A person uses a garden hose in an effort to save a neighboring home from catching fire during the Eaton Fire on Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress from both political parties are calling on the Trump administration to unfreeze funding for a grant program that helps local communities better prepare for natural disasters.

The letter from more than 80 lawmakers urges the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin spending money already approved by Congress for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.

“The BRIC program was established by Congress in the 2018 Disaster Recovery Reform Act and signed into law by President (Donald) Trump with bipartisan support,” the two-page letter states. “In the years since, this program has catalyzed community investments in resilient infrastructure, saving federal funds by investing in community preparedness before a disaster strikes.”

The lawmakers wrote that BRIC grant funds go to a variety of projects and that the program has played “an essential role in helping Tribal Nations and rural communities strengthen their defenses against natural disasters and safeguard critical infrastructure.”

“Through BRIC, Tribes and rural communities can access dedicated funding to strengthen community resilience by investing in hazard mitigation projects—such as flood protection, fire prevention, and infrastructure hardening—that are otherwise difficult to finance in rural or remote settings,” the lawmakers wrote.

While the program “has room for improvement,” the lawmakers wrote that FEMA and Congress should work together “to improve the application review and funding distribution process to more effectively reduce the costs disasters pose to our communities, economies, and livelihoods.”

Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski led drafting the letter in their chamber.

Reps. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C.; Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; and Ed Case, D-Hawaii, spearheaded efforts in the House. 

‘Beyond reckless’

FEMA announced in early April that it would unilaterally cancel all BRIC funding approved from fiscal years 2020 through 2023, calling the program “wasteful and ineffective” in a statement.

“Approximately $882 million of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be returned to the U.S. Treasury or reapportioned by Congress in the next fiscal year,” a FEMA spokesperson wrote in the statement. “The 2021 law made $1 billion available for BRIC over five years, $133 million to date has been provided for about 450 applications. FEMA estimates more than $3.6 billion will remain in the Disaster Relief Fund to assist with disaster response and recovery for communities and survivors.”

The National Association of Counties wrote in a post about the cancellation that community leaders may “need to halt work or seek new funding sources” and “delay or scale back infrastructure investments.”

“Without access to BRIC’s federal match, counties may find it more difficult to pursue large-scale mitigation projects,” the NaCo post stated.

Association of State Floodplain Managers Executive Director Chad Berginnis wrote that dismantling the country’s “largest pre-disaster mitigation program is beyond reckless.”

“Cutting funding from projects already underway will leave states and communities scrambling, increasing disaster risk to families and businesses instead of reducing it,” Berginnis wrote. “The impact of this decision will be felt for decades to come.”

Transitioning a fleet of school buses from diesel to electric power can offer dramatic benefits.

eBuses (electric school buses) have the potential to significantly reduce not only noise and air pollution throughout the school district, but also the fleet’s total cost of ownership (TCO). However, the road to electrification requires careful navigation around an assortment of planning pitfalls. Every aspect of the project is complex, from planning and financing to implementation and operations.

For districts that lack the internal resources and expertise to maximize benefits across all these areas, ENGIE North America offers a turnkey eBus solution. ENGIE is the world’s number-one provider of energy services, with decades of experience supporting school districts on sustainable energy initiatives.

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The post (Free White Paper) Developing Your Plan for an Electric Bus Fleet appeared first on School Transportation News.

It’s common for technology inside the school bus to talk to one another —  especially when it’s provided by the same vendor. If school buses aren’t already connected, it’s surely a priority for most school districts.

But what if there’s more to the connected technology conversation? A general session at STN EXPO East on March 24 says there is. “School Bus V2X & Transit Planning” by Bob Riebe, the vice president of transit for Applied Information, Inc., discussed a new layer of connected technologies. Technology is connected not just to the vehicle but the surrounding community in the form of stop lights, infrastructure and other vehicles on the road.

Riebe explained that Applied Information’s Glance Transit Signal Priority system combines hardware and software into a solution that gets transit buses where they need to be — on time. School buses can be equipped with this technology, too, which ensures transportation operations are never losing communication with the bus. Applied Information’s Connected School Bus System has already been piloted on Georgia’s Fulton County Schools buses with partners Audi, Blue Bird, and Temple, Inc.

Cellular Vehicle to Everything or C-V2X technologies communicate with motorists driving in school zones. Riebe explained that distraction is at an all-time high and the technology tells motorists if they’re speeding and provides advanced warning that a school bus stop is approaching, right on their dash. (Currently, the technology is only available for a select few vehicle manufacturers, but the TravelSafely app leverages Smart City technology and alerts motorists of upcoming red lights, emergency vehicles approaching, as well as school zones.)

Related: School Bus Safety Technology Showcased on NBC Today Show
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Additionally, the technology can communicate with stop lights using routing information, as well as speed, time, location and stop information, on when the school bus is supposed to arrive at the stop. The technology is able to communicate with the stop lights, which turns the signal yellow then red for perpendicular traffic and the light green for the approaching school bus. This is beneficial if a school bus is running late. The school bus driver would only experience green lights along their route.

Riebe added this also decreases the amount of time school buses are idling at red lights and reduces fuel consumption and the number of emissions being admitted into the air. These can result in improved on-time performance, additional cost-savings, and increased school zone safety.

The system monitors real-time traffic and knows exactly where the school buses are located and when they would arrive at the stop light. If two school buses approach an intersection and are traveling perpendicular to each other, Riebe said the vehicle green light priority is on a first come, first serve basis. He added that the technology also provides 16 levels of priority, and different school buses could be set at a higher priority than others.

Riebe noted to integrate such a system into cities takes working with officials to allow devices be placed in the stop lights. If interested, he advised to start meetings with the local transit authority and speak with school bus OEMs to learn if they would put transponders on every school bus.

He noted the use case makes the most sense for bigger cities because there is more routes and traffic congestion. Riebe added that the Federal Communications Commission approved the technology to move forward and its use is growing throughout cities and districts.

The post C-V2X Technology Hold Promise of School Bus Time, Cost Savings appeared first on School Transportation News.

With less than two years remaining before school districts in New York are required to purchase only electric school buses, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is open to delaying the mandate because of increasing challenges.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Hochul was asked by News10NBC if she is considering delaying the law she signed in April 2022.

“Absolutely,” Hochul responded. “We’ve been having many conversations about it. This is, aspirationally, we want this to happen. We also have to take into consideration that their circumstances have changed since this went into law.”

One of the circumstances she noted was the current inability of some school districts to acquire electric school buses, not to mention in 2027. She noted that already $500 million exists in a larger $4.2 billion environmental bond act to alleviate the costs of electric school buses and to help local school districts with the transition.

Related: 79-Year-Old, 9-Year-Old Struck by School Bus in New York
Related: New York Middle Schooler Wins Annual Poster Contest
Related: New York Pushes Forward with Electric School Bus Mandate Despite Opposition
Related: Second Installment of Zero Emission School Bus Funding Available in N.Y
Related: $100M Available for New York Zero-Emissions School Buses as Deadline Nears

“This is not going to be a hard and fast rule because we have to deal with the realities that these school districts are facing,” she Hochul added.

There is already legislation, introduced on Jan. 24, that would alleviate some of the pressure. New York Senate Bill 3328 would authorize school districts to submit an opt-out waiver to the commissioner of education. Authorized districts would receive a permanent exemption from the mandate of zero-emission school buses. A bill died last year would have replaced the electric school bus mandate with a feasibility study.

The law already includes a one-time extension that would allow districts to be granted an additional two years to comply with the 2035 deadline of having fully electric fleets.

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