bus Rebates program that helps fund the replacement of older-model diesel school buses with cleaner models that meet or exceed current emission standards.

The funding announcement of ongoing school bus rebate opportunities was coupled with the announcement of a new Clean School Bus rebate program through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will be available later this year. The new program will provide an additional $5 billion over five years to replace existing school buses nationwide with low- or zero-emission school buses – a significant boost compared to the existing programs.

“I am proud that the Biden administration is helping our keiki travel to and from school in buses that will be safer and healthier for them while moving Hawaii closer to our goal of ending reliance on fossil-fuels by 2045,” said Governor David Y. Ige.

The DERA grant will go towards the purchase of ten new, more efficient buses serving Hawaii Department of Education routes on Maui and Hawaii Island.

“We take pride in our responsibility to transport children to their schools, and the DERA School Bus Rebate plays an important role in ensuring that we can continuously provide high quality service and modern school buses to the community,” said Randy Baldemor, executive vice president, Roberts Hawaii.

The DERA award for Robert’s Hawaii is part of $17 million in federal funding for schools and bus fleet owners across the United States to replace older diesel school buses. Since 2021, EPA has awarded – or is in the process of awarding – over $73 million to replace more than 3,000 diesel school buses nationwide.

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About the Hawaii State Energy Office
The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is an attached agency of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The HSEO’s mission is to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation to help achieve a resilient, clean energy, decarbonized economy. Toward this end, the HSEO is developing policies and programs to achieve our energy and climate change goals while identifying strategies that create jobs, lower costs, and improve quality of life in Hawaii. For more information, visit energy.hawaii.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudia Rapkoch
Public Affairs Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 460-5998