I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1963 

To provide for the upgrade of the vehicle fleet of the United States Postal 

Service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. TAKAI) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the upgrade of the vehicle fleet of the United 

States Postal Service, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Leadership 

5 in Energy Efficient Transportation Act of 2015’’ or the 

6 ‘‘FLEET Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to provide for the up3 grade of the vehicle fleet of the United States Postal Serv4 ice, to improve mail delivery services to benefit customers 

5 and the environment, to increase savings by reducing 

6 maintenance or other costs, and to set benchmarks to 

7 maximize fuel economy and reduce emissions for the Post8 al fleet with the goal of making the Postal Service a na9 tional leader in efficiency and technology innovation. 

10 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO ENERGY SAVINGS PER11 FORMANCE CONTRACTS. 

12 Section 804(4) of the National Energy Conservation 

13 Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 8287c(4)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ after 

15 the semicolon; 

16 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

17 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(C) in the case of a contract in which the 

21 United States Postal Service is a party— 

22 ‘‘(i) the purchase or lease of low emis23 sion and fuel efficient vehicles; 

24 ‘‘(ii) a measure to upgrade a vehicle 

25 owned, operated, leased, or otherwise con26 trolled by or assigned to the United States 


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1 Postal Service to increase average fuel 

2 economy and reduce the emissions of car3 bon dioxide of such vehicle; or 

4 ‘‘(iii) the construction or maintenance 

5 of infrastructure, including electric vehicle 

6 charging stations, to support vehicles de7 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii).’’. 

8 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO UTILITY ENERGY 

9 SERVICE CONTRACTS. 

10 Section 546 of the National Energy Conservation 

11 Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 8256) is amended in subsection 

12 (c)(1) by inserting ‘‘(including measures to support the 

13 use of low emission and fuel efficient vehicles owned, oper14 ated, leased, or otherwise controlled by or assigned to the 

15 United States Postal Service and measures to support con16 struction and maintenance of infrastructure to support 

17 such vehicles, including electric vehicle charging sta18 tions)’’, after ‘‘demand’’. 

19 SEC. 5. UPGRADE OF POSTAL FLEET. 

20 (a) POSTAL FLEET REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) MOTOR VEHICLE STANDARDS.—The Post22 master General may not award a contract for a con23 tracted vehicle, or purchase or lease a motor vehicle 

24 for use by the Postal Service, unless, at a min25 imum— 


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1 (A) in the case of a passenger car, the car 

2 meets— 

3 (i) with respect to emissions of carbon 

4 dioxide, the more stringent of— 

5 (I) the applicable standards de6 veloped by the Environmental Protec7 tion Agency under title II of the Clean 

8 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); or 

9 (II) on average, less than 235 

10 grams per mile; and 

11 (ii) with respect to average fuel econ12 omy, the more stringent of— 

13 (I) the applicable average fuel 

14 economy standards developed by the 

15 National Highway Traffic Safety Ad16 ministration under chapter 329 of 

17 title 49, United States Code; or 

18 (II) 37.8 miles per gallon; 

19 (B) in the case of a light truck, the truck 

20 meets— 

21 (i) with respect to emissions of carbon 

22 dioxide, the more stringent of— 

23 (I) the applicable standards de24 veloped by the Environmental ProtecVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1963.IH H1963

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1 tion Agency under title II of the Clean 

2 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); or 

3 (II) on average, less than 310 

4 grams per mile; and 

5 (ii) with respect to average fuel econ6 omy, the more stringent of— 

7 (I) the applicable average fuel 

8 economy standards developed by the 

9 National Highway Traffic Safety Ad10 ministration under chapter 329 of 

11 title 49, United States Code; or 

12 (II) 28.8 miles per gallon; and 

13 (C) in the case of a medium-duty or heavy14 duty vehicle, the vehicle complies with applica15 ble standards— 

16 (i) for emissions of carbon dioxide de17 veloped by the Environmental Protection 

18 Agency under title II of the Clean Air Act 

19 (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); and 

20 (ii) for average fuel economy devel21 oped by the National Highway Traffic 

22 Safety Administration under chapter 329 

23 of title 49, United States Code. 

24 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The standards described 

25 in paragraph (1) shall apply to contracted vehicles 


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1 and motor vehicles purchased or leased for use by 

2 the Postal Service after the date that is 1 year after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 (3) REDUCTION IN CONSUMPTION OF PETRO5 LEUM PRODUCTS.—The Postmaster General shall 

6 reduce the total consumption of petroleum products 

7 by motor vehicles in the Postal fleet by a minimum 

8 of 2 percent annually through the end of fiscal year 

9 2026, relative to the baseline established for fiscal 

10 year 2005. 

11 (b) REPLACING VEHICLES WITHIN THE POSTAL

12 FLEET.—The Postmaster General shall conduct a cost13 benefit analysis of motor vehicles in the Postal fleet to 

14 determine if the cost to maintain any such vehicle out15 weighs the benefit or savings of replacing the vehicle. 

16 (c) ROUTE REQUIREMENTS.—To inform and 

17 prioritize purchases, the Postmaster General shall review 

18 and identify Postal delivery routes, including geography 

19 and types of motor vehicle that could be used on such 

20 routes, to determine if motor vehicles used on such routes 

21 can be replaced with motor vehicles that use technologies 

22 that increase average fuel economy or reduce emissions of 

23 carbon dioxide. 

24 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Postmaster 

25 General shall submit a report to Congress— 


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1 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en2 actment of this Act, that contains a plan to achieve 

3 the requirements of subsection (a) and recommenda4 tions for vehicle body design specifications for motor 

5 vehicles purchased for the Postal fleet that would in6 crease average fuel economy and reduce emissions of 

7 carbon dioxide of any such vehicle; and 

8 (2) annually, that describes— 

9 (A) the progress in meeting the annual 

10 target described in subsection (a)(3); and 

11 (B) any changes to Postal delivery routes 

12 or motor vehicle purchase strategies made pur13 suant to subsection (c). 

14 (e) RESTRICTIONS.—To meet the requirements of 

15 this Act, the Postmaster General may not— 

16 (1) reduce the frequency of delivery of mail to 

17 fewer than 6 days each week; 

18 (2) close post offices or postal distribution fa19 cilities; 

20 (3) take any action that would restrict or di21 minish a collective bargaining agreement or elimi22 nate or reduce any employee benefits; or 

23 (4) enter into a contract with a private com24 pany to perform duties that, as of the date of enactVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1963.IH H1963

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1 ment of this Act, are performed by bargaining unit 

2 employees. 

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

5 (1) CONTRACTED VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘con6 tracted vehicle’’— 

7 (A) means any motor vehicle used in car8 rying out a contract for surface mail delivery 

9 pursuant to section 5005(a)(3) of title 39, 

10 United States Code; and 

11 (B) does not include any motor vehicle 

12 used in carrying out a contract for surface mail 

13 delivery pursuant to sections 406 and 407 of 

14 such title. 

15 (2) MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘motor vehi16 cle’’ means any self-propelled vehicle designed for 

17 transporting persons or property on a street or high18 way. 

19 (3) POSTAL DELIVERY ROUTE.—The term 

20 ‘‘Postal delivery route’’ means the transportation 

21 route for surface mail delivery. 

22 (4) POSTAL FLEET.—The term ‘‘Postal fleet’’ 

23 means any vehicle that is owned, operated, leased, or 

24 otherwise controlled by or assigned to the Postal 

25 Service. 


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1 (5) POSTAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Postal Serv2 ice’’ means the United States Postal Service. 

Æ 


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