I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3963 

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

Service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2014 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself and Mr. CONNOLLY) 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 2014’’ or the 

6 ‘‘FLEET Act’’. 


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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 of infrastruc5 ture, including electric vehicle charging 

6 stations, to support vehicles described in 

7 clauses (i) and (ii).’’. 

8 SEC. 4. UPGRADE OF POSTAL FLEET. 

9 (a) POSTAL FLEET REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 (1) MOTOR VEHICLE STANDARDS.—The Post11 master General shall develop guidelines for con12 tracted vehicles and vehicles purchased or leased for 

13 use by the Postal Service, that, at a minimum, pro14 vide— 

15 (A) for light-duty vehicles— 

16 (i) that emissions of carbon dioxide 

17 comply with applicable standards developed 

18 by the Environmental Protection Agency 

19 under title II of the Clean Air Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.) and may not exceed, 

21 on average, 250 grams per mile; and 

22 (ii) to meet applicable average fuel 

23 economy standards developed by the Na24 tional Highway Traffic Safety AdministraVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:49 Feb 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3963.IH H3963

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1 tion under chapter 329 of title 49, United 

2 States Code, of 34.1 miles per gallon; and 

3 (B) for medium-duty and heavy-duty vehi4 cles, that comply with applicable standards— 

5 (i) for emissions of carbon dioxide de6 veloped by the Environmental Protection 

7 Agency under title II of the Clean Air Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); and 

9 (ii) for average fuel economy devel10 oped by the National Highway Traffic 

11 Safety Administration under chapter 329 

12 of title 49, United States Code. 

13 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The standards described 

14 in paragraph (1) shall apply to contracted vehicles 

15 and vehicles purchased or leased for use by the Post16 al Service after the date that is 1 year after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act. 

18 (3) REDUCTION IN CONSUMPTION OF PETRO19 LEUM PRODUCTS.—The Postmaster General shall 

20 reduce the total consumption of petroleum products 

21 by vehicles in the Postal fleet by a minimum of 2 

22 percent annually through the end of fiscal year 

23 2025, relative to the baseline established for fiscal 

24 year 2005. 


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1 (b) REPLACING VEHICLES WITHIN THE POSTAL

2 FLEET.—The Postmaster General shall conduct a cost3 benefit analysis of vehicles in the Postal fleet to determine 

4 if the cost to maintain any such vehicle outweighs the ben5 efit or savings of replacing the vehicle. 

6 (c) ROUTE REQUIREMENTS.—To inform and 

7 prioritize purchases, the Postmaster General shall review 

8 and identify Postal delivery routes to determine if motor 

9 vehicles used on such routes can be replaced with tech10 nologies that increase average fuel economy or reduce 

11 emissions of carbon dioxide. 

12 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Postmaster 

13 General shall submit a report to Congress— 

14 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en15 actment of this Act, that contains a plan to achieve 

16 the requirements of subsection (a) and recommenda17 tions for vehicle body design specifications for vehi18 cles purchased for the Postal fleet that would in19 crease average fuel economy and reduce emissions of 

20 carbon dioxide of any such vehicle; and 

21 (2) annually, that describes— 

22 (A) the progress in meeting the annual 

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


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1 (B) any changes to Postal delivery routes 

2 or vehicle purchase strategies made pursuant to 

3 subsection (c). 

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

5 this Act, the Postmaster General may not— 

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

7 fewer than 6 days each week; 

8 (2) close post offices or postal distribution fa9 cilities; 

10 (3) take any action that would restrict or di11 minish a collective bargaining agreement or elimi12 nate or reduce any employee benefits; or 

13 (4) enter into a contract with a private com14 pany to perform duties that, as of the date of enact15 ment of this Act, are performed by bargaining unit 

16 employees. 

17 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

19 (1) CONTRACTED VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘con20 tracted vehicle’’— 

21 (A) means any motor vehicle used in car22 rying out a contract for surface mail delivery 

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

24 United States Code; and 


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1 (B) does not include any motor vehicle 

2 used in carrying out a contract for surface mail 

3 delivery pursuant to sections 406 and 407 of 

4 such title. 

5 (2) MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘motor vehi6 cle’’ means any self-propelled vehicle designed for 

7 transporting persons or property on a street or high8 way. 

9 (3) POSTAL DELIVERY ROUTE.—The term 

10 ‘‘Postal delivery route’’ means the transportation 

11 route for surface mail delivery. 

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

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

14 otherwise controlled by or assigned to the Postal 

15 Service. 

16 (5) POSTAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Postal Serv17 ice’’ means the United States Postal Service. 

Æ 


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