[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 139 (Thursday, July 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43561-43562]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15616]



[[Page 43561]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

POSTAL SERVICE


Notice To Postpone Public Hearing and Extend Public Comment 
Period for Supplement to the Next Generation Delivery Vehicles 
Acquisitions Final Environmental Impact Statement

    On June 10, 2022, the Postal Service published a Notice of Intent 
(NOI) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) 
to analyze potential environmental impacts of a proposed change to the 
Preferred Alternative for its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) 
Acquisitions, which was adopted in the Record of Decision (ROD) on 
February 23, 2022. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for 
the NGDV Acquisitions was published on January 7, 2022, pursuant to the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 
its implementing regulations at 39 CFR part 775, and the President's 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations at 40 CFR part 1500.
    The FEIS analyzed potential environmental impacts of several 
alternatives that the Postal Service developed and considered for 
replacing end-of-life and high-maintenance delivery long-life vehicles 
(LLVs) and flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) with new vehicles that have 
more energy-efficient powertrains, updated technology, reduced 
emissions, increased cargo capacity and improved loading 
characteristics, improved ergonomics and carrier safety, and reduced 
maintenance costs. Under the selected Preferred Alternative, the Postal 
Service would purchase and deploy 50,000 to 165,000 NGDVs, at least 10 
percent of the NGDVs would have battery electric vehicle (BEV) 
powertrains, and the Postal Service would have the flexibility to 
acquire significantly more BEV NGDVs should funding become available. 
On March 24, 2022, in accordance with the ROD, the Postal Service 
placed an order for 50,000 NGDVs, of which 10,019 are BEVs.
    The NOI for the SEIS announced that network refinements and route 
optimization efforts could impact the makeup of the Postal Service's 
future delivery fleet--including vehicles purchased pursuant to the 
NGDV Acquisition--and that the SEIS would analyze the potential 
environmental impacts of those potential changes. Specifically, the 
Postal Service announced that it would consider the impacts of proposed 
route changes that may warrant an increase in the minimum number of BEV 
NGDVs to be procured to replace LLVs and FFVs. The Postal Service 
included in the NOI for the SEIS a notice for a virtual public hearing 
to be conducted on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. (ET).
    The Postal Service now announces our intention to postpone that 
virtual public hearing to the new date of Monday, August 8, 2022, at 7 
p.m. (ET). Registration information is available at the following 
website: http://uspsngdveis.com/. Accordingly, the public comment 
period for the Notice of Intent will also be extended until August 15, 
2022.
    The reason for the public hearing postponement and public comment 
extension is to inform the public and solicit comments regarding the 
Postal Service's adjustment to the scope of the SEIS. As the Postal 
Service has determined that there is a compelling need to redesign our 
operating model in order to substantially reduce operating costs, 
significantly improve service, and enable exponential growth in our 
package delivery business, the SEIS scope is being adjusted to analyze 
potential environmental impacts from these recent changes that will 
affect our delivery procurement strategy and require two modifications 
to our Preferred Alternative for replacing LLVs and FFVs with new 
vehicles.
    First, the Postal Service proposes to modify its Preferred 
Alternative to the purchase and deployment of only 50,000 NGDVs 
consisting of a mix of ICE and BEV powertrains with what we anticipate 
will be a significantly higher percentage of BEVs, and certainly not 
less than 50 percent. This significant increase that we anticipate in 
the minimum percentage of BEV NGDVs reflects the favorable cost benefit 
impacts expected from the changes to both our operational strategy and 
our acquisition planning horizon that are discussed below.
    Any purchase of NGDVs above the 50,000 (or the purchase of any 
other purpose-built vehicles) would be subject to future supplements to 
the FEIS, given the likelihood of advances in technology, changes to 
the cost profile and market availability of current and future 
technology, and further improvements and refinements in the operational 
strategy of the Postal Service.
    Second, in response to our critical need to accelerate the 
replacement of aged and high-maintenance LLVs and FFVs in the near 
term, thereby reducing the significant operational risks, adverse 
environmental impacts, and considerable costs associated with extending 
their lives, and to be more responsive to dynamic market conditions, 
the Postal Service proposes to procure within a two-year period: (1) up 
to 20,000 left-hand drive Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) vehicles, 
including as many BEVs as are commercially available and consistent 
with our delivery profile; and (2) up to 14,500 right-hand drive ICE 
COTS vehicles. To be clear, the Postal Service anticipates that because 
of our critical and immediate need for delivery vehicles to fulfill our 
universal service mission, and the limitations on the current market 
availability for BEVs that can support our daily requirement to deliver 
to 163 million addresses six (and sometimes seven) days per week, it 
will be necessary for us to procure some ICE vehicles. In parallel, we 
will also need to make significant investment in the repair of over 
50,000 aging LLVs and FFVs each year to continue extending their useful 
life, despite the significant operational risk, considerable 
maintenance costs, and the higher emissions of greenhouse gases and 
other air pollutants when compared to more modern vehicles. This 
activity will be necessary because of our universal service mission and 
our inability to acquire sufficient quantities of modern vehicles in 
the current market (irrespective of the type of drive train) to replace 
our delivery fleet.
    If adopted, these measures would significantly modify the Postal 
Service's Preferred Alternative for replacing LLVs and FFVs with new 
vehicles. The SEIS is intended to evaluate the potential environmental 
impacts of the current procurement of 50,000 NGDVs and procuring the 
additional 34,500 COTS vehicles. It is the Postal Service's expectation 
that the total quantity of NGDVs and COTS vehicles to be procured in 
the SEIS's Preferred Alternative will be at least 40 percent BEV.
    Over the next ten to fifteen years, the Postal Service intends to 
pursue a multiple step acquisition process in our longer term efforts 
to fully replace our aging delivery fleet, and in that regard 
anticipates evaluating and procuring smaller quantities of vehicles 
over shorter time periods than the ten-year period analyzed in the FEIS 
in order to be more responsive to our evolving operational strategy, 
technology improvements, and changing market conditions, including the 
expected increased availability of BEV options in the future. 
Additional vehicle procurements beyond the procurements being analyzed 
in this Supplement would be assessed in subsequent supplements to the 
FEIS, on an as-needed basis, taking advantage of the then-current 
market and operational conditions.

