Currently, state law requires all school districts in Connecticut to transition to using only zero-emission school buses by Jan. 1, 2040. Also, all school buses must be zero emission or use alternative fuel by Jan. 1, 2035.
The deadline is even sooner for school districts in environmental justice communities: They must switch over to fully zero-emission buses by Jan. 1, 2030. Environmental justice communities are those where 30 percent of the population is living below 200 percent of the federal poverty level or that are among the “state’s most fiscally and economically distressed municipalities,” according to the state’s website.
But a proposed bill is looking to change some of these requirements and deadlines. Under the bill:
- by July 1, 2040, 90 percent of school buses providing transportation for Connecticut school districts would need to be zero-emission buses; and
- by July 1, 2035, all school buses would need to be zero-emission or alternative fuel.
But in distressed municipalities, 50 percent of the buses must be zero-emission by July 1, 2035. Those districts would then follow a timeline to reach the requirement of making their fleets zero-emission by July 1, 2040.
“Communities like Derby, we’re just trying to identify capital funding for essential needs like replacing very old HVAC systems in our schools,” Derby Public Schools Superintendent Matt Conway said at a public hearing Monday of the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee.
“Balancing those needs while absorbing the cost of a fleet electrification is extremely difficult for small municipalities. We do share the goal of a cleaner transportation, but the transition must be financially sustainable and operationally feasible for communities like Derby,” he said.
Both the current law and the proposed legislation includes information about a grant program to help districts with the effort. Under the bill, the commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection would consult with the Connecticut Green Bank to administer the grant program “to maximize federal, state or other sources of funding or financing” to purchase the buses. The commissioner would give preference to applications for school districts in distressed municipalities.
Plus, $40 million in bonding would be authorized to support the program.
“As battery technology and clean vehicle markets mature, these investments will become increasingly cost-effective,” said Peter Cyr, a program manager with Clean Transportation Communities of Southern Connecticut. “But in the meantime, we need to support districts in adopting cleaner technologies as these market barriers come down. In order to meet the state targets outlined, we’re going to need more than just this round of funding.”
Another concern with the proposed legislation is the addition of an Oct. 1 deadline that would require districts to fuel their diesel-powered school buses with a 20 percent biodiesel blend until they switch to zero-emission buses.
“Many school districts have actually locked in their diesel for the next school year already, and therefore, complying for October would be very difficult,” said Sherri DiNello, director of government affairs for the Connecticut Association of School Business Officials.
But one school district in Connecticut has already completed the task of switching to a zero-emission bus fleet: Branford.
Branford Public Schools will be using its full fleet of 46 electric school buses starting next school year. Currently, the district has 17 electric vans that provide transportation for athletics and extracurricular activities and in neighborhoods that can’t accommodate larger buses.
The district is in its second year of a 10-year, $60 million contract with the carbon-neutral student transportation provider Zum.
Branford Superintendent Christopher Tranberg submitted written testimony to the Transportation Committee on giving districts more time to “navigate the financial and logistical challenges of transportation transitions.” But he also added, “It is important to recognize that some districts have already made substantial progress toward the state’s original goals.”
“In Branford, we moved forward with a fully electric transportation strategy based on the policy direction and timelines previously established by the state," Tranberg said in his testimony. “As the legislature considers revisions to this statutory framework, I respectfully encourage consideration of how districts that moved quickly and absorbed significant early costs might be recognized or supported. Districts that invested early in zero-emission transportation did so in good faith and with the expectation that state policy would continue to prioritize that transition.”
© 2026 Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
