[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3963 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Leadership in Energy 
Efficient Transportation Act of 2014'' or the ``FLEET Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to provide for the upgrade of the 
vehicle fleet of the United States Postal Service, to improve mail 
delivery services to benefit customers and the environment, to increase 
savings by reducing maintenance or other costs, and to set benchmarks 
to maximize fuel economy and reduce emissions for the Postal fleet with 
the goal of making the Postal Service a national leader in efficiency 
and technology innovation.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS.

    Section 804(4) of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (42 
U.S.C. 8287c(4)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(c) in the case of a contract in which the United 
                States Postal Service is a party--
                            ``(i) the purchase or lease of low emission 
                        and fuel efficient vehicles;
                            ``(ii) a measure to upgrade a vehicle 
                        owned, operated, leased, or otherwise 
                        controlled by or assigned to the United States 
                        Postal Service to increase average fuel economy 
                        and reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide of 
                        such vehicle; or
                            ``(iii) the construction of infrastructure, 
                        including electric vehicle charging stations, 
                        to support vehicles described in clauses (i) 
                        and (ii).''.

SEC. 4. UPGRADE OF POSTAL FLEET.

    (a) Postal Fleet Requirements.--
            (1) Motor vehicle standards.--The Postmaster General shall 
        develop guidelines for contracted vehicles and vehicles 
        purchased or leased for use by the Postal Service, that, at a 
        minimum, provide--
                    (A) for light-duty vehicles--
                            (i) that emissions of carbon dioxide comply 
                        with applicable standards developed by the 
                        Environmental Protection Agency under title II 
                        of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.) 
                        and may not exceed, on average, 250 grams per 
                        mile; and
                            (ii) to meet applicable average fuel 
                        economy standards developed by the National 
                        Highway Traffic Safety Administration under 
                        chapter 329 of title 49, United States Code, of 
                        34.1 miles per gallon; and
                    (B) for medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, that 
                comply with applicable standards--
                            (i) for emissions of carbon dioxide 
                        developed by the Environmental Protection 
                        Agency under title II of the Clean Air Act (42 
                        U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); and
                            (ii) for average fuel economy developed by 
                        the National Highway Traffic Safety 
                        Administration under chapter 329 of title 49, 
                        United States Code.
            (2) Applicability.--The standards described in paragraph 
        (1) shall apply to contracted vehicles and vehicles purchased 
        or leased for use by the Postal Service after the date that is 
        1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.
            (3) Reduction in consumption of petroleum products.--The 
        Postmaster General shall reduce the total consumption of 
        petroleum products by vehicles in the Postal fleet by a minimum 
        of 2 percent annually through the end of fiscal year 2025, 
        relative to the baseline established for fiscal year 2005.
    (b) Replacing Vehicles Within the Postal Fleet.--The Postmaster 
General shall conduct a cost-benefit analysis of vehicles in the Postal 
fleet to determine if the cost to maintain any such vehicle outweighs 
the benefit or savings of replacing the vehicle.
    (c) Route Requirements.--To inform and prioritize purchases, the 
Postmaster General shall review and identify Postal delivery routes to 
determine if motor vehicles used on such routes can be replaced with 
technologies that increase average fuel economy or reduce emissions of 
carbon dioxide.
    (d) Reporting Requirements.--The Postmaster General shall submit a 
report to Congress--
            (1) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, that contains a plan to achieve the requirements of 
        subsection (a) and recommendations for vehicle body design 
        specifications for vehicles purchased for the Postal fleet that 
        would increase average fuel economy and reduce emissions of 
        carbon dioxide of any such vehicle; and
            (2) annually, that describes--
                    (A) the progress in meeting the annual target 
                described in subsection (a)(3); and
                    (B) any changes to Postal delivery routes or 
                vehicle purchase strategies made pursuant to subsection 
                (c).
    (e) Restrictions.--To meet the requirements of this Act, the 
Postmaster General may not--
            (1) reduce the frequency of delivery of mail to fewer than 
        6 days each week;
            (2) close post offices or postal distribution facilities;
            (3) take any action that would restrict or diminish a 
        collective bargaining agreement or eliminate or reduce any 
        employee benefits; or
            (4) enter into a contract with a private company to perform 
        duties that, as of the date of enactment of this Act, are 
        performed by bargaining unit employees.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act the following definitions apply:
            (1) Contracted vehicle.--The term ``contracted vehicle''--
                    (A) means any motor vehicle used in carrying out a 
                contract for surface mail delivery pursuant to section 
                5005(a)(3) of title 39, United States Code; and
                    (B) does not include any motor vehicle used in 
                carrying out a contract for surface mail delivery 
                pursuant to sections 406 and 407 of such title.
            (2) Motor vehicle.--The term ``motor vehicle'' means any 
        self-propelled vehicle designed for transporting persons or 
        property on a street or highway.
            (3) Postal delivery route.--The term ``Postal delivery 
        route'' means the transportation route for surface mail 
        delivery.
            (4) Postal fleet.--The term ``Postal fleet'' means any 
        vehicle that is owned, operated, leased, or otherwise 
        controlled by or assigned to the Postal Service.
            (5) Postal service.--The term ``Postal Service'' means the 
        United States Postal Service.
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