[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1963 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

    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 2015'' or the ``FLEET Act of 2015''.

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 or maintenance of 
                        infrastructure, including electric vehicle 
                        charging stations, to support vehicles 
                        described in clauses (i) and (ii).''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO UTILITY ENERGY SERVICE CONTRACTS.

    Section 546 of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (42 
U.S.C. 8256) is amended in subsection (c)(1) by inserting ``(including 
measures to support the use of low emission and fuel efficient vehicles 
owned, operated, leased, or otherwise controlled by or assigned to the 
United States Postal Service and measures to support construction and 
maintenance of infrastructure to support such vehicles, including 
electric vehicle charging stations)'', after ``demand''.

SEC. 5. UPGRADE OF POSTAL FLEET.

    (a) Postal Fleet Requirements.--
            (1) Motor vehicle standards.--The Postmaster General may 
        not award a contract for a contracted vehicle, or purchase or 
        lease a motor vehicle for use by the Postal Service, unless, at 
        a minimum--
                    (A) in the case of a passenger car, the car meets--
                            (i) with respect to emissions of carbon 
                        dioxide, the more stringent of--
                                    (I) the applicable standards 
                                developed by the Environmental 
                                Protection Agency under title II of the 
                                Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); 
                                or
                                    (II) on average, less than 235 
                                grams per mile; and
                            (ii) with respect to average fuel economy, 
                        the more stringent of--
                                    (I) the applicable average fuel 
                                economy standards developed by the 
                                National Highway Traffic Safety 
                                Administration under chapter 329 of 
                                title 49, United States Code; or
                                    (II) 37.8 miles per gallon;
                    (B) in the case of a light truck, the truck meets--
                            (i) with respect to emissions of carbon 
                        dioxide, the more stringent of--
                                    (I) the applicable standards 
                                developed by the Environmental 
                                Protection Agency under title II of the 
                                Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); 
                                or
                                    (II) on average, less than 310 
                                grams per mile; and
                            (ii) with respect to average fuel economy, 
                        the more stringent of--
                                    (I) the applicable average fuel 
                                economy standards developed by the 
                                National Highway Traffic Safety 
                                Administration under chapter 329 of 
                                title 49, United States Code; or
                                    (II) 28.8 miles per gallon; and
                    (C) in the case of a medium-duty or heavy-duty 
                vehicle, the vehicle complies 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 motor 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 motor vehicles in the Postal fleet by a 
        minimum of 2 percent annually through the end of fiscal year 
        2026, 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 motor 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, 
including geography and types of motor vehicle that could be used on 
such routes, to determine if motor vehicles used on such routes can be 
replaced with motor vehicles that use 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 motor 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 motor 
                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. 6. 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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