Month: March 2022

HONOLULU — Hawai‘i is among the states with recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2021 Diesel Emissions Reduction Action (DERA) School Bus Rebates.

Roberts Hawaii has been awarded $200,000 in the latest round of funding for the long-standing DERA School Bus Rebates program that helps fund the replacement of older-model diesel school buses with cleaner models that meet or exceed current emission standards.

The funding announcement of ongoing school bus rebate opportunities was coupled with the announcement of a new Clean School Bus rebate program through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will be available later this year. The new program will provide an additional $5 billion over five years to replace existing school buses nationwide with low- or zero-emission school buses — a significant boost compared to the existing programs.

“I am proud that the Biden administration is helping our keiki travel to and from school in buses that will be safer and healthier for them while moving Hawai‘i closer to our goal of ending reliance on fossil-fuels by 2045,” said Governor David Y. Ige.

The DERA grant will go towards the purchase of ten new, more efficient buses serving Hawai‘i Department of Education routes on Maui and Hawai‘i Island.

“We take pride in our responsibility to transport children to their schools, and the DERA School Bus Rebate plays an important role in ensuring that we can continuously provide high quality service and modern school buses to the community,” said Randy Baldemor, executive vice president, Roberts Hawaii.

The DERA award for Roberts Hawaii is part of $17 million in federal funding for schools and bus fleet owners across the United States to replace older diesel school buses. Since 2021, EPA has awarded — or is in the process of awarding — over $73 million to replace more than 3,000 diesel school buses nationwide.

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HONOLULU — Hawai‘i Chief Energy Officer Scott Glenn today issued the following statement:

“We strongly support Par Pacific Holdings, Inc.’s decision to suspend purchasing any more Russian crude oil for Hawai‘i. The Hawai‘i State Energy Office has been in close contact with Par and other state and industry partners ever since tensions between Russia and Ukraine arose to assure energy supply for Hawai‘i would not be disrupted.

“While we do not anticipate any supply concerns, HSEO reminds residents that energy prices are likely to remain high and perhaps go even higher due to uncertainty in the global energy markets.

This market exposure underscores why Hawai‘i is focused on transitioning as quickly as it can to locally produced renewable energy.”

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