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Tucson schools are getting electric buses as part of federal clean-air program

Tucson is getting a new fleet of electric school buses with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Schools in the Tucson Unified School District and those in Flowing Wells nearby will receive buses as part of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. The national program will dispense $5 billion in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law over the next five years to replace school buses around the country with new, zero and low-emission models. 

TUSD will receive 10 electric buses and Flowing Wells will receive one. A total of 25 school districts statewide will benefit from the program through various grants, according to the EPA.  

The agency says the program aims to combat air pollution and improve air quality in communities. 

Data analyzed by the University of Arizona found that in 2022, air quality was rated as “good” about half the time throughout the year in Tucson, and less than 20% of the time in Phoenix.

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Alisa Reznick is a senior field correspondent covering stories across southern Arizona and the borderlands for the Tucson bureau of KJZZ's Fronteras Desk.