N.J. Stat. § 26:2C-8.58
In each year, the department shall use its best efforts to select a mix of school districts that operate their own bus fleets and school districts that contract for school bus services; provided that, in each year, the department shall award no more than half of the grants to school bus contractors. Any school bus contractor applying to participate in the program shall apply in conjunction with a specific school district. In each year, at least half of the school districts or school bus contractors selected by the department, and at least half of the grant funding awarded by the department in each year shall be located in a "low-income, urban, or environmental justice community" as defined in section 2 of P.L. 2019, c. 362(C.48:25-2) and from those selected, the department shall use its best efforts, in each year, to select, an equal number of grantees from the northern, central, and southern regions of the State respectively, subject to deviation based on the applicant pool. Grants shall be awarded in a manner that both prioritizes equity and tests a variety of technological and funding approaches, including but not limited to outright purchase, leased buses, leveraging of other funding sources, and vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-building technologies.
For purposes of this subsection: "northern," when referring to regions of the State, means the counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Union, Sussex, and Warren; "central," when referring to regions of the State, means the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset; and "southern," when referring to regions of the State, means the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem.
The department shall determine the amount of each grant provided pursuant to this subsection and shall award grants in a manner that provides for the most efficient and highest efficacy use of the grant.
The department may use available monies, singly or in combination from the following sources, to procure professional services to assist with the development of the report: societal benefits charge revenues received pursuant to section 12 of P.L. 1999, c. 23(C.48:3-60); the "Global Warming Solutions Fund" established pursuant to section 6 of P.L. 2007, c. 340(C.26:2C-50); any available monies from utility programs to upgrade electrical infrastructure for purposes of electric vehicle charging; any appropriations made by the Legislature for the program established pursuant to P.L. 2022, c. 86(C.26:2C-8.58 et al.); or any other sources of available funding.
The submitted report shall include:
In addition to the information included pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (8) of this subsection, the final report shall include recommendations regarding the establishment of grant and loan programs to provide assistance to school districts and school bus contractors for the replacement of their bus fleets, other types of financial agreements to assist school districts and school bus contractors with implementing and using electric school buses, and the optimization of electric school bus grant programs to most efficiently and effectively distribute available funds to maximize environmental and health benefits.
The final report shall also include recommendations for how additional funding may be distributed in the most efficient and effective manner to maximize the number of electric school buses operating in the State.
N.J.S. § 26:2C-8.58