[[Page 43562]]

    The change to our delivery procurement strategy is being made in 
response to substantial delivery network and route optimization 
improvements to the postal delivery network. As such, the SEIS will 
analyze the potential environmental impacts to the delivery fleet from 
the new Preferred Alternative, including the extent to which we expect 
the network improvements, changed route length and characteristics, and 
improved facility electric infrastructure will result in a significant 
increase in the minimum number of BEV NGDVs and COTS to be procured 
under the SEIS Preferred Alternative.
    The Postal Service actively seeks input from the public, interested 
persons, organizations, and federal, state, and regional agencies to 
identify environmental concerns and potential alternatives to be 
addressed in the SEIS and will continue to accept public comments until 
August 15, 2022. With respect to recommendations regarding potential 
alternatives, the Postal Service requests that comments be as specific 
as possible regarding vehicle type, model, and manufacturer so that the 
Postal Service might fully consider the alternative in terms of 
pricing, operational capabilities, and market availability.
    Comments should be received no later than August 15, 2022. The 
Postal Service will also publish a Notice of Availability to announce 
the availability of the Draft SEIS and solicit comments on the Draft 
SEIS during a second 45-day public comment period.
    Interested parties may direct comments and questions to: Mr. Davon 
Collins, Environmental Counsel, United States Postal Service, 475 
L'Enfant Plaza SW, Office 6606, Washington, DC 20260-6201, or at 
[email protected]. Note that comments sent by mail may be subject to delay 
due to federal security screening. Faxed comments are not accepted. All 
submitted comments and attachments are part of the public record and 
subject to disclosure. Do not enclose any material in your comments 
that you consider to be confidential or inappropriate for public 
disclosure.
    The Postal Service will also conduct a virtual public hearing on 
Monday, August 8, 2022, at 7 p.m. (ET).

References

1. U.S. Postal Service, Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement for Purchase of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles, 
86 FR 12715 (Mar. 4, 2021).
2. U.S. Postal Service, Notice of Availability of Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for Purchase of Next Generation 
Delivery Vehicle, 86 FR 47662 (Aug. 26, 2021).
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Notice of Availability of 
EIS No. 20210129, Draft, USPS, DC, Next Generation Delivery Vehicle 
Acquisitions, 86 FR 49531 (Sept. 3, 2021).
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Notice of Availability of 
EIS No. 20220001, Final, USPS, DC, Next Generation Delivery Vehicle 
Acquisitions, 87 FR 964 (Jan. 7, 2022).
5. U.S. Postal Service, Notice of Availability of Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for Purchase of Next Generation 
Delivery Vehicles, 87 FR 994 (Jan. 7, 2022).
6. U.S. Postal Service, Notice of Availability of Record of 
Decision, 87 FR 14588 (Mar 15, 2022).
7. U.S. Postal Service, Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplement to 
the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Acquisitions Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, 87 FR 35581 (June 10, 2022).

Sarah E. Sullivan,
Attorney, Ethics and Legal Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2022-15616 Filed 7-20-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P