BILL NUMBER: S6893A
SPONSOR: FAHY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to transition feasibility
analysis for zero-emission school buses; and to amend part A of chapter
56 of the laws of 2023 amending the education law relating to contracts
for excellence, in relation to the effectiveness thereof
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To require every school district to complete a transportation feasibil-
ity analysis by a specified date, and every five years thereafter;
prioritize allocated funding for the purchase of ZEBs and transmission
capacity and the design and construction of related infrastructure to
school districts with more than two thousand pupils based on specified
district characteristics; extend the outer deadline for transition by
small school districts with less than two thousand pupils and districts
with substantial feasibility issues to two thousand forty; and provide
transportation aid for transportation feasibility analyses, salary for a
zero-emission transportation transition planner, and costs incurred to
transport an out-of-service zero-emission bus for storage and repairs.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one provides the legislative intent for the legislation.
Section two amends subdivision 1 of section 3638 of the education law to
include hybrid battery electric buses within the definition of "zero-em-
ission school bus".
Section three amends section 3638 of the education law to add new subdi-
visions 1-a and 1-b:
Subdivision 1-a requires every school district to complete a transition
feasibility analysis before the end of the current school year as of the
effective date of the subdivision, and every five years thereafter, to
determine which regular routes can feasibly be serviced by zero-emission
school buses. A transportation feasibility analysis completed within two
years preceding the adoption of the new subdivision also meets the
requirement of such subdivision. Subdivision(1-a) also describes the
parameters to be analyzed by the study.
Subdivision (1-b) directs the education department, in consultation with
the New York state energy research and development authority (NYSERDA)
and department of health (DOH), to develop a list of school districts
with two thousand or more pupils which ranks district need for transpor-
tation and building aid for the purchase of zero-emission buses and
transmission capacity and the design and construction of related infras-
tructure based on an assessment of the district's current transition
feasibility analysis, the childhood asthma ER visit rate in the county
where the district is located (per DOH), the district's need/resource
capacity index rating (per SED), and average per pupil spending. SED
shall then prioritize allocated funding to the most high- need school
districts.
Section four amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 3638 of
the education law to require every school district with two thousand or
more pupils to abide by the findings of its current transportation
feasibility analysis no later than July 1, 2027. School districts with
findings that indicate 50% or more of all regular routes are not deemed
feasible for service by zero-emission buses shall be permitted to
utilize non-zeroemission buses to make required transportation runs and
to receive transportation aid for such buses. School districts with
findings indicating that less than 50% of all regular routes are not
deemed feasible for service by zero-emission buses shall utilize zero-
emission buses for such regular routes and may utilize non-zero-emission
buses for the remaining regular routes.
Paragraph (a-2) is added to require every school district with less than
two thousand pupils to, no later than July 1, 2037, purchase or lease
only zero-emission school buses.
Paragraph (c) clarifies that a school district complies with section 2
if it has encumbered funds and places an order for a zero-emission bus
prior to July 1, 2027, even if it has not received delivery of such bus
before that date.
Paragraph (d) defines key terms.
Section five amends subdivision 3 of section 3638 of the education law
to require every school district with two thousand or more pupils to, no
later than July 1, 2035, operate and maintain only zero-emission school
buses and every school district with less than two thousand pupils to,
no later than July 1, 2040, operate and maintain only zero-emission
school buses.
Section six makes technical amendments to subdivision 4 of section 3638
of the education law.
Section seven amends subdivision 1 of section 3623-a(1) of the education
law by adding a new paragraph (a-1) to permit transportation aid for a
transition feasibility analysis required by section 3638 of the same
chapter.
Section eight amends section 3623-a(1)(e) by adding new paragraphs
(1-a) and (7-a) to permit transportation aid for salary for a zero-emis-
sion transportation transition planner and costs incurred to transport
an out-of-service zero-emission bus for storage and repairs, respective-
ly.
Section nine extends the repeal date of section 3638 of the education
law by five years.
Section ten establishes the effective date.
