Citizens Against Government Waste Names Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan August 2024 Porker of the Month

Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan August 2024 Porker of the Month for pushing school districts to purchase electric school buses.

The EPA's Clean Bus Program has a budget of $5 billion for 8,731 buses. An electric bus costs between $230,000 to $440,000, while a diesel bus costs between $90,000 to $110,000. School districts that apply for the program must also install charging stations that can cost $50,000 to keep the buses on the road. To date, 56 school districts have dropped out of the program. Only 80 buses have been delivered, and at the current rate it would take 350 years for all buses to get to a school district. A July 31, 2024, EPA Inspector General report found that if all program requirements are not followed, there is an increased risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Yet Administrator Regan continues to push for more school districts to apply for the program.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, "Taxpayers are not getting a charge out of throwing more money at an already failing electric school bus program. For this reason, Administrator Regan was an easy choice for this month's Porker."