Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Sound the Alarm Over EPA Clean School Bus Program Funds Freeze

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined their colleagues in demanding an update from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin on the distribution of funding for the Clean School Bus program to recipients with signed agreements and urging the EPA to immediately release any withheld funding.
In the letter, the lawmakers write, “To provide these health and cost savings benefits to our children and continue supporting the boom in electric bus manufacturing that is creating good-paying jobs across the country, the EPA must implement the Clean School Bus program as Congress directed. Following your confirmation hearing, you committed to the continued implementation of this program when you responded: ‘I commit to following the law. I cannot prejudge the outcome of any particular policy review.’ Recognizing that Congress authorizes and appropriates federal funding—and explicitly established the Clean School Bus program through a bipartisan vote— it is your duty to implement the program and ensure program awardees have confidence in working with the EPA and are receiving funding.”
Merkley and Wyden joined the letter led by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). It was also signed by Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
The lawmakers request the following information by March 6, 2025:
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