 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
The amended bill expands the definition of "zero-emission school bus" to
include hybrid battery electric buses and directs SED, in consultation
with NYSERDA and DOH, to develop a list of school districts with two
thousand or more pupils which ranks district need for transportation and
building aid for the purchase of zero-emission buses and transmission
capacity and the design and construction of related infrastructure based
on an assessment of the following: the district's current transition
feasibility analysis, the childhood asthma ER visit rate in the county
where the district is located (per DOH), the district's need/resource
capacity index rating (per SED), and average per pupil spending. Based
on such ranking, SED shall then prioritize allocated funding to the most
high-need school districts. Large districts with demonstrated feasibil-
ity challenges and districts with less than two thousand pupils will be
given additional time to complete their transitions, with the outer
deadline for transition extended to 2040.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Feasibility issues related to the pace of technological advances, the
capacity of the state's power grid, and the impacts of weather and other
route conditions on zero-emission school buses (ZEBs) operated through-
out the state present significant challenges to school districts working
to transition their fleets in accordance with SED's first transition
deadline of July 1, 2027. For that reason, this legislation addresses
two separate concerns with current law. First, it directs all school
districts to complete a transition feasibility analysis to examine the
feasibility of the district's transition process and to update the anal-
ysis every five years. Second, for those districts with more than two
thousand pupils, the legislation directs SED, in conjunction with NYSER-
DA and DOH, to assess a defined group of district characteristics to
determine which districts shall receive prioritized transportation and
building aid for the purchase of additional transmission capacity and/or
ZEBs and the design and construction of related infrastructure.
Despite the multi-faceted transition challenges faced by some districts,
e.g., average low temperatures, topography and route distance vary wide-
ly across the state and substantially impact manufacturer's specifica-
tions and ZEB reliability, voters tend to focus exclusively on the vari-
able of cost. Unfortunately, while there have been steady price declines
in consumer electric vehicles since the transition deadlines were set in
2022, ZEBs still cost two to four times more than traditional internal
combustion engine (ICE) buses, and the average cost of a ZEB has
increased by 8.7%. In addition, three years ago experts forecast parity
between the total cost of ownership for ZEBs and ICEs to occur by 2027,
but now the forecast has extended to 2030 or beyond. Because the high
cost for adding transmission and charging infrastructure to accommodate
ZEBs falls predominantly on individual school districts, public support
for the transition frequently wanes when voters must choose between
spending limited budget dollars on educational expenses or for reducing
local tailpipe emissions. There is no real debate for many voters in
such a scenario, particularly for rural school districts that have low
pupil populations and lots of fresh air, but f ew resources and high
educational needs.
To promote a more effective transition with greater impact sooner, the
bill directs the state to initially concentrate allocated funding to
school districts with more than two thousand pupils and demonstrated
need. To determine need, SED, in consultation with NYSERDA and DOH, will
assess a district's transition feasibility analysis, the childhood asth-
ma emergency department (ER) visit rate in the county where a district
is located, a district's need/resource capacity index rating and its per
pupil spending, then prioritize transportation and building aid relief
for the purchase of additional transmission capacity and/or ZEBs and the
design and construction of related infrastructure to the most high-need
districts.
While most school district administrators support the transition to
ZEBs, the practical mechanics of the transition are challenging and
costly.
Administrators and voters alike feel the limitations of their local
school district budgets, and as demonstrated by the thirty-one districts
across the state which have conducted ZEB votes, when put "between a
rock and a hard place" voters will consistently prioritize educational
spending over transportation spending, even when the community's asthma
health risks are high. Large districts with low per pupil spending need
financial assistance to help them accomplish the transition. The state
can achieve the largest advances in public health in the shortest amount
of time if it initially prioritizes allocated funds to districts with
two thousand or more pupils, located in counties with childhood asthma
ER visit rates of "moderate" or "high" concern, rated as no more than
"average" by SED's need/resource capacity index, and which spend less
than $19,500 per pupil. As a result of such policy priorities, large
districts with demonstrated feasibility challenges and districts with
less than two thousand pupils will be given additional time to complete
their transitions in accordance with their current transition feasibil-
ity analysis.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S6893: 3638 education law, 3638(2) education law, 3638(4) education law, 3623-a education law, 3623-a(1) education law
S6893A: 3638 education law, 3638(1) education law, 3638(2) education law, 3638(3) education law, 3638(4) education law, 3623-a education law, 3623-a(1) education law